Likefuckif she was going to listen to him. Forcing her glamor back over herself to summon her legs, she half clambered, half climbed out of the tub.
Raziel caught her before she fell and ate the floor. It seemed her legs, while they obeyed her summons, did not want to work properly. Her head spun, and she forced herself to slow herbreathing down. She was going to black out if she didn’t. She couldn’t have that.
She had a bodyguard to murder.
Violently.
Quickly.
Immediately.
“Moons’ sake, calm down, Nadi.”
“He can’t—he can’t know, Raz. He can’t—” She tried to squirm out of his grasp, but it was pointless. She was a wet noodle. And one that wasalsoentirely naked.
“Can we discuss this when you’re able to stand and breathe under your own power?” Raziel kept her up with one arm as he reached over to a hook on the wall and pulled a thick, plush dressing gown from it. He helped her put it on.
She couldn’t even put on a damn dressing gown without his help. The moment he took his arm out from around her, she nearly fell to the floor, and had to lean against the counter to keep from toppling.
He had a point. Shehatedwhen he had a point. Letting out a sigh, she shut her eyes. “Fine.”
“Good. Now. Come on.” Without giving her a moment to protest, he scooped her up in his arms. “Let’s get some food in you.”
“Why did you tell him?” She glared at the side of his face as he carried her down the stairs toward the kitchen area. She’d be angry at him for carrying her around, but he was right to assume that her and a spiral staircase would be a recipe for a very painful fall.
“I didn’t.” His expression smoothed into a hard one. “After I attacked you, I…snapped out of it, just before killing you. Ivan found me with you. As you truly are, tail and all. There was no point denying any of it at that point.”
He believed he attacked her. He didn’t remember?
She didn’t know how to feel about that. Relieved. Ashamed, weirdly. Like she had gotten away with something. “It wasn’t your fault, what happened.”
Raziel didn’t speak as he set her down on the sofa in his living room. Ivan was standing in the kitchen over the stove, stirring something that smelled phenomenal. Something that smelled very much like home.
“What are you making?” She very,verymuch wanted Ivan dead. But she wouldn’t stand a chance against the enormous vampire when she couldn’t stand. No, she’d have to wait. Or talk Raziel into it. But for the moment, a more pressing mystery was in front of her.
“Weird stew,” was all Ivan replied with.
Raziel rolled his eyes as he headed over to the kitchen and started rustling around for a bowl and a spoon. “I sent him down to the gray zone, near the Wild. Sent him to meet with some of your people. Asked them what would heal you.”
The tea. “You madean’ahnaka.”She snorted and then lost it again laughing. “That wasn’t a dream. Oh, Mother moon—how much did you pay them?”
“It’s not important.” Raziel’s back was to her as he nudged Ivan out of the way to ladle stew into a bowl.
“A lot,” Ivan interjected as he left his post by the stove to go stand by the wall, his arms crossed over his massive chest. “Said it was allfae magic.”
“You got played.” She laughed again. “Oh, that’shysterical.Magic. It’s literally—it’s just one of those home recipes your mother made for you when you had the flu.”
Raziel handed her the bowl of stew, a troubled look on his face as he moved to sit down in the plush chair across from the sofa.
“Your mother didn’t make you anything when you were sick? I’m not surprised.” She smelled the soup. The herbs in it camefrom the Wild. She hadn’t had anything like it in almost a century, and it almost made her want to cry. The meat in it was from the Wild as well, she could tell from the gaminess of it. It wasn’t grown on a farm like the human cows or chickens. It justsmelledbetter. And it would taste the same.
“Vampires don’t get sick.” Raziel shook his head. “I don’t really have anything to compare to what you’re describing.”
Odd. She’d never considered that. On one hand, that must be useful—to not have to worry about children getting sick and dying. On the other hand, why did she feelbadfor him? Like he’d missed out on something crucial, like having his mother make a bowl of meat stew for him?
“It’s not magic. But it’s appreciated.” Nadi started eating the stew. It wasn’t as good as she remembered—she figured neither Ivan nor Raziel were terribly great cooks—but she’d cut them some slack. “Now, can we talk about the three-hundred-poundhyi’nin the room?”
“I filled him in on everything.” Raziel laced his fingers in front of him as he sat back in his chair. “No need.”
