“Ha! I am sure it has been a terrible burden for you. There are worse things than being crazy about someone, though. Don’t you think?” Nellis proposed, with a wink.
Addi felt her cheeks flush and focused on her bowl of soup. She could feel Nellis watching her and wished she understood what he was doing. You were supposed to be mad at me… not… whatever this is, she thought.
Chapter 39
In the back bedroom, Wyatt grinned as he watched Nev squirm and whimper from his touch. It didn’t take long before she was begging to be pushed over her passion’s edge. Which he did, eventually. Feeling quite pleased with himself, he refocused his attention on her shoulder, deftly and tenderly bandaging it. Wyatt had already cleaned it and stitched it closed before he’d become distracted elsewhere on her body. Evaluating his actual healer skills, he sighed to himself. “I don’t know. It’s still trying to heal, but I’m worried about it and you,” he sighed, looking concerned.
Nev sat up and stretched her left arm out slowly. It tinged with pain but was calmer now. “I’ll just have to be careful,” she noted, still testing the limits of her shoulder.
“Yeah, we keep saying that and you keep getting hurt,” he protested, running his finger along the wound on her cheek.
“I know, and I have an idea about that, but I don’t think you are going to like it,” she stated, looking at Wyatt with an apologetic look on her face.
“Why? What are you planning?” he asked. A sense of dread beginning to loom over him.
“Well, we know we need to deal with our prowler, and we know he can sense when I use the amulet… so…,” Nev said, letting Wyatt finish her thought.
“Wait. You want to lure Sagrine to you, don’t you?” Wyatt inquired, not really wanting to hear her answer.
“I need to get to the palace and face my fate. But first, I need to stop this prowler from hunting us,” she implored, hoping he would see the wisdom in what she was suggesting.
“Look, I get it. Crazily it may even make sense, but no. Sagrine would’ve killed you last time. I know it,” he protested emphatically. He studied Nev carefully. She was now sitting across from him on the bed, and he could sense her certainty. Unfortunately, he didn’t share her sentiment.
“But I’m not the same person I was then. I fought better against the other prowler. And I have you, Addi and Nellis, to help me,” she argued.
“You do remember almost dying this last time, too. Right? Look, love. You did great, amazing even. But we both know this prowler is going to be a much harder fight. And what if he brings allies too?” he protested.
“He won’t,” she stated. Nev didn’t know how to make Wyatt see that this was a sound plan. She needed to face Sagrine, and she wanted to do it on her terms—not the prowler’s and not fate’s.
“You can’t know that,” he rebutted.
“I do. I know so much of what has happened to us is crazy, but I need to know you still trust me. I can do this. I truly believe I can, but I can’t without your help. Please, I need you to help me,” pleaded Nev, grabbing his hands in hers and squeezing.
“Just once I want to spend an intimate moment with you that is not immediately followed by something crazy and, or dangerous,” he said, shaking his head. He wanted to argue more about her plan, but he had already realized she was right. It was a good idea. Even if he hated it.
“Help me finish this, and when we are done, I promise you as many intimate moments followed by calm ones as you can handle. Okay?” Nev asked, grinning at him.
“I don’t know. That better not be an empty promise. I can imagine quite a few,” Wyatt replied, smiling and shaking his head at her.
“I promise,” she vowed before giggling.
“Great. Even more danger and crazy. Addi is just going to love this, I’m sure,” he noted, gesturing towards the door.
Nev and Wyatt got dressed and headed out to share their plan with Addi and Nellis. Nev knew Wyatt had his doubts about her idea, but not about her. He would have her back. Now she just wondered if Addi and Nellis would as well.
They found them sitting at the dining table. Wyatt moved to fetch him and Nev some soup, while Nev sat down at the table and waited for him. Better not to face life-threatening situations on an empty stomach, I always say, Wyatt thought. He handed a bowl of soup to Nev and then sat down beside her.
Nev looked down at the soup and smiled. Never upside down, she remembered. A quick memory of her father standing with her in the clearing flashed before her eyes.
“How is the shoulder?” Nellis inquired.
Nellis’ question snapped Nev back to the present. “Ah. It’s tender but much better. Thanks,” Nev replied, smiling at Nellis.
“I wasn’t sure you had spent any time actually tending to it,” Addi observed, rolling her eyes at Wyatt.
“What can I say, I’m really good at multi-tasking,” Wyatt replied, winking at Addi.
Addi groaned and shook her head.
“Anyway, I have heard
