Page 136 of Grave Situation

“Interesting. I hadn’t cons?—”

“Sorry to interrupt, but that’s already too much geometry for me,” I cut in. My stomach is unsettled enough; talk of rolling heads won’t help. “Coryn, while I burn these… pieces, why don’t you and Peiris go have a look at the temple, see if you agree we should move there for tonight? Then we can go get all our things.”

Peiris raises an eyebrow. “I’m not accustomed to being ordered about.”

“He’s the expedition leader,” Coryn says earnestly. “But don’t worry, he doesn’t do much ordering. Mostly he complains about sleeping on the ground and the food. You and I will be in charge when it comes to safety stuff. Come on, you can show me the temple, and I’ll explain how we all work together.”

I momentarily wonder if that was a poor decision on my part, but surely the stone would have stopped me if Peiris was going to be a risk to us. Shrugging it off—better that they learn upfront what their life is going to become for this mission—I set to work burning arms and legs.

Twilight is fallingbefore we get our things and the horses to the temple. Jaimin and I were right about the heads and torsos of the dismembered zombies—the torsos were where they’d fallen, twitching desperately but barely making any progress, and the heads were rolling around in lopsided circles. I burned them all. Coryn and Jaimin are almost certain no parts got away, and considering that the ones that could move came after us, my guess is that their only orders were to kill us, and they couldn’t stop until that was achieved. The thought of facing that kind of single-mindedness in huge numbers on a battlefield sends chills down my spine.

When Coryn joined us, he advised that the temple would be perfect and that Peiris had gone to collect their belongings. I didn’t have the chance to ask for details, since Sweetie was trying to stomp on my foot—she obviously didn’t like being left at the mercy of the zombies—but now that my demon horse is contentedly drowsing in the corner we’ve blocked off for the horses, I turn my attention to important matters.

Or rather, Jaimin hauls me off to one of the stone benches and threatens me with dire consequences if I don’t sit still so he can finish healing me. I obey and pretend this bossy, strict side of him isn’t wildly attractive to me.

That lasts for about thirty seconds. “You know, it’s more fun than I expected when you order me around. Maybe we can?—”

“Do you want me to make this painful?” he threatens. “I can make it painful.”

I give up on trying to flirt… for now. “No,” I say meekly, then can’t resist adding, “It’s not my fault the zombies attacked. Why are you angry with me?”

“I’m not angry with you,” he begins, then immediately changes tack. “Actually, yes, I am. Since when are you the stoic hero who refuses healing?”

What? I blink at him in surprise. “I’m not,” I protest. “Heal me,please.”

His eyes narrow.

“Is this about before? Because I didn’t want zombie limbs creeping around the city and for us to be wandering around after dark?”

“Don’t make it sound like I’m being unreasonable,” he orders. “You have no idea how close you were to losing your arm—and your life, if the wound had festered.”

“I know it hurt like fire until you numbed the pain,” I counter. “And I know you’d never let anything bad happen to me if you could stop it. I don’t think you’re being unreasonable, Jaimin—you’re just underestimating how much faith I have in you.”

His expression softens a little. “Sweet words aren’t going to keep me from lecturing you later.”

“Okay,” I agree. “We’ll go into one of those private rooms and you can lecture me as long as you like. Can we be naked?”

He heaves a sigh that turns into a chuckle. “You’re incorrigible.”

“Yes, but I also love you.”

The smile I get almost makes up for the fact that I nearly lost my godsdamned arm. I could have lived without knowing that little fact.

I give myself a few more seconds to process that and then ask Jaimin, “Do you mind if I call Coryn over? I want to know what he and Peiris talked about.”

He nods. “Good idea. Shouldn’t they be back by now?”

I shrug, then cringe when he scowls at me. “Sorry. I forgot. You’re too good at making the pain go away.” The scowl doesn’t lighten, so I move on. “Hey, Coryn? Could you come here?”

Our resident cuddle-bunny puts down the sword he’s sharpening—a sound I’ve become accustomed to but will never like—and joins us. “Hi! Is Talon okay?” he asks Jaimin.

“I’m right here,” I point out, but he ignores me.

“If he needs to rest, I can come back later,” he says earnestly.

Jaimin smiles at him. “You’re my favorite person in the world. But it’s fine for him to talk to you.”

Coryn beams and says, “Okay,” before turning to me. “Did you need something?”

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