by M. J. Haag
I winced on his behalf.
“That’s not looking very good.”
He lowered his gaze and began to look decidedly uncomfortable. It wasn’t the kind of uncomfortable that I would’ve associated with being in pain but, instead, being embarrassed. Rather than publicly asking why my concern embarrassed him, I changed the subject.
“Do you think someone would be willing to go back to the baby aisle and grab a bottle and formula? I’ll need it for Caden when we’re in the truck.”
Kerr grunted and slowly walked off to the section himself. I stared at all the cuts on his back. They were fewer and less severe than those on the front, but I still wanted to cry for him. He didn’t look like he had an untouched spot on his upper body. And, his lower half didn’t appear unscathed either. The way he took each slow step with a bit of a limp had me wondering what injury lay hidden beneath his pants.
I thought of calling him back and asking someone else to go but didn’t want to embarrass him further. Biting my tongue, I continued to rock Caden and planned ahead for how to care for Kerr. Even if I did stitch his face here, we would still need to find some place quickly so I could take care of the rest of him. It would take hours to stitch everything up.
Tor began giving directions for the core group to stay by Dawnn and me while the rest continued to gather up supplies.
As they worked, minutes passed with increasing certainty. I swayed side-to-side, comforting myself and Caden as I watched the slowly fading light out the front windows. Molev needed to hurry up with that truck.
Looking more tired than when he’d left, Kerr returned with a package of bottles and a canister of formula.
“Thank you,” I said. Shifting Caden’s weight to one arm, I grabbed a water out of the cooler and asked Dawnn to help me make a bottle. Her hands shook so badly that some of the water ended up on the floor.
“How are you doing?” I asked her as I capped off the bottle and gave it a vigorous mix.
“Shaky. Inside and out. It has nothing to do with the damn juice or food, either.” Still she opened the juice she’d set aside and took another long swallow.
I gave Caden the bottle and listened to him guzzle it. They were both so hungry.
“Do you want to try something more solid?” I asked Dawnn.
“No. Between this and the pudding, I should be fine.”
I turned to ask Kerr if he wanted to try lying on one of the checkout counters when a rumble of noise came from outside the open doors. We turned and watched three large moving trucks roll into the parking lot. A trail of infected followed behind.
Dawnn whimpered and moved closer to me.
Several of the fey surrounding us rushed outside. They let the trucks pass then dealt with the followers. Shifting my focus from the bloody fight, I watched the trucks come to a stop in front of the store.
Molev jumped from the first truck and strode toward the entrance.
“Where did you find those trucks? I asked.”
“I went south. The people from the fence had them.”
“So you took them?”
He grunted. I didn’t really feel too bad for the jerks. After all, they had tried to steal our truck.
“I only took the empty ones.”
His gaze shifted from me to Kerr.
“A hellhound was hiding in here,” Kerr said as if Molev had asked what had happened. “It was trying to get Caden.”
“I need the supplies from our truck to stitch Kerr’s face.”
“It is not far behind.”
Five minutes later, Dawnn was once again holding Caden, and I was prepped to stitch Kerr’s face. He sat on a stool someone had found, and I stood between his legs, only inches away. He had insisted I wear gloves and douse his face in rubbing alcohol before starting.
He didn’t flinch as I set the first stitch. His gaze remained averted and focused on Caden and Dawnn. Like me, I suspected he didn’t fully trust her. Yes, she’d kept my son alive; but she didn’t seem stable because of it.
I carefully set the next stitch and noticed the way my fingers trembled. I wasn’t so stable myself after the day I’d had.
“I’m not sure how badly this is going to scar when I finish. Honestly, I’m not even sure I’m stitching it correctly. It’s deep, and I know doctors sometimes need to do inside stitches, too.”
I stopped for a moment and took a deep breath, trying to calm the tremble.
“I wish I knew what I was doing,” I admitted.
“You will do fine.”
I was glad he wasn’t worried about it. But I sure was. It was bad enough that his injuries were because of me in the first place.
I worked in silence, concentrating and doing the best job possible. When I finished, a row of small even stitches stretched about four inches long crossed his face. The line bisected his eyebrow by half an inch and ran along the corner of his eye and down his cheekbone.
I straightened away from Kerr and studied my work.
“How are you doing?” I asked. “Everything still work?”
He blinked as if testing his eye, and I was glad to see everything moved correctly.
I stepped back so he could stand. All the supplies were already gone from the front of the store. While I’d been working, fey had packed the trucks full, using boxes they’d found in the back. Even if we hadn’t found anything but Caden, I would’ve thought this the most productive trip ever. That I had my son and four truckloads of supplies was a miracle.
