Page 63 of Wraithwound

“Bring the dagger,” she whispered.

The next thing she knew, Cross was lifting her from the floor and carrying her into the bathing room. He lowered her into the tub, but when her body touched the water, she screamed. It felt like being dipped into fire. Instead, he lifted her back up and slowly sank to the floor, placing her on his lap. Holding her steady with one hand, he reached for a cotton cloth with the other and dipped it in the water. He gently placed it at the nape of her neck until the temperature was tolerable. He continued to move the cloth around her body, cooling her down.

“How did you know?” she asked when she felt like she could speak again.

“Your breathing changed,” he said, pulling another cloth from the stack and wiping the blood from her hands and wrists.

Lena averted her gaze, not wanting to see her bloodied hands, and tucked her face into his chest.

Part of her wanted to know what he meant. Had it been as simple as that? A slight change in her breathing had alerted him to the wraith’s presence. But another part of her didn’t want to know what he’d seen. When he was done wiping her hands, she curled further into him and was surprised when she felt his heartbeat under her palm. She hadn’t meant to place it there but felt comforted in knowing she hadn’t harmed him, and his heart still beat beneath his muscled chest.

He’d known heat would keep the wraith at bay at least. Or had it been pain he was aiming for?

“You had me worried for a moment,” Cross said.

“I found my way back,” she said after a pause.

“I was talking about just now when you refused to let me take off the shackles. I know there’s more fight to you than what I’ve seen.”

“That hasn’t been true for a long time,” she said, looking up at him, her voice nothing more than a rasp.

“It exists. You just have to find it again,” he replied. He brought his hand up to brush a strand of hair off her damp forehead and tucked it behind her ear.

Lena didn’t answer. She wasn’t sure that was true for her.

“You remind me of someone. She was strong, fierce. She lost her fight for a while, but eventually she found it again.”

Lena’s heart sank although she wasn’t entirely sure why. She remembered the drawing of the beautiful woman she’d seen in his satchel. A whisper of her own loneliness struck her, and she couldn’t help the muddled emotions that twisted inside of her.

“Can you tell me about her?” she asked.

Beyond the choices she’d made, Lena felt like she was slowly losing touch with her human side. She wanted so desperately to hear of someone who found their way back to who they’d once been.

Cross was silent for a while, and Lena closed her eyes.

“Lena?” Cross said, shaking her gently.

She cracked an eye open. She was so very tired.

“I’ll tell you, but you have to promise me you’ll stay awake.”

“Okay,” she agreed.

“She was a horse breaker, working with wild horses. Many thought she used force to tame them. But that was never the case. She would ask them if they wanted to be of service, to be matched with someone who’d been tasked with something significant, a special purpose of sorts.”

“She could talk to horses?” Lena asked, her interest piqued.

“Not in the way you and I are speaking. She used her energy,” he said. “Many of the horses declined, but some accepted. A few took direction well, but others challenged her, to see if she was trustworthy. She did this for many years until she met a man who admired her fire and wild spirit. But after they were married, he tried to tame her. Tried to dampen her spirit and cage her. It worked for a time, but she found she couldn’t live in a cage. Much like the wild horses she worked with, she needed to have the option, and he hadn’t given her one.”

“What did she do?” Lena asked.

“She gave him an option instead. And when he left, her spirit flew higher,” he said proudly.

Lena shifted in his lap. “Is that—is that why you left to become a soulbound?”

Cross barked a laugh, and she sat up further, dislodging the cloth on her chest.

“I’m talking about my mother,” he said.