“Breaking hearts wherever you go?”
“Indeed. But I shan’t talk of it, lest I shock you with my wild behaviors.”
“I think it would take some doing to shock me. I already expect the very worst of you.” She smiled at him as he helped her out of the jacket. “Is there no woman in your life?”
“I keep a mistress. Is that sufficient?” he asked impishly.
“Hardly. Unless you are one of those men who loves their mistress.”
“We are the very best of friends,” he said. “But I fear our liaison is drawing to a close and then I will be all alone once again. Do you feel sorry for me?”
“I do,” she said, suddenly taking the tease out of her tone. “You are a wonderful man. You deserve someone special.”
A slow smile curved over his fine lips. “Perhaps if I had met you before Dendri, I would have someone special.” His voice brightened back to its teasing slant. “However, in lieu of that, I shall have to bed whomever crosses my path and suffer for it.”
“Wil!” she gasped, laughing at him. She felt warmth for him blossom in her chest. She could see why Dendri liked this man so much.
“Now, let’s see—ah! Bess, you look divine!” he said as Bess came out of the back room.
They spent the rest of the day shopping, Wil piling packages into the arms of the guards that followed them. They protested at first, but Wil ignored them.
Finally, their shopping done, they clambered into the barouche and caught their breath. Yasra stretched out her sore feet. They had bought dozens of things, from shoes to kerchiefs. Dresses that needed to be fitted or made would be delivered to Dendri’s house as soon as they were completed. She looked outside of the window of the carriage and saw the sun was setting. The whole day had gone by and thanks to Wil she had not spent every minute of it fretting about Dendri.
As they drove past the crowd at the gates she felt worry begin to seep in on her again.
Dendri, where are you?
He did not answer.
Chapter Twenty
Yasra was awakened from a fitful sleep when a thunderous banging rocketed down the hallways. Leaping out of bed, leaving a confused Bess behind, she ran out of the bedroom in her bare feet and thin nightgown. She ran around the corner and into the main foyer just as Tudman, dressed in a nightcap and sleeping shirt held up a lantern and opened the door.
The light of the lantern fell onto three men.
“Dendri!” she cried, leaping forward.
Ky and Jal each had one of Dendri’s arms over their shoulders and they were hauling Dendri between them. Dendri’s feet dragged across the marble flooring as they brought him into the house.
“Dendri! Oh my God!”
“Out of the way, Yasra,” Ky said gently. “He needs a bed.”
Yasra immediately complied, stepping out of the way so they could bring him down the hallway and into his bedroom.
“Tudman, get the doctor. Quickly!” Yasra demanded.
“Yes, miss!” Tudman said, hurrying from the room as Ky and Jal laid Dendri in the bed. Yasra hurried to light the gas lamps in the room and Ky went to start the fire in the hearth.
“Oh! Look at him! Why didn’t you stop somewhere? How could you bring him all that way in this condition?” Yasra cried as she inspected Dendri. He was in his shirtsleeves, the neck of his shirt gaping wide over his tanned chest. The shirt was white and there was blood and holes peppered all along his right side. There was blood on his left shoulder as well, and she knew it was from the original gunshot he had suffered. Jal took out a knife and cut the sleeve of Dendri’s shirt. Then pulled the remaining shirt over his head. Whatever battle he had been in it was clear it had ripped the stitching in the previous wound. And that was how she came to notice Dendri’s shirt had been burned onto his arm. Bits of fabric and flesh were melded together.
There were shards of something white stabbing in small spots all along his right side, neck and face. As she came close she pulled one of them out and saw it was porcelain.
“You didn’t even stop to clean the wounds?”
“He wouldn’t let us. All he kept saying was he wanted to get home. Home to you.”
Yasra felt emotion clutch at her heart at the words and tears threatened behind her eyes. Blinking them away, she sat on the edge of the bed and stroked her fingers through his lank brown hair.
