Chapter 24 Des #2
from the base of her throat to the skin where her chest met her shoulder. Her throat had been mere inches from being torn
out.
Des was used to seeing bodies unclothed, though male guards had separate showers from females. Sometimes they changed in front
of each other if they were in a hurry, and some people were comfortable enough to walk around naked even if the situation
didn’t warrant it. But the bodies Des had grown up around were scarred and battle-worn, hardened from training and lean from
a controlled diet. He was used to skin tanned from the sun, calloused and blistered from wielding weapons.
Aurelie’s body was nothing like that. This was skin that had never seen sunlight, flesh that was soft and unblemished. Even
the severe lines of her school dresses couldn’t hide the delicate curves beneath. Des swallowed. If Daisy were here, she’d
know what to do. But she wasn’t, and Des couldn’t leave Aurelie bleeding out on her velvet sofa.
He took a washcloth and touched it as gently as he could to the wound, though a part of him felt that she didn’t deserve his care.
Aurelie sucked in a breath, catching her lip with her teeth, and Des froze, dragging his gaze up to hers.
Her wide green eyes were staring into his, so close he could see the threads of gold in them, the individual droplets of tears on her lashes.
“Is this okay?” he asked, feeling foolish and embarrassed but also as though every part of his body were on fire. Damn her
and her ability to disarm him.
She nodded, her lower lip still bearing the dents from where her teeth had dug into it, and Des forced himself to look back
at the wound, which he cleaned as best he could, knowing how closely she watched him, how she held her breath against the
pain.
When he finished, he helped her sit up. “We should bandage this,” he said, unable to explain that she’d need to remove her
clothing. When had he become such a damn fool? “I don’t think it will need stitches, but we should get you to a doctor anyway.”
She shook her head. “No doctors. I have antiseptic. Just give me a moment.”
He nodded and she moved past him to her wardrobe, removing a clean shift and another simple dress before disappearing behind
a wooden screen. He turned to face away, his hands twisted around the bloodied cloth. “I need to get back out there,” he said.
“The demon could be anywhere on campus by now.”
Aurelie emerged a minute later. She held her unfastened bodice to her chest, her arms only partly in her sleeves. “I can’t
wrap it myself,” she explained, her gaze fixed on the floor. Her cheeks were flushed scarlet against the pallor of shock.
“I’m sorry.”
He found himself murmuring some sort of acceptance, which was not what he’d meant to do. He should be berating her for her reckless behavior, should be making it abundantly clear that this time, she had killed a man.
Instead, Des took a deep, steadying breath, and approached the chair she was sitting in, as she drew her braid over one slender
shoulder and did her best to raise her arm so he could wrap the bandage beneath. He told himself it was like caring for any
other wounded guard member, even as the scent of her soap hit him. Orange blossom, he realized, though he had no idea where
the knowledge came from.
As he worked, winding the bandage under her arm and across her chest, his knuckles grazed skin he was sure had never been
touched by another human before. Not judging by the way Aurelie shuddered, her eyes fluttering closed, though she didn’t pull
away. It was the most intimate thing Des had ever done, and he wasn’t a virgin.
When she turned to look up at him, her face framed by tendrils of dark hair, her eyes still glittering with tears, Des had
to stop for a moment to recover himself. Why did he feel so protective of this girl, when she was the one endangering everyone
around her?
“What?” he growled, more disgusted with himself than with her.
“How did you get on campus?” she asked.
He’d thought she might properly apologize, or at the very least thank him. But instead, she was asking about logistics. Lucky
for her he had been nearby, had been carrying Daisy’s stolen key around his neck. Lucky for her he didn’t just leave her to
bleed out on her own. The audacity she had, to question his actions when he’d saved her life. Twice.
He pulled the bandage tight to stanch the bleeding. Aurelie gave a small whimper that he felt in his soul. He cleared his throat. “Finish getting dressed. Then you can tell me everything that happened while we are on our way back to the fort.”
Aurelie rose, fumbling for her bodice as it began to fall. “Our?”
Des turned around again, but not before catching a glimpse of even more of her. Far more than any man should see. It crossed
his mind that one day, a man would get to see all of her, and he hated this imaginary man almost as much he hated Aurelie.
“Yes, our. I’m going to get backup to kill this demon. And you’re going to turn yourself in.”