12. Chapter Twelve
Chapter Twelve
Konrad
B etween the strength of the lycanthropy flowing through my veins and the lightness of Valda’s frail storm, she is practically weightless despite her soaked gown. I move as quickly as possible on the slick grass.
I smell a disturbance in the air and hasten to the left just as another lightning bolt slices the tree that I was just standing beside.
Gasping, I run a little faster when I see the cave. My feet slide, but I tighten my grip on Valda’s still form. I duck just as I skid into the cave.
Eloise casually moves the bark of berries to the side before I can step on it. I halt my slide right before Valda and I go crashing into the wall.
My daughter glances up from the careful division of berries she’s working on. “Is she done being difficult?”
I set Valda down, unnerved by her continued stillness. She’s barely even breathing. “I think she found a new way to cause trouble.”
Eloise wrinkles her nose. “I don’t like her. ”
“Eloise!” I cry, smoothing Valda’s hair away from her face. “This is hardly the time or place.”
“She’s not injured.” Eloise rolls her eyes as I continue to sift through Valda’s hair, searching for any sign of a head injury. “She just wants your attention. Just like she doesn’t really love you, and only kissed you—”
I nearly drop Valda’s still head and give it an injury. Then I set it gently down on a pillow made of my damp coat. “Who said anything about ‘love’?” Surely Valda didn’t. There’s no way she can even fancy herself in love with me, all things considered.
“ I did.” Eloise takes a huckleberry off the bark closest to Eloise and feeds it to Sir Pigeon, who pecks at it dramatically. “Didn’t you just hear me?”
“Yes, well, kissing does not equate to love.”
Eloise stares at me. “What do you mean?”
“I’ll explain when you’re older.”
“You always say that!”
Glancing heavenward, I send a silent prayer for serenity up to the Creator. Which is awkward, asking for a favor considering I recently abducted a maiden. But by the elvish code, I am a kinsman avenger, and there is a blood price to be met.
And have I not met it already? How many baths did it take to remove the blood matted into my fur and then my hair? The Creator decreed those men had to die, but the cruelty with which I killed could not have been His will . . .
I push those thoughts away and focus on scanning Valda’s form for any sign of blood on her. I still don’t smell any, and nothing feels broken when I feel her arms.
“Eloise, could you . . .?” I gesture toward Valda’s sodden legs.
“Nope.” She feeds another of Valda’s blueberries to Sir Pigeon. “She can tell us how she’s hurt when she wakes up. This is what she gets for kissing you and making you fall in love with her—”
“For the last time, stop bringing love into this!”
Eloise’s gaze snaps to mine, and I see that they are hazel, the shade they take when she is absolutely sure of herself.
I better pray again.
“I’ll stop talking about love when you stop kissing her.”
“I haven’t even kissed her since this morn.”
Eloise’s eyes widen and I realize my misstep. Then she shakes her head. “It’s worse than I feared.”
Glaring, I grab all the blueberries on my bark and devour them in one bite. It is far from enough to feed the wolf inside me, but it will have to do until this storm is over.
“You can have some of hers, you know. She’s not eating them.”
“No.” I untie Valda’s sopping cloak and pull it away. Unfortunately, her gown is just as drenched underneath.
Turning, I sift through the satchel Eloise grabbed and tug out the garments and the blankets stuffed inside. What few possessions I have left don’t seem like enough to survive off tonight, let alone provide for Eloise for any length of time beyond now.
But I can’t think about that here and now. The number one lesson I was taught during my Guild training is that thinking about a fortnight from now while on mission gets you killed. There is only here and now.
Here and now, I change into a dry shirt. Then I press a hand to Valda’s face. It is cold and clammy, like a corpse. I can’t even start a fire because we have no dry kindling. I didn’t have a chance to gather any before someone decided to run off.
And now that someone is in desperate need. “Eloise . . .”
“I’m not changing her clothes, if that’s what you’re asking. She did this to herself.” Eloise happily pours the rest of her blueberries down her throat. Then she offers the rest of Valda’s to Sir Pigeon, who pecks at them far more politely .
I grit my teeth. “Can you at least share a blanket and offer your body heat?”
“Nope.” Eloise takes the other blanket and wraps herself in it. “Sir Pigeon and I will share. You take the other blanket for yourself.”
“You are in trouble, young lady.”
“Why?” Eloise snuggles deeper into her cocoon as Sir Pigeon flaps around the cave, seeking a new roost now that her shoulder is gone. “ I’m not the one who ran off into a dangerous storm and put you in danger.”
“You’re not listening to me.”
“Neither does she , but you’re probably just going to kiss her again.”
I sift through the pile of garments and tug out my last shirt. It doubles as a nightshirt, so it will be long enough to cover most of Valda. I’ll just have to avoid looking at her lower legs.
Swallowing hard, I turn Valda onto her side, and she still doesn’t stir. I check her back and stomach for any sign of a broken rib or other injury but find nothing. So, I quickly unlace her sodden gown.
While my fingers work, I glare back at Eloise. “What is your obsession with whom I kiss, anyway?”
Eloise turns away from me and mumbles something into her blanket.
“What?” The dress loosens in my hands, and I turn back to see Valda’s night shift beneath it. That gives me the courage I need to tug her coral sleeves down her thin arms and then shimmy it down her hips before pulling it free from her legs.
Valda’s body isn’t even trembling. She is still alive, right? I’m not desecrating her body?
I hold my hand over her lips and feel just the slightest exhale. I release a breath of my own and continue my work .
Taking hold of the back of Valda’s chemise, the one she wore while kissing me, I tear it in the back. The garment had it coming. Then, after the quickest check ever to ensure her legs are not broken, I sit Valda up, leaning her against me. I pull my nightshirt over her head, drawing her thin arms through the sleeves.
Once that’s mostly on, I lay her back down. Valda is so still that I feel like I’m playing with one of Eloise’s dolls. I arrange the skirt to cover as much of her long legs as possible before I remove her leather shoes. Then I tug at the chemise skirt until it comes free.
I lay it out next to Valda’s dress and my other shirt. Then I replace my soaked coat with my spare breeches to be Valda’s new pillow. I pull her dripping hair away from her skin, splaying it across the cave floor.
Finally, I remove my boots, wishing I had the privacy to change my breeches. Since I don’t, I just slide the remaining blanket beneath Valda, giving her as much protection against the cold cave floor as possible. Then I wrap the rest over both her and me.
“This is so she won’t die on my watch,” I mutter to myself as I pull her back flush against my chest. I keep my legs angled away from hers, though, since mine are still sodden and hers are less than clothed.
Her breaths are few and far between. I don’t even hear her heartbeat— but that could be the blood rushing to my ears over the horror of this predicament.
Just because I’ve recently become the type of fellow who abducts maidens does not mean I’m the type to lie beside them without their knowledge. But I promised Valda no harm would come to her on my watch.
She is doing her hardest to undermine me, though. Which is pretty par for the course, all things considering .
Glancing down at her, I hope my heat will warm her frigid body soon. I also wish that I’m not so aware of her rain-drenched floral scent or the way her body is a perplexing combination of sharp angles and graceful curves.
It’s almost more dangerous to think about the here and now with this moment than wonder how I’m going to get all of us off this island, let alone paid and on our merry way— if that’s even a possibility now.
“The job must always be impersonal. The moment emotions get involved, you’re through.”
I grunt to myself. “I definitely undercharged myself with that ransom.”