“Then let’s start slow. I made porridge out of the protein bars and dried fruit, but you wouldn’t eat any this morning. You kept calling for someone named Catrin.”
Raff considered messing with her, despite the heat that rose in his cheeks. He could probably make her think that was an old lover, but that seemed unjust, considering how hard she’d worked to keep his body and soul together.
“That’s the woman who raised me,” he explained. “Catrin is my mother’s cousin, and she looked after me from the beginning. She’s the only one who ever nursed me. Well, until you, that is.”
“Ah. Is she…” Thalia appeared to reconsider the question, moving away from him to check the pot warming near the fireplace.
“It’s all right. There’s no sad story. Catrin’s alive and well, back in Pine Ridge. You’ll meet her, provided we survive our tenure in your territory.”
“I’d like that. I’ll ask her for all the embarrassing stories from your childhood.” She spooned brown mush into a tin bowl, then carried it to him.
That…did not smell appetizing, but judging by his physical weakness, he didn’t have the fortitude to shift and hunt for something delicious. Raff forced himself to eat every bite, though it tasted even worse than it smelled. Cooking clearly wasn’t her strong point.
“I know it’s bad,” she said defensively. “But you try making a wonderful meal out of basic protein bars and dehydrated fruit.”
Masking a grimace, he swallowed several more bites, then replied, “I’m not complaining. You have some too, though.”
She shook her head. “I’ve been eating the nuts. I tried putting them in the porridge, but they wouldn’t boil down and they made you choke.”
“You should have chewed them and fed them to me like a baby bird.” Raff couldn’t keep a straight face when he registered her horrified expression.
“You’re awful,” she said, apparently realizing that he was messing with her.
“That’s the rumor. Will I have any new scars from this adventure?”
Really, he just wanted her close again. She’d kept the fire burning, and the room was warm enough to be bearable, but it wasn’t the same as feeling her tender heat next to him. Thalia rose to the bait, setting aside the empty bowl and returning to his side to check his injuries.
“I can barely see the mark on your shoulder now…raise your leg?” She bent close, peering at his calf. “This one is almost healed as well. Turn onto your other side, please.”
So sweet and prim, that tone, like she hadn’t been in charge of his naked body for days. Raff complied, rolling away, so she could check his ribs. That spot did still hurt a bit, so he could well believe she’d been forced to dig at it repeatedly. The work must’ve been so fucking repugnant that he wished he could wipe the memory from her head, so she wouldn’t associate him with oozing pus and necrotic tissue.
Talk about ruining the mood.
“I can’t tell yet. You might have a faint scar here. It’s still purple.”
“Scars make me special,” he said. “You know how hard it is for an Animari to get battle marks? I already have two, so let’s go for the trifecta.”
“I’m not cutting you again. And I’m not trying to alarm you, but we’re just about out of food. I don’t eat much, but I think you need more…?”
“Finish whatever we have. I’ll go hunting tomorrow and stock up on protein.”
Her face paled, green beneath the alabaster. “Sorry, can I…”
“I don’t expect you to participate. You’re pescatarian, I get that.”
“All right. Once you’ve eaten well, we’ll head for Daruvar?”
“I think the porridge and a good night’s sleep will set me up well enough to shift, and then, if I do well hunting, I should be strong enough to fight an army.”
“Your self-assessment is absurd,” she snapped. “Right now, you can’t even put your pants on without help.”
“I’m taking it as a compliment that you can’t stop thinking about my pants—or lack thereof—even when I’m sick.” He grinned up at her, delighted by her narrow-eyed agitation.
It’s so easy to get her riled up. And so fucking fun, too. Even more so because she had a reputation for being unflappable.
“I’m starting to regret all those sleepless nights, mopping up your fever sweat and listening to your delirious ramblings.”
Uh oh. I shouldn’t ask. That curiosity gives her too much power.
Fuck it, it was impossible to resist the question. “What did I say, exactly?”
Her smug smile drove him crazy. “I guess you would wonder. Too bad I’m not telling, but your comments were certainly…enlightening.”
Raff might have pursued the issue, but just then, the door slammed open, a gust of bitter wind blowing through the cabin. A huge male stood shadowed in the doorway, half a head taller than Raff, cat by the smell of him. He recognized the scent from when they’d first arrived; this was the cabin’s last resident, returned at the worst possible time.
I’m not strong enough to fight, and she’s tired. Don’t know if her bracers have any charge left, and I don’t give her good odds in hand to hand.
Those calculations took only a few seconds as Raff straightened slowly. Have to make sure this doesn’t turn hostile. Beside him, Thalia was frozen, eyes wide. She seemed to be gauging the distance between her and their discarded weapons.
No sudden moves, princess. Be smart.
“Well,” said the stranger. “I guess I’d like to know who the hell you two are and what the fuck you’re doing in my bed.”
19.
Thalia took the man’s measure in a single glance and decided words would have to suffice. This Animari was massive, on par with the war priest who led the bear clan and he looked exceedingly pissed off. Not that she blamed him. They were intruding on his territory and it might not matter if they had a good reason. She was uncomfortably conscious of her own grime and dishevelment.
If I tell him that I’m the leader of House
