Flesh And Blood: House of Comarre: Book Two (House of Comarre 2) Painter, Kristen (historical books to read txt) 📖

Chrysabelle is resting. Cannot be disturbed. Go home.

So. Not training. Not good. ‘No. I need to see her. She won’t mind being disturbed, trust me.’ Or maybe she would. But she’d get over it. He needed to know she was okay. You need her blood.

Velimai hugged the tablet to her chest and shook her head.

‘You’re not the only one who can yell.’ Mal glared back. ‘You want me to wake her up my way? Then you can explain why you didn’t go and get her in the first place.’

Velimai flipped him a sign he understood perfectly and walked away in the opposite direction. Hopefully to get Chrysabelle.

A hundred hours later, Chrysabelle appeared, skin as pale as the big white robe she was wrapped in, hair loose around her face, and dark circles beneath her eyes. She moved tentatively, like she was in pain. Even at this distance he felt her body temp was off. Too high. He was relieved she was alive and upright, but her condition left a lot to be desired. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘Can we go out to the lanai?’ The words were strained.

‘Sure.’ He could argue a thousand other days to be let in. ‘Meet you there.’

It took her ten minutes longer to join him than it should have. She delicately sat onto one of the chaise longues, then eased her feet up and patted the cushion. ‘Sit.’

Bite. He did as she asked, welcoming the closeness and instantly wishing for more. ‘What happened?’

She smiled. ‘I’m glad you’re okay.’ She reached out and squeezed his hand, knocking his mental balance into a dark crevasse. Her touch made the voices howl.

‘Thank you. And likewise.’ Except she clearly wasn’t okay. ‘Please tell me what happened. Two Nothos got away from me. I know they went after you.’ If he was lucky, they’d eaten Creek for dinner. Or you could.

With a sigh, she rested her head against the chaise’s high back. ‘That’s why I wasn’t sure if you were all right. They found us.’

Us, she’d said. Like she and Creek were a couple. He looked away long enough to force the calm back onto his face. ‘Then what happened?’

‘We fought them. Killed them. We both got wounded, but I took the brunt of it.’

‘You should wear that body armor of yours from now on.’

She glanced down and adjusted her robe. ‘That wouldn’t make it very comfortable for you to be around me.’

That she would care about that detail raised a sense of satisfaction in him. ‘I’ll deal. How badly were you hurt?’

‘I needed a few stitches. Still working the Nothos poison out of my system, which, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, is why I’m running a little hot and fast.’

‘How many is a few?’

‘Enough to close me up.’

‘How many?’

Her expression darkened. ‘I think around seventy.’

The sensation drained out of his extremities. ‘Seventy. Seven zero.’

‘Yes,’ she whispered.

‘Son of a priest.’ The beast inhaled. The scent of blood was strong. But so was another scent. ‘Who gave you those stitches?’

‘Who do you think?’

There was no thought. Just a growl and his fist pounding the tumbled marble pool deck. The tile cracked. He got up and walked to the edge of the pool. Stared unseeing into the crystalline water. Listened to the whine of the souls in his head.

‘You’re upset he saved my life?’

The slayer had touched her. She probably asked him to. Probably loved it. ‘He saved your life? I’m sure my sending you away and taking the bulk of those monsters had nothing to do with the fact that you’re still here.’

‘Mal … ’ Her voice was soft, cajoling.

Now was not the time for his anger. He knew that but let it roil within him anyway. ‘Where were you injured?’

‘Across my stomach.’

Rage choked him. ‘Did he undress you, too?’

‘Yes.’ Anger replaced the softness. ‘Just like you did.’

He had no problem remembering that day. Forgetting it … now, that was an issue. He turned. ‘If you recall, you undressed yourself that day. I covered you up.’

She scowled, making herself look even more pitiful, and muttered something under her breath that sent an electric skitter over his skin and the voices into a new frenzy.

He cocked one eyebrow. ‘What did you say?’

‘I said bite me. But I meant it figuratively.’

‘Now you sound like Katsumi. Which seems like a good enough reason to change the subject.’ That or he was going to destroy something. ‘Tatiana was in Seven. Her hand has been replaced by some metal prosthesis that can change shape. She’s hunting you. Sooner or later, she’s going to find you. Unless you get your boyfriend to track her down and stake her first.’

‘I figured the Nothos were a sign she was here. Now we know for sure. And her being here makes her easier to find and kill.’ She laughed. ‘It’s interesting to see you jealous.’

Damn right he was jealous. ‘You confuse jealousy with protecting what’s mine. Your blood rights. Or have you conveniently forgotten that again?’

‘Conveniently? You mean like the way you’re only my patron when it’s convenient?’ She snorted softly. ‘This is a two-way street, Malkolm.’

‘Don’t you care that Tatiana’s after you? That she’s in town?’

‘Dominic sent Solomon over to ward the house when we got back from Corvinestri. Some kind of extra-strength spell that erased the house’s location from Tatiana’s memory.’ She stared directly at him in a transparent show of bravado. ‘Besides, I have every intention of killing her the first chance I get.’

‘She found the house once, she’ll find it again. You’re injured. You’re in no condition to fight her if she shows up. Especially if she brings more Nothos with her.’

‘She won’t have to fight. I’m here.’

At the voice, they both looked up. Mal cursed at the slayer walking toward them. Velimai hovered behind Creek, looking far too pleased to have escorted the KM in. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘Checking up on my patient. She can’t spare the blood right now, so you might as well leave.’

‘She’s not your patient.’ A storm rose