Page 24 of Rule
But they might tell the king. If they did,I was screwed.
Evie! You’re not thinking straight. Ifthey give you the glass of juice, you’ll be healed, and you can fuck the king. Justask them for some juice.
I croaked out a laugh. My inner voice obviouslyhad a death wish. I couldn’t just ask them for juice. Maybe the fever wasmaking my inner voice delusional? Probably. Yeah, it was the fever. Just askthem to give me juice… that was crazy talk.
I had to steal it and I had to do it nowbefore they woke up.
Despite the pain that infused my wholebody, I pushed myself up into a sitting position. I shoved the covers down andleaned against the headboard, my hand slapped over my mouth to muffle my moansof pain, while sweat slid down my forehead and into my eyes.
My entire body was coated in a slick layerof sweat. My tank top was sticking to my chest and my thin cotton shorts were soakingwet. I was freezing cold and shivering madly but I couldn’t stop sweating.
I took a deep breath and lowered my hands.A flash of purple caught my eye and I turned to see Bella sitting on the bednext to me. I froze, my hands halfway to my lap, as I stared wide-eyed at her.
“Girl,” she said before giving me a shy smile.“Hi, girl.”
“H-hi,” I whispered. I glanced at the doorto my room. It was open just enough for a small girl to slip through. “Youshouldn’t be in here, honey.”
“What’s your name, girl?” She scooted alittle closer and when her hand reached out and touched my thigh, I made a low moanof dismay.
“Don’t do that, honey,” I said. “You can’ttouch me, okay? It’ll make your daddy mad.”
“What’s your name?” she said again. Herfingers were tracing the pale skin of my thigh and she lifted her fingers andstudied them intently before tracing my skin again.
“Evie,” I said.
“I am Bella.”
“I know. You need to go back to your ownroom now, okay, honey? Before your daddy and uda wake up.”
“Uda and Papa,” she said gleefully and loudly.
Too loudly.
“Shh.” I tossed another nervous glance atthe door as her tail flicked out from behind her and brushed against my arm.
“Pretty girl,” she said.
I squeaked out another moan of dismay whenshe climbed into my lap and sat on my thighs. “Hi, Evie girl.”
“Hi, Bella.” I kept my hands at my sides.“You need to go back to your room now, honey.”
She studied the bruise she could see on my shoulder.“Ouchy.”
“A little,” I said. Shit, I needed to gether out of my room immediately.
“You play with me, Evie girl?” she saidhopefully.
“Um, I can’t right now,” I said. “Can yougo back to your room? Please?”
A scowl crossed her face. Her skin, theloveliest shade of purple I’d ever seen, darkened and her bottom lip poutedout. “Why you not play with me?”
“Honey, I can’t, I… oh shit.”
The little girl had leaned forward and pulledthe neck of my tank top out so she could peer down it. She studied my naked breastswith frank interest before staring up at my face. “What are those, Evie girl?”
“Um…”
The door banged open and Bran, followed byCourt, stormed in. Both of them wore just sleep pants and nothing else, and Court’shair was sticking up in the back again. They stared in shocked silence at usas Bella let go of my shirt and grinned at them. “Hi, Papa. Hi, Uda.”
