d I’d set a variety of traps throughout the room to alert me if anyone messed with my things.
So far, so good.
Which didn’t surprise me. Necros’s guards suffered from the misconception that no one in their right mind would challenge their king.
I crouched before Valora’s still form, longing for the connection to her mind, and threaded my fingers through her hair to gently tug her head back.
Her eyes, while open, stared at nothing.
“I see.” I sighed loudly for our audience outside the door. “Well, you’re worthless to me for the night.” I shifted out of my jacket, wrapped it around my hand, and drove my fist into the floor, creating a dull thud the king would assume was a kick to her soft body. “Don’t even think of pissing all over my floor.” I spat to the side, stood, put my jacket back on, and made a show of stomping off toward the exit.
When I flung the door open, it was to the sound of Necros’s departing chuckle, his back disappearing around the corner.
I leaned against the frame, waiting to see if he returned.
After five minutes of silence, I quietly slid back inside and twisted the new deadbolts I’d installed over the weekend.
No one would disturb us without warning.
This time when I crouched before Valora, I ran my fingers through her hair and examined the blemishes marring her beautiful face. She’d retreated into the deepest recesses of her mind to avoid whatever wickedness Necros had inflicted upon her.
“Oh, little bird,” I murmured, gathering her into my arms and carrying her to my bathroom. “Let’s repair those broken wings, shall we?”
She didn’t reply, didn’t even blink, so lost inside her head.
I sat her on the counter by the sink, assured she wouldn’t fall, and fixed her a bath. “Yes, Necros, I do enjoy your accommodations,” I murmured, finding the ingredients I needed to create a healing aroma of sorts. Then I gathered a handful of ointments I’d brought from Noxia, most of which were infused with vampire blood.
My shadow essence would cure her as well, but I needed her to function enough to swallow for that to work. And she was nowhere near that level.
Valora remained catatonic as I undressed her, and she didn’t flinch beneath my examination of her wounds. Necros had bitten her, sliced her, beaten her, likely all in an effort to garner a reaction that she clearly didn’t give.
I was almost proud of her for that. It showed strength on her part for not shattering beneath his ministrations.
Unless, of course, he’d destroyed her mind.
In which case, we had a serious problem.
I spread her thighs and grimaced at the destruction, shaking my head. “I’m going to enjoy killing that bastard.”
Still no sign of life from the woman I knew possessed more vivacious energy than anyone in the Underworld. I cupped her cheek, tracing my thumb over her bottom lip.
“By the time I’m finished, you’ll be as good as new, sweet star.”
I removed my clothes, folding them and placing them on the opposite counter. Then I threw her poor excuse of a wardrobe into the bin. She’d never have to look at those offending blood-soaked fabrics again.
Guiding her back into my arms, I carried her to the large oval-shaped bathtub and climbed inside, situating her on my lap. Sponges sat waiting for me on the solid stone rim, as did a variety of healing ointments. I used them carefully, massaging the essences into her skin while encouraging the magical properties of the ingredients to take root.
Come back to me, little bird, I whispered. Please.
Nothing.
But I didn’t expect it to work right away.
No, healing like this would take time.
So I gave her as much of it as she required, bathing her continuously, draining the bathtub, filling it with warm water again, and repeating the motions over and over. All the while, I hummed, urging her body to recover, begging her mind to hear mine, and watching as her wounds slowly began to mend into smooth, satiny skin beneath my touch. While intimate, it was also clinical, the famous Noxia remedies working wonders for her essence.
You’re safe, I whispered, hearing nothing in response.