Page 34 of Luca

If Alex were here, he’d be having an absolute field day.

An unseemly snort burst out of me, my body heaving with it, but the sound tapered into a grunt as a sharp pain cut through my side. My hand flew to the source, and Cair was already in front of me, nostrils flaring.

“You’re bleeding.”

“What? No, I’m?—”

He peeled my hand away, revealing the thin line of blood across my palm. Its source seeped through my white shirt.

I scrambled to lift the hem, sighing with relief at the small scratch above my hip bone. It looked to have stopped actively bleeding, the drops that had escaped already drying. It wasn’t a complete catastrophe, a paper cut really, but when I gazed up at Cair to make a joke about dry cleaning, the murderous glint in his eyes would’ve told a different story.

“It hurt you,” he growled, his eyes glowing their supernatural purple. “How could I not smell it before?”

“Cair, I’m alright.” I dropped my shirt to set my hands on his chest. “It’s just a scratch. That guy’s dagger must have nicked me. It’s hardly even bleeding, look…”

His gaze was fixed on the spot as I showed him again, but he wasn’tseeing. “I should have sensed it.”

“You were probably high on adrenaline.” I took a deep inhale, scrunching my nose up. “And to be fair, I can only smelltheirblood. Which I’m kinda covered in, by the way. It’s literally sticking to me.”

He wasn’t listening.

“Scout ahead to the inn,” Cair barked at Cee, his whole demeanor switching from neutral to protective-mate mode. “Ask for a room on the top floor, offer whatever payment you have to, then meet us at the back entrance. I want as few eyes on us as possible.”

Cee nodded in understanding before disappearing into the trees like a ghost to carry out her orders.

Gary stepped forward. “What do you need from me?”

“Follow behind us,” Cair instructed. “Stay alert.”

He bowed, pulling his hood over his head with one hand and lifting his neck gaiter over his nose and mouth with the other. He drifted into the shadows, not an ounce of his earlier goofiness evident. On the job, he was like an entirely different being, focused and attentive, but I didn’t get the chance to dwell on it as my mate ushered me forward, bending as if preparing to scoop me into his arms.

I took a step back.

“Cair, I’m alright,” I said sternly. “I can walk.”

His jaw clenched, and I knew that meant he wanted to argue but was forcing himself to suppress it. For my sake. I sighed. The emotions coming through our bond were chaos, a whirlwind of bloodlust, possessiveness, and despair. His instincts were going haywire, and I knew they wouldn’t settle unless he appeased them.

UnlessIappeased them, as he so often did for me.

It’ll be a long night.

“Okay.” I relented, smiling up at him. “Carry me.”

He was careful, picking me up bridal style as his wings extended to their full span. Within seconds, we were soaring into the air, weaving through the forest toward the nearest inn.

Gary had to run to keep up.

* * *

The room we rented was spacious yet cozy. An embodiment of all those medieval taverns I’d read about in my fantasy romances. The fire was burning away, and the green curtains were drawn, giving it a secure, homely feel—a good place to unwind. It had also been vacant when Cee arrived, so there’d been no need for bribes. I’d asked her about it as we snuck through the back door like celebrities avoiding a mob.

Much to Cair’s satisfaction, we’d met no one as he climbed the stairs, two at a time, with me still in his arms. He’d locked the door behind us, barely stopping to admire the king-sized bed or the shower and tub situation before he was helping me bathe. He’d tenderly scrubbed the reaper’s blood from my skin, then drained and refilled the murky water to wash my hair. His tentative fingers had felt heavenly on my scalp—on every inch of me, really—but it was over far too soon. Gary had delivered bandages and ointment, and my mate had insisted on dressing the wound without further delay. I’d let him do whatever he needed. It was no real hardship, being taken care of and pampered.

And if it helped him regulate, then it was a win-win.

“We’ll stay here for a few nights,” he said as he tucked the tail of the bandage securely under itself. “Let you rest and heal properly. Then we will return to the palace.”

My eyes snapped to his, blinking as I processed what he’d said—his first full sentence since we’d got here. “Um, no…” I countered with a short, incredulous laugh. “We can stay here fortwonights, then we’ll carry on.”

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