Page 93 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

But that means he is dangerous to my well-being and I should limit these skin-to-skin interactions.

“Yes. Seeing the spiritual world is the only thing I was left with,” he adds, once more making me frown in confusion.

He says the most cryptic things, and I have a hard time understanding him. Perhaps it’s the fact that though I’m not touching him, I’m still in his vicinity and that may cause a neurological affliction.

I must study this phenomenon more. It’s bad enough I lost my powers. I cannot afford to love my brain, too.

“You shouldn’t go on any missions for the foreseeable future,” I mention as I cut the thread on his last stitch and bandage the wound.

This is it. The end. I will finish this and leave—put some distance between us so I can think straight again.

“It will heal.”

Skepticism suffuses me. Just moments ago, he was doubled down in pain and now he’s…rather nonchalant.

“It won’t if you strain yourself.”

“It’s fine. You’ll be there to put me back together, no?” he asks in a low voice.

I roll my eyes at him.

“Only for the next ninety-nine days. After that, you’ll have to find a different nurse.”

“What if I wantyou? Only you?”

“Then you’re out of luck. I kill demons for a living. I don’t heal puny humans,” I point out. “I’m only doing this as a last resort until I get my powers back.”

“You’re a natural at it,” he mentions. “And I don’t mind being your puny human.” He wiggles his brows at me. “I’ll let you doanything to me as long as I can feel those pretty hands of yours on my skin.”

I glare at him and stab the needle through his skin.

“Ouch,” he exclaims in surprise. “Don’t be so mean to me, Minnie. I told you I have a weak heart,” he murmurs in a low voice. Bringing his hand to his chest, he rubs circles over his heart as if to prove a point.

I follow the movements of his hand with my eyes, and my cheeks flush a deep red as I realize I’m staring at hisnakedchest.

The dim lighting of the tent gives his skin a golden hue. His muscles are hard and well-defined, and for a split second, I picture that it’smewho’s touching his chest. That it’smewho’s rubbing my hands all over those hard planes, feeling his heartbeats and…

“Unless you kiss it better?” He grins. “Maybe then it will heal,” he says with a wink.

His words jolt me back to the present. No-no-no, this is out of the question.

“You’re one of those shovels, aren’t you?” I narrow my eyes at him.

He blinks in confusion.“What? I’m a…shovel?”

“Y-you think you c-can entice me with your s-sweet words?” I croak, pulling back and giving him a stare down.

His hand stills on his chest, and once more, my eyes betray me as they zone in on his naked flesh. But I quickly recover and bring my gaze back to his face.

“Entice you?” he repeats, a smile pulling at his lips.

“Yes. Shovels do that. But it will not work. I am warning you, Mine. Don’t think to try something with me or I will be forced to club you over the head with this box,” I say as I grab the white box. It’s made out of thick wood, so I think it will do somedamage. If he wants another scar to add to his collection, I am more than happy to oblige him.

I expect him to be scared or at least wary. Instead, he just smiles indulgently at me.

“I think you mean rake, not shovel,” he adds in an amused voice.

I glare at him again.

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