“Jaron and Tatiana.” I shifted, but didn’t pull away from him yet.
“They’re safe.” His breath tickled my neck and the pleasure of it made my clit throb in response. I didn’t stop to think about what was wrong with me, I just needed to calm down. It was the adrenaline causing irrational reactions.
The soft press of his lips on my neck made me freeze.
“Is that where you plan to take my head off at?” The words poured from me without thought.
A low growl made me jerk my head up and face him. He looked murderous, and I pulled away. His arms tightened as heat entered his gaze and he pinned me to him, easily overpowering me. “We’ll discuss that when I get you back and your wounds are cleaned and bandaged.”
I barely noticed the pain and continued to ignore it, holding his gaze. “I need to know Jaron and Tatiana are ok.”
Irritation darkened his gaze. “I told you they were.”
“I have to see them.” I said firmly, wondering if he would deny me. Hadn’t he just been caressing my back, kissing my neck? I didn’t understand it, but I didn’t have time to think about it, either.
He studied me, and I wished I knew what he was thinking.
Standing abruptly, he lifted me, holding me to his chest as he pivoted and spread his wings. That was when I caught sight ofthe dead predator, a clean line splitting its throat wide open. It was a crystal clear reminder of what this male was capable of.
“Don’t look, dhysa.” he murmured, eyes on me.
I rested my head on his shoulder. He leapt into the air.
As the adrenaline in my blood cooled, my muscles began to cramp and ache. Arrazyl exuded a soothing warmth that I melted into.
When we were heading back toward the vorazka, I gripped him and shifted so I could see him better. “You said that Jaron and Tatiana are ok, where are they?”
He kept his gaze ahead. “They’ve been taken back to the city.”
I was exhausted, but there’s a level of exhaustion where you don’t care what happens to you or around you, and I hadn’t yet reached that breaking point, so I forged ahead. “Did you have them put on the ledges?”
This time, he looked at me. “No, Jacqueline. I never gave an order for any of you three to be harmed. They’re likely with the physician, as you will be soon.”
I wanted to ask more questions, but we would have time to talk later. Hopefully after I had that numbing salve put on my throbbing wounds. Hot, sticky blood coated my arm and slid from my hands, and I couldn’t even bring myself to bend my fingers for the pain I knew it would bring.
It was embarrassing how quickly we made it to the city, given how long it had taken us to make it that distance away.
He swooped past his vorazka and landed softly at the entrance of the infirmary. Relief flooded through me as he carried me through the open doorway and I saw Jaron and Tatiana. I imagined that Jaron’s face was a mirror of my own when he looked up. He had bandages on his hands and Tatiana had a bandage on the side of her head and one wrapped around her bare midsection.
“A kigoth bit her arm and her hands are oozing.” Arrazyl told the physician as he laid me on a bed. As much as I wanted to lie back and close my eyes, I swung my legs over the side so I was sitting and could see everyone. I still needed to know what Arrazyl planned.
“What happened?” I asked Tatiana. Her eyes were creased with pain.
“That animal took me down and Jaron couldn’t get it off.” she gritted. The physician’s assistant brought her steaming tea. Or I assumed it was like tea. It was darker than any tea on Earth.
The physician made little grumbling noises in his chest as he fussed over my hands. “What is this?” he complained more than once.
Arrazyl stood sentinel, his arms crossed, gaze hard.
“How did you do this to yourself?” the physician demanded as he finished cleaning and assessing my injuries.
“I was attacked by a very aggressive predator.”
“But your hands weren’t bitten or scratched.”
Arrazyl’s eyes sharpened on me. “Did you get injured while escaping?”
I watched the physician work and didn’t say anything.
