Raven
Fussing.
I hated the fussing. And at the moment, Camilla fussed…over me. Again.
I slowly swung my legs over the side of the bed. “I’m fine.”
The injuries on my arms and legs appeared healed, for the most part. I couldn’t see the one on my shoulder blade without the aid of a mirror, and the one at my waist—I lifted my shirt—looked pink and raw. Despite the twinge of tenderness, it shouldn’t hold me back from doing my job.
“You should be taking it easy,” Camilla said.
Using her hands, she swept together the bits of broken glass from the carafe she’d dropped. She flinched. Pulled back her hand.
A bead of blood bloomed on the tip of her finger. So far, the second cut that the cleanup process had gifted Camilla.
She swept a pointed finger across the cluttered debris. “If you insist on getting up, be careful of the broken glass.”
I peered down at my bare feet. My toes pressed to the floor at the edge of the sharp, shattered pieces. “My clothes?”
Even though I had arrived in appropriate work gear, I now wore a loose-fitting top and flimsy shorts that covered only the bare necessities.
Who had changed me? Camilla or Winter?
Camilla sat back on her heels, pausing in the midst of her cleanup. “Your cloak and…stick thingy…are downstairs. But in order to address your wounds, Winter had to cut your garments off.”
I pressed my lips together tightly. Not only had Winter saved me and seen me weak and vulnerable, but he’d also seen me stripped bare. And not in a sexy kind of way.
I stifled a groan.
Whatever Winter saw, I wouldn’t let it bother me. Not right then.
“You look bothered.” Camilla’s comment snapped me out of my momentary unease.
“Is it the clothing or Winter? Because if it’s Winter, you needn’t worry.
He has been totally doting on you, and there hasn’t been anything here that he hasn’t seen thousands of times over, long before he showed up with you at my doorstep. ”
He hadn’t seen my “anythings.”
She tipped her head to the side and gnawed on her lip. “Actually, he’s been rather tame as of late.”
Deep introspection ruled her features for half a breath, then she tilted her gaze to me and smiled. Only the expression didn’t meet her eyes and hit me as melancholy.
“Maybe that has something to do with you,” she said.
I blinked, unsure how to respond to any of that.
A young girl darted into the room and rushed to me, circumventing the broken glass. With an ear-piercing squeal, she threw her arms around me and pressed her head to my belly. Ouch.
“You’re better. I knew you’d get better.”
I reluctantly wrapped my arms around her, returning the hug.
Although we’d had no official introduction, I held fuzzy memories of the girl from my initial arrival at the home, then the other day when I’d briefly awakened, and (most curiously) from the dark dream in the catacombs…
with the female, Watcher, worthy of further investigation.
I clutched the girl’s upper arms and moved her back a step. “You were there, weren’t you?”
She didn’t appear to register my meaning. Instead, her lips lifted in a slight curve of embarrassment, and her cheeks reddened.
“I’m sorry we walked in on you and Winter yesterday. But we felt it important that your healing move faster. Immediately faster. So, we interrupted. Accelerated things.”
“You did what?” My body went slack. My thoughts raced to Winter’s words—a population of magic wielders.
Had this child magically accelerated my healing process?
Camilla uncoiled from the floor and wiped her hands free of any clinging glass dust. The soft gaze she laid upon her daughter radiated with pride and sadness. “My Kira is good in that way. A healing hand, that one.”
A second child―a milky-eyed, gray-skinned version of the girl standing before me―stepped into the room and hesitated a foot inside the doorway.
Twins. Of course. One healthy and one afflicted.
I vaguely recalled that thought registering upon my arrival and first encounter. Naturally, having been half out of my mind at the time…weak and hurting and hallucinating…I’d viewed the things I experienced through an untrustworthy filter.
Camilla glanced at the second child, pain flashing in her eyes. “And this is my baby girl, Myla. Born a couple minutes after Kira. They tend to do most things together, even after…”
She sucked back a deep breath.
I knew what she meant to say. Even after the second child became afflicted.
Winter stepped into view and, crossing his arms, leaned against the doorframe. His attention briefly clung to Kira with a burning intensity then settled on me. “How’s your strength?”
I tensed and stretched my muscles. “Weak and sore from non-use, but otherwise fine, I think.”
His gaze skated over me, appearing to assess everything about my physical state. His focus lingered where I’d taken the most damage at my shoulder and my waist. He then regarded more intimate areas of my body. Where the too-thin material draped over my breasts and stopped at the tops of my thighs.
