Page 124 of Visions of Darkness

“I need to take this off,” I muttered, giving the smallest tug to the tee.

Aria managed to nod, and she gasped against the pain of the fabric peeling away from the burn as I slowly drew it up and over her head.

I ignored the fact that she writhed on the bed, wearing nothing but her jeans and a plain white bra, and instead focused on the marred flesh that sat right in the middle of her chest.

My teeth ground with rage, and I murmured, “I’ll be right back.”

After jogging out of the room and to my car, I grabbed our things, then ran back inside. I tossed the bag of medical supplies to the floorbeside the bed before I went into the bathroom and wet a washcloth at the sink.

On my knees beside her, I gently pressed the cloth to her wound, wiping up the clotted blood the best I could.

Then I poured hydrogen peroxide onto gauze, hesitating, because fuck, I hated the thought of causing her even an ounce of pain. But I knew I had to clean it.

“This is going to hurt.” I issued it through clenched teeth.

“I know,” she rasped.

It didn’t matter that she was prepared. Her face contorted in agony when I pressed it to the seared flesh.

Unfortunately, it was the only thing that killed the poison—at least, that’s what Timothy had told me right before I’d stepped into Faydor for the first time, when he’d put one hand on my shoulder and warned me that I was never going to be the same.

I’d never been told a greater truth.

The wound bubbled as I carefully dabbed the gauze to her skin.

Sickness billowed in my gut, nausea coiling at being the one to make her suffer more than she already was.

The pain was excruciating enough to jolt her from the stupor.

From the exhaustion that had sucked her under.

Pale, disoriented eyes flew open. Her gaze was riddled with torment and an apology.

“They needed me.” She barely managed to gasp it.

I set my palm on the side of her face, my thumb tracing the hollow beneath her eye before my lips were pressing to her forehead, to her temple. And I was murmuring it again, my mouth to her skin, “I know, baby. I know.”

Because she had no reason to apologize. She would do whatever it took to fulfill her duty. Just like I would do anything to fulfill mine to her.

Chapter Thirty

Aria

Night had fallen an hour ago. I’d slept for most of the afternoon, finding sanctuary in Tearsith, resting in the thick grasses, held in the cool breeze that whispered over my skin, my mind lulled by the babbling brook that sang to the meadow.

Pax sat on the very end of the bed now, keeping several feet between us, watching me carefully where I was propped on a pillow against the headboard. I knew he’d done it the entire time that I’d slept. Even within the boundaries of Tearsith, I’d sworn I could feel his eyes on me as he kept guard.

“Are you sure you can’t eat any more?” His voice was a rumble as he gestured to the fast-food container that sat on the nightstand.

“No, if I ate another bite I would burst.”

He’d called in tacos for delivery, and they were the best thing I’d eaten in days, even though I’d only managed to get down two of the three.

“You need to keep up your strength.”

“I am, I promise.” Except I had little of it then.

Strength.

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