It was over. We got him. It was a huge relief, but I felt numb and stared into space. “We’ll have to ask my great-uncle to get all the blood off the floor and desk. This is Russell’s hobbit hole. We don’t want to leave him with a scent that drives him nuts.”
Clive put his hand on the side of my face and turned me so I was staring into his eyes. “Your pupils are so big, darling. You’re shaking. You’re in shock.”
“I’m okay,” I said, though my voice sounded strange.
“You’re not.”
I licked my lips, trying to say the words that were strangling me. “I knew it was you. I knew it. I knew.” I choked on a sob, holding myself in check. “But what if I’d been wrong?” I whispered, my hand flying up and covering my lips. “What if I’d killed you?”
“Darling,” he crooned, pulling me into his arms again and rocking me. “You knew exactly which one I was. I never doubted it for a moment.” His hand rubbed my back. “There could be a room crowded with a hundred Sams, and I’d pick you out every time.”
He leaned back, his hand warming the side of my face. “You’re so cold, love. Can I ask Bracken to come back? I’m worried about these gouges in your stomach. They’re deep.”
I nodded and then there was a knock on the door.
“Come,” Clive called.
The door opened and Bracken was there. He waved a hand and all the blood on the floor disappeared. Clive had me lie down and then Bracken crouched beside me, holding his hands over my stomach, his fingers twitching.
“I’m not a healer,” he murmured, his voice soft and calming, “but I’ve picked up a few things over the years.” He was quiet for a moment. “Ah. She has a shard of glass embedded in her abdomen,” he said to Clive. “It hasn’t nicked any vital organs that I can tell, but we have to get it out.”
“Lie still, love,” Clive said, placing my head in his lap.
I grabbed Clive’s hand. “I think it hurt Fergus.”
Clive squeezed my fingers. “He’ll be fine. He was sleeping in the tunnel. When the spell on me lifted, the one on him probably did too.”
Bracken looked uncomfortable and then met my gaze. “I don’t want to lift the bottom of your dress, but I need to get to your stomach.”
Clive leaned forward and ripped the tear in my dress wider, so my skirt could stay down and Bracken could work. He held his hand over my stomach again. I heard myself whimpering. It was cutting me again on the way out. Clive intervened, pulling away my pain while he brushed my hair from my face.
“Sorry, my dear,” Bracken said, “but we have to get it out of you before it does more damage.”
“I know. I’m okay now,” I rasped out. Closing my eyes, I turned my head in to Clive’s stomach, his scent soothing something that had splintered in me.
There was one more dull yank and slice before the glass was out. I didn’t know what Bracken was doing, but there was an internal tug and then heat filled my belly.
“What I can do is done,” Bracken said. “I’ll step out now.”
The door closed and Clive moved, lifting my dress and running his tongue along the line of cuts and gashes. He took another moment to check my head, my shoulders, looking for other cuts.
“Thank you. I just got rid of my scars. I don’t want to start a new collection.”
He gave me a kiss and helped me up. “I’ve told you before, darling. Scars are sexy.”
I looked down at myself. “How problematic is this dress?”
He shook his head and said, “Very,” before unbuttoning his dress shirt. “This feels familiar,” he murmured, referring to that time almost a year ago when I’d killed my rapist and was standing in a bloody t-shirt that was too short to cover important bits. He’d given me the shirt off his back then too.
He was right. It wasn’t just the gaping hole in the center. It was also soaked with blood, which wasn’t handy when we were about to go out where vampires were waiting for us. I peeled off the dress; Clive licked a few red smudges off my skin and then helped me into his shirt.
Grinning, he tucked my hair behind my ear. “The jewelry, the shirt.” He pulled me into his arms. “It’s putting ideas in my head.”
“Pff’t. Like those ideas weren’t already there.” He was right, though. This was a serious after-sex-putting-on-my-lover’s-shirt look. “Am I decent?”
He took my hand. “Absolutely. Let’s go.”
When we stepped out, the vampires were ranged around the Shire, intensely interested in the folly. Bracken was outside the door, waiting.