“Dendri,” she whispered, leaning in to him. She wanted to see his eyes. Wanted to see the life within them. She could see his pulse throbbing steadily in his throat and it gave her some comfort, but she wanted to see his eyes. “Dendri look at me.”
His lashes fluttered and then parted. Yasra gasped in horror as she saw the perfect background of red where his eyes should have been white. The green of his eyes stood out garishly against the blood red coloring.
“Oh my God!” she gasped.
“I got him,” he rasped.
Yasra looked up at Jal who nodded.
“Look what you’ve done to yourself,” she fretted. “I hope the triumvirate knows what you’ve done for them and what it’s cost you to do it!”
“I’ll make sure that they do,” Jal said grimly.
“Will he be all right?” she asked. “Are you all right?”
She saw blood on their clothing and scorching on Ky’s.
“The blood’s not ours. Ky’s got a light burn but other than a few bruises, we’re fine. Dendri took the brunt of it,” Jal said.
“I can see that,” she said. “Where is the damn doctor?”
“Easy. You only just sent for him. He’ll be here soon. Bess, can you get us a basin of fresh water, some brandy and a pair of tweezers? We can start getting this porcelain out at least,” Jal said, making her realize Bess had entered the room behind her.
“Right away,” Bess said before dashing off.
“Rest,” Yasra urged as she stroked Dendri’s hair. “We’ll take care of you.”
He sighed as if he’d been waiting for someone to say that, giving him leave to relax at last. Or at least relax as much as a man in pain was able. And he was in pain. She could see that clearly.
“Can’t you stop the pain?” she asked him gently.
“I can’t,” he said wearily.
“He burned himself out fighting Delongo. It’ll be some time before he heals from all of this. I have to tell you, Yasra, I didn’t think he was going to do it. For a minute there I thought Delongo was going to beat him,” Jal said.
“She doesn’t need to hear that,” Dendri grumbled.
“He doesn’t have to tell me that. I can see it for myself.” She sighed. “It makes no difference. You’re here. You’re safe. That’s all that matters to me.”
Shortly after that, Bess returned with the items Jal had requested. She handed the tweezers and basin with some fresh clean linen cloths to Yasra. She handed the brandy to Jal.
“Put the cloths under him on that side. That’s it. Hang on my friend, this is going to hurt,” he warned just before he upended the bottle of brandy over the small wounds left by the porcelain, disinfecting the area with the strong spirits. Dendri gritted his teeth and jerked, but Jal held him still.
“I’m going to see about the doctor,” Ky said before leaving the room.
Slowly, carefully, she began to use the tweezers to pluck out the bits of porcelain. She had to hunt for the small shards in some instances and Dendri fought to keep still. She was just finishing when the doctor arrived at last.
“Started without me I see,” he said with a grim expression on his features. He took Dendri in with a single assessing look as Yasra moved out of his way. “Don’t know why I bothered to stitch you up,” he remarked upon seeing the reopened bullet wound.
“Why should you complain?” Dendri asked. “You get paid twice.”
The doctor chuckled. “A good point. Well, I see his spirits are up.” He frowned as he looked at the burn on his arm. “But that’s likely to change. I have to clean that burn. It’s going to hurt like
hell. I don’t suppose you can divert the pain?”
Dendri shook his head.
“Well then, a little laudanum will go a long way.”
“No,” Dendri said with a frown.
“Yes,” Yasra countermanded. “You’ll take it and you’ll be quiet.”
Dendri looked at her, raising a single brow at her authoritative tone.
He looked from the doctor to Jal to Bess, but found no one was there to support him. He sighed and rested his head back. “Very well,” he said.
“Someone fetch me some tea. With a lot of sugar. It’ll help mask the taste.
“Never mind. Get a glass for the brandy,” Dendri countered.
The doctor chuckled. “That’ll definitely mask the taste. Now, you rest while I finish patching up the rest of your wounds. We’ll start on the burn once the laudanum takes effect.”
