Page 11 of Descent of Angels

“Agreed. Stubborn bastard. I’m not leaving him here to be hellion bait while we tuck our tails and run.”

Ade nodded and then looked straight at me. “Do it. Try whatever you can. There’s no way we’re giving up on him now.”

I nodded and picked up the syringe from the box.Okay,I told myself.Deep breath. You can do this. Please let this work.

SIX

ELETH

I watched Dylan closely as she worked. She double and triple checked everything, and although she must have been nervous, she moved calmly and steadily as she administered the drug. I knelt on the other side of Remiel with Ade at his head and Jophiel at his feet in case he began to seize again, but his body went limp in moments. Dylan checked his pulse and listened to his breathing, then repeated it. She nodded.

“Okay, I think he’s out. If he’s not, he’ll react to this.”

She picked up a sharp paring knife that had been blade down in some clear liquid she had told me was a kind of alcohol and pressed it down, nicking his skin near the edge. She watched him closely, but he didn’t flinch, and she sighed.

“Here goes nothing.”

It seemed like we sat there forever, watching her as she cut away at the wound until she was able to retrieve whatever it was that had got in there. We all looked up as she pulled something black free with a pair of tweezers.

“That’s a hellion claw,” I said. It was long and curved and wickedly sharp. Rather than having snapped off in the wound, it looked as though it had been torn from the hellion. Clumps of dark flesh clung to one end.

Dylan nodded. “I bet that’ll be where the infection came from.” She laid it aside in a plastic tub and began to wash out the wound, dousing it with more alcohol until none of the black flesh remained. “I just need to sew him up. Is he still breathing alright?” Her eyes flicked over to Ade, who nodded.

“He’s good,” Ade murmured. “I’ll let you know if something changes.”

She began to sew, her nimble fingers handling his flesh as though he were a patchwork quilt. I watched her for a few moments, then asked, “How do you know how to do all of this? We’re not experts on humans by any means, but you seem to know more than most about caring for injured people.”

She didn’t look up, and for a moment, I thought she hadn’t heard me or didn’t want to answer.

“I wanted to be a doctor when I was growing up. I read lots of books about it, even medical textbooks I found in the library.”

There was a sadness in her voice that made me push her further on the subject. “Why didn’t you? Did you change your mind?”

She looked up at me, and the pain in her eyes hit me. “I wasn’t... I couldn’t go. I wanted to medical school, but I couldn’t... I was needed here.” She dropped her gaze, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear that had fallen into her eyes. The movement drew my eyes to the marks on her neck. I had thought something was up when I’d seen her in the kitchen as she ran her fingers over her skin. I had enjoyed watching her, wondering what her skin would feel like under my touch. Now I realized she had been hurt. I gritted my teeth, my hands curling into fists at my sides as I fought not to say any more, but I looked over at Ade. The grimness on his face made me realize he had noticed too. He gave a short, sharp shake of his head, and I took a deep breath. There was nothing we could do right now, and she really didn’t need to be distracted.

“There,” she said softly, setting her needle and thread down. I looked back at her. There were dark circles under her eyes, and she looked exhausted. She hadn’t slept since the evening before, and she had been running around after us all day. I reached over and took the bandages from her hands.

“You’ve done more than enough. We can take care of him from here. Go get some sleep.”

She smiled and nodded, getting to her feet. “Okay, I do have some things to do. I’ll check back when I bring you some dinner in a couple of hours. Keep giving him water when he wakes up. If he keeps that down, try some broth in a few hours. There’s some in the thermos there.”

She took a deep breath and stretched, reaching her hands up above her head and closing her eyes as it eased the muscles in her arms and shoulders. I also took a breath, drawn by the slim lines of her body and the obvious curve of her breasts under the shirt she wore. Her head tipped back, and the bruises on her creamy throat were starting to look suspiciously like finger marks. They were a cold shower to my stiffening cock, and I looked down to see Ade and Jophiel staring at her wide-eyed.

I smiled sadly. It looked like they had noticed the beautiful, sweet Dylan too, and not just as the kind woman who was helping us survive. She was so tempting, even more so because it was completely forbidden to touch her. I sighed. There were more important things we had to take care of. Right now, I couldn’t imagine what could be more important than spending time with this delicious creature. Just being in her presence made me feel calm and excited all at once. I wanted to take those slender hands in one of mine and slide my other hand up her shirt to cup one of those breasts. I wanted to hear her gasp as my skin slid over hers...

“Eleth?”

I blinked as Ade’s voice cut through my forbidden fantasy. I turned to find him watching me. Did he know what had crossed my mind? Ade could see things sometimes, but he never explained how it worked, just hints and flashes here and there of things that had happened or were yet to happen. Had he seen my fantasy? Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dylan open her eyes and lower her arms.

“If you can help Jophiel with the bandages, I’ll help Dylan take the stuff back up to the house.”

I nodded. “Sure, I can do that.” I looked at Dylan. “Go take care of yourself. Don’t worry about us.”

She smiled, and I felt its warmth fill me up inside.“Okay, I’ll see you all later.” She packed her stuff away, and Ade lifted the basket, following her out of the barn. At the door, he waited until she’d gotten a bit of distance between her and the barn door before leaning back inside. “Don’t even think about it,” he said, looking straight at me and then, to my surprise, at Jophiel.

I blinked. “Think about what?” I asked innocently.

“I saw the way you looked at her just now,” Ade said to me. “You too, Joph. It’s forbidden, and we haven’t decided what we’re doing yet. Don’t let a pretty face cloud your judgment. There’s enough riding on this decision without letting our physical bodies rule our thinking.”

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