It was my turn to tremble so hard that the bed shook. “Did it work?”
There was so little light in the room that even my werewolf eyes couldn’t tell for sure, but her skin—what wasn’t covered by the gown—looked back to normal. Her heart raced from the exertion and the sharp scent of pain hung heavy in the air, but like the smell of magic, it was fading.
And she hadn’t thrown up. Not that it would have mattered to me, but I was glad she’d been spared that indignity.
She moved her arms and legs, raised her head, and squeezed her hands into fists—something she couldn’t do even minutes ago because her fingers had been so swollen and painful.
“I think it worked,” she said.
With the speed of a wolf, I was in the bed, under the covers, and drawing her to my chest so I could wrap her in warmth and comfort. Her hands tightened on my waist and held on.
“That was just about the worst fucking thing I’ve ever had to stand by and watch,” I said roughly, my lips on her hair. “You don’t know how hard it was not to take that thing away from you.”
“You know you can’t interfere with a spell when it’s working,” she said against my chest. The warmth of her breath above my breastbone took some of the edge off my fury. “It’s over,” she said softly. “Now I’m all better.”
I let out a guttural, disbelieving sound. “A few hours ago, you were close enough to Death to look him in the eye. Then you went through a healing spell that looked like it hurt as much as awerewolf’s first shift, and now you’re ‘all better.’ How can you be so calm about this?”
She went quiet for a long time. It wasn’t an angry quiet or a resentful one, but there was a sadness and resignation about it that made me caress her arms—carefully, though, just in case she was still tender.
“I’ve used healing spells before,” she said.
She’d tried to sound matter-of-fact, but I heard the pain in those words. The memories.
I used to know some bad people.
They’d left her scarred inside and out, but she was still standing. Still fighting. And helping those who needed it.
“I guess you have,” I said.
She found the empty crystal in the bedding and put it on the nightstand, then leaned over and put the box of spells on the floor.
Rather than stay under the covers with me, she moved to the edge of the bed and put her feet on the floor. And then she stood.
She didn’t sway, stagger, or stumble. Instead, she stretched very gingerly, testing the flexibility of her arms, waist, hips, and legs, and rolled her neck and shoulders. I didn’t see her flinch or hear any gasps of pain.
The healing spell had exacted a high price, but it had worked. She was well again.
She had no magic, though. Natalie had nulled her. The healing spell apparently hadn’t helped with that. What would? I didn’t know. Another gap in my knowledge about Alice’s kind of magic.
I watched her go to the dresser and choose a pair of pajamas, looking for some hint of how she felt or if she planned to ask me to leave now that she was healed. I really couldn’t tell what she was thinking about.
I expected my wolf to be agitated. Instead, he settled down in my mind, his head on his paws and eyes half-lidded. What did he sense that I didn’t?
Humming to herself, she took the pajamas to the bathroom and shut the door. The toilet flushed, water ran in the sink, and clothing rustled. What sounded like the lid of a hamper thumped shut.
When she emerged in pajamas, she looked straight at me without a word.
I took a chance and lifted the covers, inviting her to climb in beside me.
And she did, without hesitation.
She turned her back to me, wriggled close, and settled in, her curves fitting perfect against my chest and bent legs.
I wrapped my arms around her and buried my face in her hair. It still smelled like burned wood, magic, and her own burned flesh, but she also smelled like vanilla and honey and whatever she’d just used to wash her face. Something with mint. It made me think of my guess about mint chocolate chip ice cream.
She smelled good to me, and had since the moment I’d sat down in the booth across from her at Hawthorne’s.
She rubbed her nose against my forearm, exhaled, and relaxed in my arms. So maybe I smelled good to her too.
