I straightened and headed to the kitchen.
Grabbing the honey from the well-supplied cupboard, I returned to Whisper, unscrewed the jar, and held it out. “Will you let me put some of this on it? I don’t have any proper creams or bandages, but honey is antibacterial, antiseptic, and a great healer.”
The panther wrinkled his nose, his whiskers flaring.
But he didn’t move, so I took that as another yes.
“You know...” I scooped up a little bit of honey and dropped to my haunches beside him. “Your master never came for me yesterday.” Smearing the thick sweetness over his cut, I kept my touch as light as possible. “Is he okay?”
Almost as if he understood, his gaze flicked to mine, his eyebrows pulling together.
I froze. “Wait, he’s not okay?”
He slouched.
“What happened to him?” I smeared the rest of the honey in a rush.
I had to go.
Was that why Lucien never came for me? Because he couldn’t?
Screwing the lid back on, I dashed into the kitchen to rinse my fingers. Shaking off the droplets, I hurried back to Whisper.
“Hey, stop that,” I ordered.
Whisper grumbled as I tried to stop him licking the honey off his shoulder.
I rolled my eyes. “I should’ve seen that coming, shouldn’t I?”
He smacked his lips.
“That wasn’t supposed to be a treat, you know.”
He kept licking, his pink raspy tongue dragging over his fur.
Ugh, whatever.
“We have to go. Right now.”
Whisper immediately headed toward the door.
Chasing after him, I slipped on my flip-flops and left the pavilion.
As we ran through the sprawling gorgeous gardens, past pagodas and koi-carp-filled ponds, my mind raced.
I wasn’t sure if I was running to save Lucien...or running because I couldn’t stand another hour without seeing him, but the closer we got to the black stone palace, the more I fretted about how we’d left things and all the complicated feelings that refused to leave.
I...didn’t want to fight with him anymore.
I didn’t want to have to protect myself from how he made me feel and all the urges that’d steadily gotten worse.
He might be treated like a beast. Caged like one. Tortured like one. And ready to kill all those who threatened the meagre life he had, but...he was more than that to me now.
“What could I do for your master to show I’m on his side?” I asked Whisper as we cut up the steps of Cinderkeep.
The panther shot me an odd look and kept moving.
I had nothing to offer, apart from myself.
