Page 15 of Tyr

“I don’t want you to think I’m thoughtless or careless. That isn’t the case.”

“I don’t. Truly.”

He stared at her for a moment. Even with the bruises and cuts, she was pretty. But there was something else. Something he couldn’t put his finger on. Something about her that made him more protective than of anyone he’d met before.

“I should check your injuries and monitor how they are healing over the next couple of days to make sure we don’t need to take you to a doctor.”

Celeste stared at him as if trying to decide.

Finally, she nodded.“All right.”

He had no idea where to start. He decided her face was the best and most convenient place.

He scooted closer and brushed several strands of dark hair from her skin. Then he carefully turned her chin to inspect the more damaged side. Her cheekbone had swollen at least two times the normal size. The split had scabbed over, and there didn’t seem to be an infection. Her eye was puffed shut, her lip bled every time she moved it, and the towel did no good. He opened the kit, pulled out a styptic pencil, and dabbed it on the cut.

“I am hoping this will help you heal quicker. It should at least keep it from bleeding whenever you move your lips.”

He applied some salve over top of the cut and then moved on to the other side of her face. She studied him, and he tried not to focus on it as he cleaned a smaller cut on her cheek that bore the resemblance to a round ring with a crest on it.

A set of deep bruises on her throat resembled a handprint.

Tyr gritted his teeth.

“Are you all right?”

“He choked you.”

She glanced away.

“You must tell me who did this. Your father said he would handle it, but you have to tell me.”

Her eyes sparkled with flecks of anger, and then she blinked, and the flecks swept away.“I’m too tired tonight.”

Tyr wanted to press her. To make her give him the name so he could find the man and exact justice for what had been done.

“I… I should check the rest of your body as well.”

“I’ll let you check my top half, but my bottom half is equally as bruised. Nothing broken. And he didn’t cut me or burn me down there.”

Tyr wanted to ask if he’d done anything else to her… down there.

“He didn’t violate me. If he had… well… let’s say that my father would be the least of his problems.”

Tyr didn’t ask her to explain.

“I won’t be able to get my shirt over my head, so you’ll have to cut it off me.Preferably not with the flaming sword burning a hole in your carpet.”

Shit.Tyr jumped up and grabbed his sword. He pushed a ruby on the side and the blade retracted, becoming a pocketknife once more.

Damn. He needed to replace the carpet. Again.

Tyr held the pocketknife out to her.

She took it and rolled it in her palm.

Why had he done that? In the thousand years he’d owned the sword, he’d never once let someone else touch it. So why had he handed it over to her so willingly?

“Impressive.”

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