Currently, it was all he could do to breathe. Even Animari healing took time, so Raff rested, his senses sharpened by the darkness. He heard the scrape of shoes and smelled Thalia above the dankness of the tunnel, long before she spoke. She must’ve heard the cave-in and come to investigate.
“Who’s there?” she whispered.
“Just me.”
“Are you all right?” A narrow beam of light appeared, necessary for her, not him.
The yellow glow skimmed over him and then she knelt with a muffled exclamation. “Raff, your leg!”
“I’m well-aware of my predicament. Do you think you could help me set it? Time is of the essence.”
Raff expected her to protest, but she surprised him by setting her light down and taking hold of his foot. “I’m not a professional, but I have basic medical training. Count to three and clench your teeth.”
He managed not to scream when she pulled on his foot and guided the bone back into position. The ends ground together, which meant it should be good enough to set on its own. He just needed to rest a bit. Still, the pain-sweat trickled down his forehead and other injuries hurt more as if in some awful sympathy.
“Thanks,” he got out.
She sat beside him and presented her shoulder. Raff wouldn’t have thought she was strong enough to hold him, but she didn’t budge when he dropped his head on the perch she offered. She smells like flowers…and the ocean.
“What happened? And what are you doing down here?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” he asked in a wry tone. “I’m saving you.”
14.
“I should’ve realized.” Thalia kept her voice gentle, but she smelled the blood, cloying in the gloom. “Thank you.”
Too conscious of his warm weight leaning on her, she used a hand torch to check his pupils for potential concussion. Thalia leaned in, peering at his eyes. Raff’s face was smeared with red and she spotted myriad cuts and bruises, but the broken bone seemed to be his most serious injury, and she’d already set that as best she could.
“I know I’m handsome, but the light hurts my eyes. Do you mind?”
Quickly, she clicked it off, drenching them in darkness. “Sorry. I can’t see much of anything without it. Did you happen to encounter Ferith on the way in?”
She was supposed to have my back.
“I pushed her clear of the collapse. She should be working to free us on the other side. Sorry, I didn’t know this was a sting.”
Thalia winced. “No, I should have told you. There are no excuses, really. I’m just…not used to being part of a unit.”
“You’re a lone wolf who wolfs alone?” Despite his obvious pain, he was still trying to make her laugh.
She did let slip a reluctant smile. “Isn’t that ironic? When you’re the actual wolf.”
“We don’t, though.”
“What?”
“Wolf alone. We’re pack animals who thrive on social interaction. I suspect that’s true of you as well. You’ve just never had much opportunity.”
“You make it sound like I was raised by a witch in an iron tower.”
“Not what I meant. It just seems like the Eldritch have a stronger sense of hierarchy than we do among the Animari. I’m packmaster, but nobody hesitates to tell me when I’m full of shit. I’ve noticed that your people treat you with a particular reverence.”
“What about it?” Thalia wondered why she felt defensive.
“That makes it tough for intimacy to develop. They serve you, but other than Lileth, it didn’t seem like you socialized with anyone.”
Regret and sorrow warred within her. She missed Lil, but she still didn’t grasp what he was driving at. “What is your point?”
“Don’t ice me out, Lady Silver. If I’m wrong, I am, but I’m just saying—I don’t see you playing cards or drinking with anyone. No friendly sparring matches or trips to the city. That’s what friendship is all about, and people need that. You may not be alone in this fortress, but you must be lonely.”
“Not anymore,” she said. “I have you.”
The words came out before she reflected on them, but that lack of consideration made them no less true. He drew in a soft breath, one she felt against the side of her throat when he let it go in a long puff of warmth. “Even if I mess up your careful plans?”
“Ferith might’ve been killed without your intervention. This is certainly an attempt to isolate me and the consequences could be dire, especially if the enemy is waiting on the other end of the tunnel.”
“I suspect that’s a generous view of my interference, but…thank you.”
Thalia reached for his hand and found it with an accuracy that seemed faintly surprising. “I’m grateful that you came running because I might be in danger. But…I’m starting to suspect that marriage to me might be hazardous to your health.”
His fingers were warm when he wrapped them around hers. “I am notoriously hard to kill. Many have tried. None have succeeded.”
“That makes you uniquely qualified for your current role,” she said with mock gravitas.
Raff sounded serious when he went on, “I think about it sometimes, exactly how much catastrophic damage is required to take me out.”
At first, that seemed like an odd thing to say but sorting through, she found a mutual memory that might be troubling him. The bear clan leader had died at Ash Valley, killed instantly in the first explosion. “Is that because of Beren? It seemed as if the two of you were close.”
Long pause, in which she wondered whether she had overstepped. Finally, he said, “We argued a lot. Drank twice that much. But yeah, I’d say we were close. He gave better advice than my father.”
Why didn’t you look to the bear clan for an alliance then? Thalia almost asked. She didn’t, largely because the question sounded too much like, why did you marry me? And his reasons didn’t matter—or they shouldn’t, if the wolves kept up
