Chapter Thirty-One: Taint Your Love

Seconds spilled into minutes, and the longer she sat on the floor trembling, the more she worried that something awful had actually happened to Chloe. What had she done? Why hadn't she awoken sooner? Marinette was so engrossed in her guilt that she missed the sound…missed the faint shift in the air that might have alerted her of the intruder, but she never heard them coming.

"I'm tired of playing games with you," the female voice growled, ensnaring her from behind. "You can't have him, he's mine!" Something stung her neck, and she hissed before a hand covered her mouth. "Let us see how much he wants you after this."

***POV Change***

"Did you wake me up just to bang on a door?" Plagg's voice was semi-indignant from the pocket. The blonde didn't respond. He'd grabbed the kwami from under the bed, tossing his light jacket on while Marinette had fumbled with the door. If there was that much panic in her, he wanted to be ready to face anything.

Adrien slammed his fist on the door again, but Chloe didn't answer. She was either in a complete drunken stupor, blacked out for God knows how long or…she might be hurt. He thought about breaking down the door, but instead, he checked the room next to hers, finding it unlocked, and thankfully vacant.

"Claws out," he muttered without even stopping as he rushed towards the window, tossing it open to scramble to the next glass barrier over. He peered in, his night vision enhancing the features of the room, and he couldn't see the blonde at all. She wasn't in the bed, and the bathroom light wasn't on.

He growled, prying at the window, and climbed in, the smell of iron immediately dominating his senses in an environment where it shouldn't. He lunged forward haphazardly, and rounded the bed, and there she was…sprawled out on the carpet, a pool of blood slowly spreading from beneath her matted blond tresses.

"Chloe!" He gasped, sliding up to her side on his knees, lifting her cautiously to look at where the blood was coming from. There was a large gash in the back of her head that he prodded tenderly with his fingers along the outside, and she groaned. "Shit, Chloe?"

Her eyes opened, but with his night vision, he could tell her pupils were uneven, and he cussed internally. "I f-fell," she muttered, slurring. Yeah, with the way Marinette panicked, he wasn't believing that for a moment. Plus, there was nothing within reach she could have possibly hit her head on to make such a deep wound.

"It's okay, I've got you," he whispered, but her eyes were already closed again. "Wake up hun, I need you to stay with me," he shook her lightly before lifting her into his arms. He should let everyone know what happened, but he needed to move, now, and going as Chat would be faster than them calling an ambulance. Fuck it, he could text Mari from the hospital to let her know. He'd come up with a story for everyone later. "I've got you," he repeated, endeavoring to keep her awake as he approached the window. Chloe had held her secret long enough, she would give him answers whether she liked it or not when she was better.

***Four Hours Later***

"How much longer is this going to take?" His frustration was evident as he shoved his thick fingers through his tousled blonde locks.

"We need to do a CT because she's pretty out of it," the doctor murmured, looking at her chart. "She needed stitches, so that took time."

Adrien growled under his breath, and the doctor took an unsteady step backwards before the model caught himself. "Thanks," he said instead, looking at his phone. He frowned, thumb sliding over the screen at the text he'd sent Marinette. She still hadn't read or replied to it. Something didn't sit right with him about that either. She'd been so scared about Chloe, and then what, gone back to sleep while waiting? He supposed it was possible.

He dialed her instead, and it went straight to voicemail. Geez. Her phone was dead? Maybe that's why she hadn't read or replied. However, it was almost five in the morning, and she could have passed out even in her worry. Shit. He was torn. He could leave for a little bit and come back, but what if Chloe woke up and needed him? He didn't want to abandon her.

He cringed, poking his head in on the blonde woman. He'd stay another hour and then he was leaving to check on Mari.

***Closer to two hours later***

He slid into his window, but frowned when he realized the bluenette wasn't still in bed. It wasn't like her to get up early. He strained to listen, but it was quiet.

"Claws in," he muttered, heading for the door as his kwami commented about needing more cheese. Maybe she went back to her room? He moved to her door, and knocked, but there wasn't an answer.

"She's probably tired," Lila snorted. "I know I would be after the night she had."

Adrien looked at the ceiling, taking a deep breath. He wasn't in the mood for the Italian beauty or her mind games. "Go away, Lila," he snarled angrily.

"Okay, but as I said, Luka probably tired her out," she teased, giggling as he tensed up. "She might still be with him, in fact," she offered, sauntering away.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Mari wouldn't have spent the night with Luka. She'd been worried about Chloe. Lila was a liar. His mate wouldn't do that to him. He banged on her door a little more roughly then he meant to, but he couldn't hear anything. Shit.

He didn't want to entertain Lila's idea. "Plagg," he squeezed out and closed his eyes. The kwami was still in his room, recharging. Fine. He'd get the obsidian being and ask him to go into Mari's room to check for her.

"I don't know what happened," a tiny voice squeaked just at the edge of his hearing as he entered his room again.

"Tikki?"

"A-Adrien, I'm sorry, I have no idea what happened," she sobbed, floating up to meet his intense green eyes. "I just…I was sleeping and you snatched Plagg, which startled me, but then…Marinette was quiet and staring at the door for awhile, so I drifted back to sleep," she whispered hoarsely, eyes going distant.

"Okay, yeah?" He tried to keep his voice from sounding impatient, but he wasn't entirely sure he succeeded by the way Plagg was eyeing him.

"I thought I heard voices, but, I was half-asleep, and it was a girl's voice so I just…assumed it might have been Chloe," she murmured. "So I didn't think much of it, especially since Marinette was so quiet."

His brows pulled together in a steep frown. "You sure the female voice wasn't Mari?"

