Page 145 of Steel Heart Iron Claws

Because I’m not that naive girl anymore—my eyes are wide open.

Chapter 39

Basten

“Look at you, sitting up and everything!”

An absolute vision stands in the open partition of my infirmary room, holding two steaming bowls of venison stew.

Sabine has never looked more beautiful than in a simple, soft sage gown, backlit from the hallway’s window so that her golden hair glows, with an adorable streak of ash on her chin. Only this time, she isn’t just a vision at the edge of my sight. She’s more than a dream. My heart clenches like that moth that’s finally captured its flame and lived to tell the tale—but if I’m being honest?

It’s the mouth-watering stew that makes mereallygroan.

My stomach growls so loudly that one of the nurses passing through the hallway flinches in surprise before continuing down the hall.

Sabine looks down and giggles.

“Get in here, you,” I order.

She perches her pretty ass on the side of my bed and setsone bowl on the side table, blowing on the other as she stirs it with a wooden spoon. My mouth fills with saliva, and I’m unsure which I’m hungrier for—Sabine or my supper.

“Slow sips. It’s hot.” She spoons a bite in my mouth, and I moan as the savory flavors of rosemary and meat burst across my tongue.

Every damn one of my muscles aches, but still, I’m perfectly capable of lifting a spoon myself. I keep my mouth shut, though, because if she wants to play nurse to me?Yes, please.

Once I’ve finished and licked the bowl, she fusses with the sheet over my bare torso. Her thumb skims the dozen new puncture-wound scars across my chest.

Her brow sinks low in concern. “How are you feeling?”

“Not dead.”

She rolls her eyes softly, gently slapping my shoulder. “Tell me truly.”

Her lips are pursed in worry, and that adorable streak of soot still marks her chin. I know that she feels guilty. Shedidhave a thirty-point buck pin me to a tree, after all. And even though Vale’s healer was godkissed, it still fuckinghurt. But I force a smile as I sit up straighter, hiding how my muscles bristle against the pain.

“I’m fine, Sabine. Fit as a damn ox. Stop worrying.” I tweak her chin to wipe away the soot, then hold up my thumb in question.

“Oh.” Embarrassed, she wipes at her chin. “I was helping Tati roast potatoes for the goldenclaws.”

“Goldenclaws like vegetables?”

She blows the hair out of her eyes with a grin. “Goldenclaws and their salads…who knew?”

She smooths her palm over my chest, still playing thenursemaid, and something awakens in my veins. Something decidedly notmedical. Now that my stomach is full, a different kind of hunger is stirring.

I place my hand over hers to guide it lower on my torso, down to my navel, where the sheet sits low on my hips.

The most delicious rose color blooms across her cheeks. She glances over her shoulder at the hallway, where nurses pass every few minutes on their rounds.

“Basten, nothere.”

“Close the curtain,” I bark.

“You’re recovering! You nearly died!”

I growl into her ear, “Exactly. I nearly died. And do you know what I thought of at that moment?” My breath hitches. “I thought… I don’t care about the memories Iyre stole. I don’t grieve a lost past. Not anymore.”

The words come out low as if I’m hearing them myself for the first time. The part of me that fought so long to hold onto what’s gone now falls quiet.

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