Virgil halted by another hall. “Come back anytime.”
My knee, hands, and arms were sore. The water cleansed the wounds but reawakened all the nerve endings where I’d scraped myself. Nothing hurt as much as my eye and cheek. My wrist even felt okay when bandaged up tight.
I padded toward the kitchen in my socks in search of someone. “Hello?”
Archer stepped into view by a cabinet. “What do you need?”
I held the unraveled bandage. “I’m having trouble getting it on.”
He jerked his head toward the back door. “Come with Dr. Swift. I’ll patch you up.” Archer held the screen door open where it parted down the center, and we stepped onto a wooden deck. The grey clouds were pregnant with rain, the birth of a storm imminent.
“Do you need my assistance?” Salem asked from a folding chair where he was reading a book and eating black licorice.
“I got it,” Archer said.
“Sure you do. Let me know when you’ve cut off her circulation.”
Chuckling, I sat on the steps and faced Archer, who sat to my right.
“Hold this.” He placed the end of the bandage to my wrist.
While I held it, he started to wrap.
My attention swung up to the field where Tak was riding Luna. I could tell by the way she moved that she loved being ridden. That was something I couldn’t relate to since I had never let anyone on my back.
I let go when Archer secured the end. “Just make sure my fingers don’t turn blue,” I quipped.
“Don’t worry. If I have to do it all over again, I will.”
Salem laughed quietly behind us, making Archer glare over his shoulder.
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay in the house?” Archerstopped for a minute and gave me his attention. “There’s plenty of room, and nobody cares.”
“It’s safer this way. One of you might shift, or even I might shift. Do you think Tak will accept rent from me until I’m able to leave?”
“Nope.”
He deftly wrapped my hand. Then it dawned on me that bandaging my own wrist was difficult because I couldn’t do it with one hand, and here Archer was, doing what I couldn’t.
Finally, he secured the metal clip and looked at my fingers. “How does that feel? Too tight? Too loose?”
My wrist felt secure, and unlike last night, the circulation wasn’t cut off. “Not bad.”
“The Relic said everything should be healed up in a couple of days. Do you need pain pills?”
I liked that they weren’t pressuring me to shift or asking too many questions even though Milly had filled them in. “Um, do you have anything for sleep? Just for tonight.”
The chair creaked behind us. “I’ll fetch something in my bag,” Salem said before disappearing inside.
“I don’t want to get addicted to them.”
“Trust me, the stuff Salem keeps in his magic bag isn’t anything you’ll want to put in your mouth again. But it works. They’re not human drugs.”
“That’s reassuring.” An unseasonably cool breeze with a heady scent in the undercurrent rushed against my face. “A hard rain is coming.”
“Where’s your bracelet?”
“At home. I was so upset yesterday morning that after I showered, I forgot to put it on. Doesn’t matter.” Raising my bandaged arm, a bracelet hardly seemed like a concern.