“Jal. I don’t want Yasra in here for this. Protect her for me while I’m healing.”
Yasra took offense at his highhanded behavior.
“I most certainly a going to be here for this! You’re not going through this alone!”
“Jal,” he said firmly, ignoring her.
“Maybe you better come with me,” Jal said to Yasra, coming around the bed and gently taking her upper arm in his hand.
“No! I’m not going!”
“Then I won’t take the laudanum,” Dendri said stubbornly.
“Dendri please,” she begged him. “Don’t fight with me. I want to be here for you. You’re always there for me. Can’t you just let me be here for you?”
He took that in quietly for a minute, then, too exhausted to argue with her, he relented. She sighed with relief as Bess brought the glass into the room.
Yasra was sitting beside Dendri on the bed. She had gotten dressed hours ago and now sat curled up against the headboard, stroking her fingers through Dendri’s hair as he slept. His arm was bandaged and lying across his belly. The covers were pulled up all the way to under his arms and there was a fire in the fireplace, but she was concerned he might get cold regardless. The doctor had warned her about letting him get chilled. Even so, with a burn to the degree Dendri’s was, an infection was quite possible and fever would come with it. She occasionally touched her cool fingers to his forehead, checking for any elevation in his temperature.
There was a rustling sound from the doorway and Yasra looked up to see Bess was standing there.
“You should come and take a nap,” she said with concern. “You haven’t slept.”
“I’ll sleep here,” she said, indicating the chair by the bed. She wouldn’t sleep in bed with him for fear of striking him on either of his wounded sides on her sleep.
“You can’t sleep in a chair,” Bess said, a small frown puckering the line of her brow.
“Yes. I can.”
Bess knew better than to argue with Yasra when she used that tone of voice. The tone of finality. The tone of absolute stubbornness. Bess sighed. “At least come have something to eat.”
“Bring me something here,” Yasra countered.
“Yas…”
“Bess, please stop arguing with me. I’d rather save my energy for taking care of Dendri.”
Bess relented. “All right. I won’t fuss at you. I’ll bring you something. Should I bring something for Dendri?”
“No. The doctor said he would be out for a long time and that he needs the rest. I’ll get him something when he awakens.”
“Okay.” Bess hesitated in the doorway. “Yasra…be careful.”
“Hmm?” Yasra looked up at her friend.
“Be careful. I…I would hate for you to get too attached…only to have him hurt you. I know I’ve encouraged you so far, but that was when it was just…you know…physical.”
Yasra’s hand stilled in his hair.
“I’m not getting too attached,” she said, sounding firmer than she felt. “I’m just caring for him in his time of need. I can do that without attaching too much sentimentality to it.”
“Yas…” Bess warned.
“I can,” Yasra insisted. “Don’t worry about me. I know exactly what I’m getting into.”
“Do you? I don’t think you do.”
“I do. Please stop pestering me Bess,” she said, her tone surly.
Bess sighed. “I’ll go get the tray.”
She left and Yasra was left to her own thoughts. She considered Dendri’s sleeping face for a long moment. He looked somehow younger when he was asleep like this. She had never seen him so relaxed. The stupor of the drug he had been given had erased all of the agedness and endless power and wisdom from his features. She didn’t care for him this way. The vulnerability was not like him in the least. It frightened her to see him so weak.
The laudanum had not worked entirely. It had dulled his senses yes, but not enough to divert all of the pain away from the cleaning of the burn. She had felt so helpless. Knowing that if she had been a little bit stronger…a little more skilled…she could have stopped his pain by manipulating the pain receptors in his brain. All she would have needed to do was touch him. But she didn’t know the first thing about how to achieve a skill like that. She didn’t know if she even ever would. It was something Dendri did with ease, but it was an advanced skill and she was just a neophyte.
