Page 38 of Bite of Passage
Fast and coordinated, he scurried over to her, not at all the ambling or awkward gait she’d expected from a dwarf.What a load of wrong preconceptions she’d picked up from misleading fiction.
Next to her, his body radiated heat like a furnace.He smelled of something fresh and clean.She wanted to snuggle into him and warm up, but that’d be super weird since they didn’t know each other.Instead, she held out her hand in front of the one he cradled.She wasn’t about to grab an injured part of a mythical creature with undetermined abilities.
He held out his hand, which was the size of a five-year-old’s.The palm had a deep burn.
“What did this to you?”She glanced up, but all he gave her was a stoic face.She held up the bandaging.“Are you okay if I put something on it and wrap it?”
His brows drew together as he stared between where she held his hand and her face.His mouth set in a hard line, but he nodded.
“This won’t hurt, at least I hope it won’t.I’ve cared for injuries like this before.”She took his hand and held it out into the rain.“Got to clean it first.No way I’m putting alcohol on that thing.You’d probably go nuts and knife me in the gut or something.”
She watched his face closely, noting he paled a bit as rain hit the lesion.Yet, he didn’t tense up or pull his hand away from her.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.“I want to make it better.”
She dried his hand as best as possible with an extra scrub top in the backpack that remarkably wasn’t soaked.From her small first-aid kit, she used triple antibiotic ointment before placing the square bandage over the burn.Once she was done, the dwarf pulled it back against his body.
The two of them sat in silence, her tense and him like an immobile furnace.
“I should probably get out of here and run far away from Skarde.I’m not crazy.I don’t want to be attacked by a hungry vampire, but I don’t have anywhere to go.”Probably shouldn’t ramble.Maybe he didn’t know about Skarde.But she had a strong suspicion this little guy knew everything going on in this area of the woods.
A few more silent minutes later, nerves bubbled words out of her again.“This is the second time I’ve saved him.I can’t remember if he said thank you either time.The first time he’d decided to die, even though he lied and claimed he had a plan.I’m convinced he gave up.I figure he was sick of all the bullshit.The guy has nothing in his life to smile about.I think it all finally overwhelmed him.I might be wrong, though.This time I think he was too out of it from the poisoned dart to formulate a coherent thank you or be angry.He has to be glad I showed up.I know he wants to live.No, I don’t know that.Iwant him to live.”She glanced down at the little guy.
His eyes snapped to her as if sensing her gaze.But he remained silent.
Which was driving her nuts.
So, of course, she rambled on.“He saved me once as well.This psychotic guy I went on a date with once broke into my place and tried to murder me.I’d be dead if Skarde hadn’t showed up.Vampires don’t belong in my world, so it was surreal to see him there.We don’t have any creatures other than humans and animals over there.Kind of boring, I guess, from your perspective.”
She waited.
No answer.
He mustn’t understand.
“I’m not even sure why I like him.He’s… Well, he’s quite something.He’s actually the most quite-something I’ve ever met, but it’s not like he’s going to act on anything, even if he might be interested in me.I’m not even sure whether there is something real between us.That might be in my head.If thereissomething there, I’m not sure I’d want him to do anything about it.He’s cranky as hell and antisocial.Let’s also not forget he drinks human blood.But…” She shrugged.“I like him.Maybe it’s because he’s got the heart of a knight.”She rocked her head.“Okay,mostof the time he’s noble.I also think he needs a friend.And to have more laughter in his life.Who doesn’t?I don’t think he likes me, though.He’s always trying to get rid of me.”
She needed to shut up.What if Skarde woke up and heard her?
A lean backward against the tree caused bark to bite into her back.Nope.Not doing that.“Thanks for listening.It’s such a relief to say all this out loud.There’s no one where I’m from that would believe me without thinking I’ve lost my crackers.There’s Val, but she was freaked out about all of this.I’m not sure what to do now that I’m stuck in your world.”
The dwarf took her right wrist between his bandaged hand and good hand.
She tensed but didn’t yank away her hand.Did dwarves drink blood too?
With a forefinger he traced a line across the two-inch area of pigmented skin shaped like Kentucky on the inside of her wrist, her birthmark.It lit up with a yellow-orange glow in a pattern of foreign lettering from her hand to elbow.
What the hell was he doing to her?It didn’t burn or feel warm, but her arm lit up.It was kind of pretty…and freaky.
“You are a medicinal,” he said in a low bass that would rival any professional movie trailer voice-over guy.
“Whoa.You understand what I’m saying?What I said?”
“Of course.”
Her face scorched.“You could’ve mentioned that earlier and not let me spew all that crap,” she muttered.“How about forgetting about all of what I just said?Why is my arm glowing?”
He tapped her arm with his forefinger.The glow disappeared.“He brought us your ring.I wondered…”
