Instead of setting her on fire, he relented, shifting his leathery wing.
So much for putting her in her place. Witch one. Dragon zero.
At the sight of Alaric’s injury, Serafina uttered soft words of sympathy. “This is even worse than the last time I saw it. I imagine you’re in a great deal of pain.”
As her head swiveled in my direction, those soft sounds became a low grunt of anger. “You.” She thrust a finger my way.
“Me?” I hiked the sausage that I’d stabbed up to my chest. “What did I do?”
“You should have told me Alaric was suffering.”
My mouth opened and closed, forming words that didn’t take shape. “Don’t look at me. If you hadn’t been slinking around in places you don’t belong, you’d have seen it for yourself.”
“You’re insufferable.” Her cheeks darkened as she turned to her patient.
Alaric watched our interaction with a smug expression, then quickly smoothed his features into a picture of suffering.
Clever bastard. He’d used the oldest trick in the book to gain Serafina’s sympathy. And yet he claimed to need my help.
Rather than fall into his eager claws as the dragon hoped, Serafina stepped away, folding her arms. The stubborn pose, one I was becoming all too familiar with.
“Alaric’s wounds are infected. He’ll continue to worsen if not treated properly.”
I tensed, not liking the dark gleam in her eyes. “And you are a self-proclaimed healer. So treat him.”
She winced, as if battling some instinct that urged her to help, then forcibly lifted her chin. “I will, but only on one condition.”
“That condition being?”
“Help me find my friend, Speck.”
Movements predatory and measured, I rose from my chair, stalking closer. “Or option two. I toss you off the side of the mountain unless you treat him.”
To my delight, she backed up a step, the waver in her voice belying her bravery. “Do so, and I’ll be dead along with your dragon.”
I aimed my curled fingers at her throat.
“Hold,”Alaric ordered, staying my hands.
The girl’s expression hardened. “You’ve made it clear you’veno intention of releasing me, and I refuse to stay here while Speck is in danger. I believe a compromise is in order.”
Alaric huffed a smoky breath, saying to Serafina,“If I were to help reunite you with your friend, this would please you?”
“Immensely,” she was quick to answer. “You would have my eternal gratitude.”
“And this healing you speak of. That would require you to spend time in my company?”
She frowned, perplexed, unlike me, who knew exactly where the manipulative dragon was going with this question. “Your wounds will need multiple treatments to heal the damage.”
“I agree to your terms,”Alaric said before I could object.
“The hell you do,” I barked.
Alaric’s dark glare swung in my direction.“Not only do I agree, but Thorne agrees as well. Since I am in no condition to fulfill my half of this bargain. Thorne will assist you in my place.”
“Hold on. Don’t I get a say in this?” The last thing I desired was to spend more time with the wench. Given the bond we shared, it was far better for both of us that we spent as much time apart as possible, lest our connection deepen.
“No,” my adversaries snapped together.
