Page 116 of Bride of Choice

Reaching over, I gave his leg a comforting pat. Taking the olive branch offered wrong, he slapped my hand away with a growl. Too late, he realized I wasn’t mocking him, but I’d already slipped his arm off my shoulder and sat up straighter.

With a frustrated grumble, Rek stood, ignoring the questioning gaze of those around us to stomp off in the direction Odix and Gopher had taken off to. Mumbling something about helping, he disappeared into the forest.

Flopping to my side on the ground, resting my head on my arm, I let out a heavy sigh. Closing my eyes, I asked the hard questions. “How bad is it?”

“Bad,” Berkr grumbled.

“How bad is bad?” I dared to ask.

“Krampus claws… icky,” he settled on. “Cuts deep. Make bad.”

“What do we need to do?” My throat grew tight but I needed to know.

“Eh! Eh!” Doogie, who’d chosen escape with the others over babysitting the injured human, came rushing up on us, waggling a small, ragged looking waterskin. Bum-bum and Gopher were hot on his heels with their fists full of purple looking roots and orange speckled yellow leafed plants, roots of the plants and all.

Whoops. Hope Rek didn’t trek too far in their original direction— they’d returned from the opposite.

“Oh, goody. More awful stuff to choke down,” I deadpanned.

“Shine for wound,” Doogie corrected.

Awesome. We’re going to torture me with paint thinner. Yippee.

Doogie would have handed it over to Bum-bum but my fingers clasped it and gave it a yank towards me first.

“Not doing this shit sober,” I muttered as I popped the top and took a long swig.

A spluttering noise left Doogie.

Pausing to hiss as it burned down my throat, I quickly took another long swig. I’m so not cut out for this shit— for any of it.

Doogie made a startled noise and reached for the waterskin. “Too much,” he garbled out fretfully.

Doogie was frettin’?

Letting him pry that swill from my cold, numb fingers, I grimaced as his shine burned down my throat, down into my belly, and possibly farther down into my guts then. “What’s the big deal? I did the same as last- Whoa….”

“Stronger,” Doogie elaborated with a measuring look as I took a little trip.

“My god, I can’t feel ANYTHING,” I mumbled, lifting a hand to tap at my face. My eyes widened and I laughed, then smacked myself across the cheek.

Aghast, Doogie snatched my hand up, holding it prisoner as he tossed the waterskin to Berkr and Bum-bum, who immediately got to work stripping the insides from the roots Gopher and Odix had collected and putting Gopher and Odix to work mashing up the speckled leaves.

“What are they doing?” I asked in a loud whisper.

“Making paste to put on after cleaning wound,” Doogie replied.

“Can we eat it?” I mumbled, which made Doogie chuckle, but I was riding that high too hard to care why.

I felt so good it wasn’t even funny, like I could fly.

“Not for hoomans,” Berkr grumbled in disgust.

“Neither are you from the state of your affairs,” I quipped with a sniff, which seemed to amuse the peanut gallery.

A chuffing huff left the perpetually pouty Lo denaii. “Berkr mate only one. Berkr.”

“Gosh. What a lucky gal,” I gushed as I lifted my hands free of Doogie’s loose hold to clasp them near my face and bat my lashes at him. Spying Doogie snickering as he watched us, I reached out and plucked one of his eyebrow lashes free to settle it atop his naturally ridiculously long eyelashes. “There. Bat it now. Get the full effect.”

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