“What?” Xavier teased. “You’ve been holding out on me this whole time?”
Jessiah rolled his eyes. “This is for emergencies. Like this one.”
With a hand behind my head, Xavier brought the open flask to my lips. “Here,” he whispered. “I’d consider this an emergency.”
I took a long swig, fighting the urge to wince. The liquid was nothing like the delicious ale from Soph’s bar, and it burned tentimes more painfully on its way down. But right now, that was exactly what I needed.
Xavier pulled the flask away, giving me absolutely no warning before pouring it over my open wound.
As white-hot pain seared my insides, Jessiah held me down with strong hands on my shoulders.
“Dammit, Xavier!”
He mumbled an apology that he definitely didn’t mean, then got to work packing my wound with bandages.
“I told you,” I huffed. “It’s really not that big of a deal. I’malmostpositive it didn’t hit any vital organs.”
He ignored me, focusing on my midsection—though not in the way males tended to look when it was on display—leaving Jessiah to entertain my witty remarks.
“Would it really hurt to just say thank you?” Jessiah asked. “Or do you just like making life more difficult than it needs to be?”
“Obviously the latter.”
As he gritted out a curse, his jaw looked more defined in the flickering firelight. All his features did; his cheekbones were sharper, and his brows looked thicker as he frowned down at Xavier’s work.
All the while his right hand remained on my shoulder.
I didn’t brush it off, though I certainly could have.
I certainly should have.
But it was cold as all hells, and I was tired.
“Where’s Wolf and his healing magic when we need it?” I sighed.
Jessiah’s eyes darkened even further.
But I wasn’t conscious enough to hear the offensive remark that came next.
Because even with the fire, my body was racked with chills.
And darkness came swiftly.
The sound of my own laughter surprised me. I hadn’t heard it in so long, and it ripped through my mind like a foreign memory.
Jessiah and I sat on the roof, me with my feet dangling off the edge, him standing on one side and a few feet back.
He was quite the scaredy-cat for someone who could literally fly.
“You’re doing that on purpose!” Though he yelled, I could hear the smile in his voice all the same.
“Oh, come on! Live a little, angel!”
We’d been in Scarlata for a couple of weeks. Wolf and Huntyr were busy doing all the things required of leaders of a brand-new kingdom, so that left the two of us plenty of time to do, well, whatever we were doing. We didn’t have much in common, other than our status as non-bloodsuckers in a kingdom full of them.
But I didn’t totally hate his company. He was pure and honest, and he practically glowed with a refreshing lightness. Looking at him was like looking up at a bright, cloudless sky and feeling the warmth on my skin. I wanted to protect him. I wanted him to stay this pure and innocent forever.
Innocent may not have been the right word for it. Jessiah had been through some shit; we all had. Nobody made it through this life unscathed, and Jessiah’d had his fill. His father died not long ago at all, and yet here he was, laughing and wasting time with me.
