Page 73 of Heart’s Prisoner

Xerus didn't say anything at first. He picked up one of the rolls of gauze and unraveled it, being careful not to tear it with his sharp nails. Lana reluctantly stretched out her arm so he could wrap it around her.

"I must...kill the parasite. At all costs. If a humin has it. I can't spare thim."

Death is the only way.

Lana felt her body go cold. "So if I have it..."

"You don't."

Lana blinked in surprise. "How do you...? Ah, you sensed it."

Xerus nodded. He tightened the wrap on her arm then moved to her leg."Rishi eris etz."

Her brows furrowed. "Why won't I get it?"

Xerus finished with her leg then moved to bandage her burns.

"Xerus."

"You're staying with me," he responded.

Lana moved away, almost touching his hand to make him stop and look at her. "What do you plan to do?"

Xerus' eyes narrowed. "Finish my mission."

Chapter Twenty-Three

Lana was forced to rest despite her protests that she was fine even with the pain and injuries. She felt too on edge to sleep. Too tense to just lay there waiting around in this strange, fake paradise of a suite while outside was a living hell. It didn't help in the slightest that Xerus was planning to leave her to search around the base to hunt the parasite down. She wished she could say she wasn't worried for him but, as durable and powerful as he was, she still had her doubts.

"What if you get infected?" she asked as he was getting ready to leave. "If the blood gets on you..."

Xerus gave her an odd look. "I can't."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm immune," he said.

Lana stared at him in disbelief. "Your whole kind is immune?"

He grunted. "Iss why we fight it alone."

Lana shook her head. "But how?"

"It can't survive inside us.Rexi ni viridu," We are too strong,he stated.

Lana crossed her arms and sat back on the bed, glaring. Was there nothing his kind couldn't survive? Were they immortal too?

As if understanding her thoughts, Xerus let out a low hiss of laughter. "We can die. Jist not essly."

"What about Galger and his men? They are looking for you and others that escaped," Lana said. "To take you down."

Xerus snorted. "Sica ri nifas."Let them try.

Lana wanted to find some other excuse for him not to go but she had none. When he examined her once more and seemed satisfied, he went to leave.

"Be back," he said.

Lana lay silent. When he slipped from the room and she heard the door slide open and close, she waited for a moment longer then forced herself off the bed. Slowly she made her way over to the cabinets and then the wardrobe by the wall but they were mostly empty save for an extra robe. She wished she had at least asked Xerus to go looking for clothes.

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