Or…was it because she felt that same vulnerability with me? That same feeling ofknowing?
I can use her, came the thought.Easily.
But I would have to tread very carefully. I could be a patient male. I would have to be if I ever wanted to determine what thevokwas going on here.
When I didn’t respond to her soft words, she moved towards my legs once more. I saw her cast another long look at the door, which was slightly slanted on crooked hinges, not unlike the doors in thesarukwhere I’d grown up.
Where is this place?I wondered again, brow furrowing.
Thesarkiatook up the grey cloth once more, swished it around in a small basin of water, which sloshed over the sides, and pressed it against my battered shins. I ignored the pain, using the time to study the female who had so easily led me to my own prison.
And I wondered what I had ever seen in the first place. The female was changed. She wore a drab tunic that at one time may have been white, and loose, dark trews that she kept on her hips with a rough, tan cord. In that dark, circular room, the shadows under her eyes seemed prominent and the color was leached from her face, making her appear ashen and sickly.
She seemed scared of her own shadow. Her hands trembled as she brought the cloth to my fresh wounds and I got the sense that she was keeping an eye on the door. For whom? Or what?
To be brought so low by a female likethis—this timid, wretched creature—it was a humiliation I didn’t think I would ever see past.
And yet…
My jaw clenched remembering the shock of seeing her emerge from the fog. Her lush breasts, her flared hips. Those glowing eyes, the color of which I’d never seen before. Her skin had seemed to radiate the sun and her touch had sped my heart in my chest.
It had to be sorcery of some kind. She’d walked within the fog freely. Was there a magic that the humans, thevekkiri, had discovered to make them immune? Was there a magic they’d discovered that enabled them tocontrolthe fog?
Perhaps my being here was more of a blessing than I’d first realized. Perhapsthiswas what I was seeking. Answers.
And I wondered if the little creature at my feet could tell me what I wished to know.
If she has incentive, perhaps she will, I thought.
The female—Mina—worked in silence, tucking her dark hair behind her ear every time it slipped down. A little frown of annoyance—one she probably didn’t realize she was making—crossed her features whenever it did.
Every few breaths, her gaze would flick up to me. I tried to soften my glare each and every time, reminding myself that I could use this female. I needed her trust.
When she finished with my legs—though they were clean, she didn’t wrap them in bandages, instead leaving them open to the damp air—she hesitated.
“Your…temple,” she murmured, the words rushing out quickly, though they sounded oddly stretched out.
My eyes narrowed as I watched her approach. She stutter-stepped when she heard my chains jingle together but I forced my hands to still.
“Yes?” she whispered.
A small grunt came from my throat. I didn’t want her hands on me but what choice did I have?
Her touch was gentle though her expression was frightened. As if I’d bite her the moment I had the opportunity.
When I drew in a breath, I stilled. Because I realized that the scent I’d recognized before—ofluriablooms and storms—was fromher. My gaze flashed to hers and I fought the impulse to drag her scent into my lungs once more.
“Where are we?” I asked when she dabbed the cloth at my temple, where I felt a stinging sensation.
She froze. She didn’t meet my eyes. A moment later, her hand moved to dip the cloth in the water basin once more and I felt an icy drop of water slide down my cheek before traveling behind my neck.
Without thinking, I caught her wrist when she moved towards me again. Though my hands were cuffed, the chain running from them allowed a decent amount of freedom.
She didn’t gasp or cry out, like I braced myself for. Instead, she stilled. Instead, her other hand came to rest on my own, like she would attempt to pry off my grip. Only…when our flesh met, her fingers gentled. I felt the pad of her thumb rest over an old, raised scar on the back of my hand.
For a moment, I forgot what I’d intended to do. Her skin radiated warmth. Her scent was…vokkingdivine.
When our eyes met, I saw her lips were parted. Surprised too? I felt my heart begin to pump mightily in my chest.