Next time they would find a higher level Aspano to come and help. She had not thought of it before. Dendri had not suggested it. She suspected he would not have liked to have someone who could manipulate his mind crawl around inside of his head when he could do nothing to protect himself. But cleaning the wound had been a horrible thing. Dendri had shouted down the house, even his stoicism paling in the face of it.
Now the drug had pulled him under its sway. He was sleeping. Hopefully healing. She feared fever. She feared a lot of things and she was getting tired of the feeling. She wanted to be strong for him. To be the kind of woman he could depend on to manage things when he needed her most. She was surprised by the desire. She had never found it important to take charge of her life and plow on ahead, managing the things and people around her. She had simply let life happen to her, letting it sweep her away in its ebbs and tides.
It disgusted her now to realize it. She didn’t want to be that way. Even Dendri and their physical relationship had just happened to her. She had controlled nothing about it. He had wanted her and had taken her with little argument from her.
But she did not regret that. She could not. She had never known such pleasure than the pleasure she had found in his arms. She had never experienced such happiness as she had these past days in his life. True, she had also never known such worry and anxiety also, but that was okay. She didn’t mind him making her worry as long as he came back to her and soothed her afterward.
Only this time it was she soothing him. She stroked the backs of her fingers down over his squared jaw, onto the strong column of his neck and down to the warm silky smooth skin covering straps of hard muscle beneath it on his shoulder and then his chest. He was naked beneath the covers, the men having stripped him down and they had all agreed not to dress him to keep clothing away from his wounds. The nasty shards of porcelain had even penetrated his thigh and hip on the right side, slicing right through the fabric of his breeches.
Now they were all bandaged up, his burned arm excluded. The doctor had said that the fresh air would be best for it and that bandages would only stick to the wound, making it horribly agonizing every time they would need to be changed.
All he had done was spread some kind of unguent upon it and now his arm rested above the covers. The wound looked raw and ugly and painful. She was glad he had agreed to the opiate. Even if it disturbed her to see him so vulnerable. It wasn’t about what was best for her. It was about what was best for him.
She got up from the bed and threw another log on the fire, building it up until it was roaring hot. She didn’t want him to catch a chill and the cool autumn days were getting colder and all of the floors being marble made them retain the cold. She
could feel it through the soles of her slippers. She scuttled back to the bed, this time joining him beneath the covers, lending her body warmth to his while taking care not to come into contact with his arm. In a little while Bess brought her a tray and she ate a light repast. She wasn’t very hungry, but she did it to make Bess happy and because she recognized that in order to care for Dendri she had to take care of herself.
Shortly after Bess took the tray away, she snuggled down gingerly next to him again and eventually she fell asleep.
Chapter Twenty-One
It was two days before Dendri came awake fully. He had had moments of brief consciousness throughout when he used the facilities or forced down a bowl of broth, but other than that he was not really aware of his surroundings.
When he woke, his lashes fluttered up and revealed the vivid green of his eyes, still set against a blood red background, but it seemed as though it was getting better. She could see some of the natural white peeping through.
“Thirsty,” he croaked.
She was there with a glass of water immediately, pressing it to his lips. She watched as he drank it down greedily, then he pushed her hand away. Next time he spoke he sounded almost normal.
“Where is everybody?” he asked, reaching out to seize her hand with his right one, holding her onto the side of the bed when it looked as though she might leave him. She put the glass on the nightstand and then patted his hand reassuringly.
“Ky and Jal are downstairs eating breakfast with Bess. Wil is here as well.”
“And why aren’t you with them? Damn it all, you’re thin enough without skipping meals. You must take better care of yourself!”
“I was taking care of you,” she said, soothing his fractious nerves. She went to stand up and ring the bell, but still he held her hand and prevented her from moving the short distance away.
“You want me to go eat breakfast with them, yet you won’t release my hand?” she queried with a patient smile. “Let me ring for a maid. I’ll come right back.”
“Do you promise?”
A Kiss of Magic: A Kiss of Magic Book One Page 24