Despite the desire to cover myself, I held steady. What would have been the point if he’d already seen me naked when he’d cut away my apparel?
“Hungry? I brought fresh produce.” His lashes lifted, and his eyes found mine.
I shrugged with a half grin. As if cued, my stomach growled in response. Hunger did indeed gnaw at me. And thirst.
“Thank you for the supplies.” Camila laid her palm against Winter’s arm, and I couldn’t help but notice the gentle intimacy of the touch or his softening return gaze. “Let me pull something together while the girls finish cleaning this mess.” She motioned to Kira. “Go get the broom.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Kira linked hands with Myla on the way out the door, and the two of them went in search of the broom together.
Before Camilla could slip out the door on their heels, Winter grabbed her arm, his attention zeroed in on a new bloom of blood on her finger. “You cut yourself.”
“It’s nothing.” She shook her head. “Just a tiny slice.”
She started to turn as if to leave, only Winter didn’t release his hold. He slipped her finger into his mouth and sucked the blood away. His eyes trained on her the entire time.
My chest and neck heated, the memory of Chace sucking the splinter from my finger predominating my thoughts.
A tiny sound slipped from Camilla’s lips, and I suddenly felt as if I were witnessing an intimate moment that should have been shared in private.
Camilla’s entire body stilled, and as Winter slipped her finger from his lips, she didn’t appear to breathe. Her cheeks glowed, and Winter’s eyes…
His gaze shifted to me, the recovering patient in the room. “I believe it would do Raven some good to get out of this small space and move around.”
Camilla yanked her hand to her chest and pursed her lips. “I don’t think that’s a good—”
“How about you get Raven something more appropriate to wear outside of this room?” He flashed me a conspirator’s grin. “Maybe even outside of this house?”
“What?” Camilla startled then swung her too-wide gaze from Winter to me. “She’s barely healed. Only just woke up. She can’t leave so soon. It isn’t safe.”
I had no idea what might have happened while I’d slept and healed that resulted in Camilla being unusually attached, but it had me wanting to escape to something familiar. Or at least more familiar. The pub, Aoes, even Chace.
I rolled my shoulders. “I have people who…”
The look in Winter’s eyes stopped my words mid-sentence.
Had my stomach just turned to stone?
He dropped his hands at his sides and stepped forward. I couldn’t properly decipher his expression, but if I were to venture a guess, I’d peg his reaction as a mixture of concern and apprehension.
He pressed a gentle hand to my upper arm. “I hear Mr. Aldine has made a full recovery. We can go see him after we get a little food in our bellies.”
Aldine’s better. Aldine recovered.
My heart swelled and warmed at the news.
I silently agreed to Winter’s suggestion, sensing more remained unsaid. More I needed to know. And I would know when we were no longer in the company of Camilla and her children. And when I had more clothes on.
Reluctantly, Camilla left the room and returned a few minutes later with a short pile of folded pieces for me to wear. She set the garments on the bed as well as my few salvaged items, then she grabbed Winter’s hand and dragged him from the room.
“Why do I have to leave?” he protested on the way out, a wicked grin lifting his lips. “I’ve already seen the goods.”
Hellfire and death gods.
My cheeks warmed.
Camilla slapped his arm. “Don’t be such a chuff.”
“I am not―”
They disappeared down the hallway, taking their exchange with them.
I changed too slowly, my bones aching, into the apparel Camilla had provided. The skirt and blouse fit a tad snug, barely containing my breasts. Leaving me to fear my bosom might rip the seams or make a surprise appearance should I bend over or move the wrong way.
Nothing provided remotely resembled my preferred style.
Not in the slightest. I wore my belt with my compacted scythe strapped over the outfit and hid the borrowed look beneath my cloak.
At least I had that option. My first order of business, after a filling meal, would be to get to my room at the pub and change into something more me.
Once dressed, Winter insisted on guiding me down the stairs. He wrapped one arm around my waist and supported my elbow with his opposite hand. Everyone gathered at the kitchen table for sandwiches made with the fresh supplies he had provided.
The conversation, when not informative, fell into idle chat. I wanted to ask Kira about the dream I’d had of the catacombs, but given the company, I kept quiet. From the looks Winter occasionally tossed the girl, I suspected he had a thing or two he wanted to talk to her about, as well.
Despite the flavorful food and pleasant enough company, secret delight buzzed across my skin when we headed back to the pub and my reaper team.