Page 5 of Grave Curse

Right. Sure. Look at Tyr. The guy who used to be my best friend. My first innocent little kiss. The boy who’d turned into my enemy when we were teens. The leader of the breakaway chapter of the Gravediggers, and the man who blamed me for making him kill for the first time.

The man who had killed to protect me, and sullied himself forever.

Tilting my face up in his direction, I opened my eyes.

Darkly fringed eyes the color of whiskey stared back at me, his face so close I could see just a hint of gray in his dark blonde brows. Gray? I thought, in part to distract myself from the blatant fact that he was close enough to kiss. I knew he was only thirty because he was two years older than me. When had Tyr started going gray, and why hadn’t I noticed until now? Whether I liked it or not, I always noticed everything about Tyr. It was like my personal curse.

“There you go. You’re okay.” He kept his hands on mine—or more accurately on the black scarf wrapped around my hands,while keeping his gaze locked with mine. “Next step is standing up. Ready?”

“I told you, I’m fine.” I hated how weak I sounded, like I was inches away from a Victorian swoon. Damn it, that wasn’t like me. I could never allow weakness to be a part of my vocabulary, so I jutted my chin upward. “Or at least I would have been fine if you hadn’t jump-scared me like that. What the hell is wrong with you, Tyr?”

“Lots of things, one of them being a six-foot-tall redhead who right now is paler than Casper the ghost.”

“I’m always pale.”

“Not like this. You look like you’re about to pass out. Are you?”

“No.” I snarled the word. Passing out was for normal people who hadn’t been raised inside the Gravedigger world. I had to be made of sterner stuff. “I feel fan-fucking-tastic, thanks for asking.”

“You’re not going to feel fan-fucking-tastic when you see your hand. Or the front of your jacket. Or your jeans.”

Damn it. “That bad?”

“I’ve seen horror flicks with less blood.”

I swallowed hard and tried for a casual shrug. “No problem. I’ve got a change of clothes in my shop.”

“Uh-huh. And how are you going to get into your nice, clean change of clothes without getting them all bloody?”

Duh. “Obviously I’m going to take care of my hand first.”

“You’ll have to look at it to do that.”

My stomach rolled queasily again. Of course. He knew my problem with blood because he was there when it began. “I’ll wash it off and bandage it myself.”

“Without looking?”

“Roxie can help. Or that little Olive kid.”

“That’d be great if one of them is a doctor.”

I stared at him, baffled. “I don’t need a doctor to bandage up a hand.”

“You do if you need stitches.”

The street wobbled under my feet. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”

“I haven’t seen it yet, so I don’t know. We’re going to stand up now,” he went on in a matter-of-fact tone that told me he had things to do, and one of them wasn’t coddling me through a dramatic emotional meltdown. “You’re going to keep your eyes on me, and I’m going to take you over to Ride Or Die to get you all bandaged up. Don’t faint on the way over, or I might just leave you where you fall.”

“Thanks for the warning, Prince Charming,” I growled before forcing my legs to hold me as I stood with him to my full height. The anger at his careless—no,uncaring—words solidified my muscles like nothing else. The world snapped into crystal clarity, and I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. Roxie stood hesitantly at the door of Vixen’s Den, with the girl, Olive, just behind her.

“Are you all right?” Roxie called the moment she saw me pop up from behind the car.

“No, she’s not, but I’m taking care of it,” Tyr answered before I could open my mouth.

Olive, staring at Tyr as if he were the Devil incarnate, looked like she wanted to cower behind Roxie forever. “I called my brother, Ginger, and um, he said he’s going to swing by to talk to you. He’ll be here any minute.”

“Good. Let him change your damn tire. Roxie, call Misty to let her know I’m bringing Ginger over to patch up her cut hand. Have her get the first-aid kit out and ready for us in my office bathroom.”

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