Tikki nodded. "I'd recognize her voice in any range," she admitted. "When I woke up, I realized…I was alone…no Plagg, no Marinette, no Adrien…which scared me. I'm never left alone, not like that."

The blonde nodded, understanding. He only let Plagg leave his side if he was shacking with Tikki, or at least with Mari. "Where's Mari now?" That was the real question.

"Sh-She's in her room, b-but something happened, and I'm not sure what," she sobbed. "She told me to get out." Her cries grew more frantic, and her tiny body quaked. Adrien reached out a hand to comfort her, but the cat kwami beat him to it, hissing a little in his direction. He held his palms up in surrender, rubbing his jaw in irritation.

"She locked the door, I can't get in." He would have pressed the crimson being for more details, but she seemed distraught and guilty, so he let it go. "Could one of you unlock it for me?"

Plagg grunted, but nodded before zooming into the adjoining wall. Adrien didn't waste time moving back into the hall, but he almost slammed right into Luka, snarling under his breath. "You spend too much time near our rooms," he bit out.

"I was just going to check on Mari," the musician countered. "She seemed to be a little unsteady when she rushed out of my room this morning."

"Lies," he growled.

He chuckled, shrugging. "Hey, don't blame me if you were gone last night and she needed immediate satiation it seemed."

"I swear Luka, if you did anything to her against her will—"

"I would never take Mari against her will," he snapped. "She came to my room," he said further, "and rocked my world."

Adrien whirled, shoving the man, hard. "Liar!"

A smug smile crossed his face, and the blonde's heart pounded uneasily. "She sure does like it rough though, doesn't she?" He looked at the girl's door as if he could see her, smirking wider. "You can think I'm lying all you want, but since you liked to mark her so much, I thought I'd do the same."

His blood ran cold. "If you hurt her…"

"I didn't do anything she didn't beg for, so get over yourself, Agreste," he barked. "Don't worry, I didn't mess up any of your marks in the process. I just figured…I'd leave a matching set." He grinned. "Since, you know, it seems we're sharing."

"Fuck off, I'm not sharing anything, especially not her," he scowled, shoving the door open, slamming it closed as the man chuckled behind him. He cut the sound off, and he almost immediately heard sobbing from behind the bathroom door.

He surged forward, trying the knob, but it was locked, so he tried knocking instead. He could hear the shower running in between her sobs. "Marinette?"

She yelped from inside before she started shrieking. "Get out! Go away! L-leave me alone!" The screeching statements were followed by more sobs. The panic and fear in her voice only served to make him press harder.

"What is wrong? Let me in, Mari!" He rattled the door, banging a fist on the barrier. She shrieked again, and painful cries reached his ears.

"I c-can't! I have to get it all off," she whimpered. "It won't come off," she shrieked. "I d-don't know how…I don't…I didn't…" More broken sobs, and Adrien had had enough. He took a step back and shoved his body forcefully into the solid wall, popping the lock, and it swung in a wide violent arc.

She was hunched in the corner of the shower, hands over her wet head, rocking in a small ball, and his eyes widened at the frailty of her stature. "Mari…"

"No," she crowed. "Don't look at me! I didn't..I don't know how it happened. I can't remember! I'm awful. It won't come off!"

He stepped closer and reached over to touch her, but hissed, yanking backwards in reaction to the temperature of the water. He glared at the knobs, and shut them off. Holy fuck, that was cold! However, when he stared at the dial, it was set relatively high, and his eyes widened.

"Fuck, Mari, how long have you been sitting under this water?" He demanded, gripping her shoulders to pull her out, and her skin was cold. Shit.

"It…it was hot….so hot….so I could scrub…but then I couldn't feel it anymore," she whispered as he managed to get her slick body to cooperate, moving her out of the shower. However, the site that greeted him now that she wasn't curled up into a ball made his blood boil. Someone was going to die. For Chloe, for Mari…for making him feel like he'd failed to protect both of them.

"Love…" he whispered hoarsely, touching one of the bruises on her forearm, but his eyes were glued to the bite mark on her breast. It wasn't the one he'd left…it was on the opposite breast, and in almost the exact same location.

She jerked free from his grasp, shrieking, turning as she plummeted to the ground to cover her head. "Don't touch me!"

His fists clenched, staring at her. Another bite mark was imprinted in her backside, the other cheek from where he'd left his. A matching set. Luka had fucking left a mark to match each of his.

The bluenette had bruises all over her wrists and arms, and between her thighs, and he felt his sanity slipping to give way to the beast.

"Did…Luka force himself on you?"

She trembled uncontrollably, and he cussed inwardly, retrieving the blanket from the bed with haste, tossing it around her, careful not to touch…since she seemed adamant that he shouldn't

"C-Can't remember…only flashes," she whispered, rocking. "I d-don't think so."

He frowned, running his fingers through his mane. "Let me help you, please? May I…may I pick you up?"

It made his heart clench with agony that he needed to ask permission. For years now…Chat had been scooping her up for the fun of it, and since they'd started dating, Adrien did it whenever he liked because he knew she liked it too. The fact he had to ask now? Another slip of the rational mind to anger, and the beast climbed another inch.

She nodded slowly, unsure. "B-But don't look at me!"

He sighed. He supposed he could manage that. He was diligent in keeping his gaze higher than her body as he picked her up, cradling her, and she whimpered, but he pressed forward. He got her out of the bathroom, and set her gently on the bed, still staring up.

Her sobs broke the air once more, and he stiffened, wanting to hold her. "I'm t-tainted!" The beast almost took full control. He needed find out what happened. He needed to know who was going to be planted in a shallow grave, because even if it were his best friend, they'd crossed a line Adrien wasn't willing to forgive.

They'd hurt his mate. Not just physically, and he was ready to taste their flesh between his teeth, feeling their blood coat his claws.