I shuddered, the phantom press of fangs still vivid.
Beside me, Reagan pinched the bridge of his nose, as though something between exhaustion and irritation gnawed at him.
“What are you going to do now . . . with me?”
He didn’t answer at first, leaning down to grab the water bowl from the floor before sliding closer to me on the couch, his leg brushing against mine. I shifted away.
“Easy,” he said in a tight voice. “I’m not going to hurt you.” Reagan lifted the damp cloth and drew it over my forearm,brushing away the dirt with surprising gentleness. “You look like you’ve already been appropriately punished.”
I held my silence, unwilling to let relief show.
“What I don’t understand is why you would risk your life like that?” he asked, and I wasn’t sure if it was rhetorical, but I answered anyway.
“My life is already at risk here. It was worth trying to get to my family before you did.”
He eyed me, dipping the cloth in the water once more. “So you almost got yourself killed because you didn’t want your family to take a harmless draught?”
“Yes.” I flinched and bit my lip as he pressed the fabric to my neck, the skin stinging beneath his touch.
For a brief moment, only our breathing and the fire’s soft crackle filled the room.
“I don’t know if that was brave or just foolish,” he remarked, his tone quieter.
As if I were worried about what my captor thought of me. He could find me the dumbest person alive, for all I cared.
Reagan’s gaze was fixed on the spot he was tending. “I hope this is the last time you try that, or next time, you’ll be dead before I get to you.”
I glanced at him curiously, only now remembering that he had ripped those Strzygas from over me. He had protected me—and, perhaps most bewildering of all, he was here, fussing over the bite marks.
“How did you find me?”
I thought I’d done a good job of slipping out unnoticed, but maybe I was wrong.
“There are patrols near the woods,” he said wearily. “They heard a scream and sent word. Guess who was nowhere to be found.” His brows furrowed, irritation gathering between them. “You’re lucky you left tracks all over. I guess I should expect towatch over a human now. You’re going to ruin whatever peaceful time remains in my rotting days, aren’t you?”
My shoulders tensed at the clipped tone. “I’m not going to say sorry for trying to escape my prison. And you didn’t have to come.”
“But I did, didn’t I?” he remarked bitterly. “Or did you forget that Malory put you under my sole protection?”
“If this situation is awful for both of us, then do something to change it.”
“I told you I can’t change it,” he seethed through clenched teeth.
It was pointless to push.
Pulling up my ankle, my hand went for the rag, but he snatched it from my grasp, dipping it into the water once more. His frown deepened, his silence pressing down like its own reprimand.
“I don’t understand how I walkedwillinglyto that thing. I remember it feeling so...”
“Seductive?” he ventured. “That is how Strzygas attack. They seduce you with whatever you’ll respond to. It placed you in its thrall. You didn’t go willingly.”
My brows rose. That explained why I was so reckless.
“I heard a sound.”
The gentle hum eased me, made me feel safe. So convincing was the illusion that for not a moment did I doubt it.
“I thought I would be invisible to them with the Velvetshades,” I admitted, slipping a hand into my pocket and grabbing the flower still there. “I thought it would hide my scent or whatever helps them find me.”