Molev came from the back of the store as I stripped off the gloves and used the hand sanitizer that someone had brought me.
“We have everything,” he said.
“Can we leave?” Dawnn asked.
Molev looked to me.
“Yes. It’s getting too dark in here to keep stitching Kerr. The sun is an hour or two from setting. Too low to give me decent light.”
Dawnn handed me Caden, and I kissed the top of his head.
“We need to find somewhere for the night quickly. Somewhere with heat and electricity.”
“Can you drive?” Molev asked as he studied Kerr’s injuries.
“Yes.”
“Good. You will take one of the trucks.” Molev assigned Bauts and Azio, the other injured fey, trucks to drive as well. I was glad to see they were okay but made a mental note to do rounds and check them over.
“Wear a shirt so you don’t stick to the seat,” I told Kerr. “And if something starts bleeding again, stop and have someone get me.”
He nodded, not quite meeting my gaze. His sudden subdued behavior was making me worry there was something more wrong with him. My gaze swept over him, trying to find what I might have missed.
“Come on,” Dawnn said quietly. “We need to go.”
Wanting to do more for Kerr, but knowing she was right, I went out to our truck and got Caden settled on the seat between Dawnn and me. Within moments of closing the doors, we set out north once more.
Molev didn’t lead us too far from town. Within thirty minutes of leaving the city limits, he found a house and signaled for me to turn into the driveway.
“What are we doing?” Dawnn asked, sounding panicked.
“Stopping for the night.”
“Here?”
I looked at the house, saw a light come on, then glanced at Dawnn in confusion.
“They’re making sure it has lights and heat.”
“It’s in the middle of nowhere. There’s nothing around to protect us. The infected will see the light and come. Or worse, the hellhounds will.”
I could see her shaking.
“It’s okay, Dawnn. I stayed in several houses on the way here. The fey will keep us safe.”
My assurance had no effect on her. She continued to breathe rapidly through her mouth, her face growing paler by the second.
I picked up Caden and the diaper bag I’d put together while waiting for our truck to arrive. As soon as I opened the door, a fey was there to help me down. It wasn’t Kerr. I accepted
the help and waited until I was on the ground to ask him to help Dawnn, too.
“She’s panicking and afraid,” I said softly. “Be patient with her.”
Leaving the fey to deal with Dawnn, I went inside. The interior looked about the same as the exterior. A little rundown and definitely touched by what had happened. But, the fey were working to right everything.
“Where’s Kerr?” I asked, not seeing him. His truck had led the caravan and was already parked on the road.
A fey pointed towards the stairs.
I headed up and heard the shower running in the master bathroom. Placing Caden on the neatly made bed, I began to check his diaper. He was more alert as I stripped away his layers and definitely felt warmer.
The door clicked behind me, and I looked up from my semi-naked Caden to view a fully-naked Kerr. I should’ve been looking at his injuries and determining how many more stitches he would need. However, my gaze was far from clinical as I took in every muscled limb and hard—
My gaze remained locked between his legs. I couldn’t look away. He was huge. As I stared, it twitched. My mouth went dry.
With effort, I tore my gaze upward to meet his eyes. It took three swallows before I could speak.
“Can you turn around?” I asked.
He averted his gaze again and turned around. However, instead of holding still so I could look at the injuries on his back, he left the room. I swore under my breath and picked up Caden to follow him.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
Kerr stopped walking and looked over his shoulder at me.
“You do not like how I look. I am leaving as you asked.”
“I never said I didn’t like how you looked, and I didn’t mean for you to leave when I said to turn around.”
He reached up and traced his finger in the air over his scar.
“‘That does not look good,’” he said, quoting me from when we were in the store.
My heart melted a little bit.
“I meant that the injury looked serious. I was worried for you.”
He studied me for a long moment.
“The mark does not bother you?” he asked.
“Of course not. Why should it? “
“I saw the way you looked at Merdon and Thallirin. At their scars. They frightened you. Most women find them unpleasant to look at.”
“I don’t know about most women, but scars are not the problem. In general, you fey are very intimidating. You’re bigger. Stronger. Very intense.”
He turned around to face me once more, and I got another eyeful.
“How about you go lie on the bed? I’ll get Caden settled then give you a few more stitches.”
While he did as I asked, I grabbed a towel from the bathroom. It was a struggle not to blush scarlet as I set it over his waist. I lost the battle when his cock twitched under the covering.
Turning away and giving us both a moment to regroup, I focused on Caden. He didn’t show any interest in sitting up on the floor once I had him dressed, so I laid him down on a blanket and closed the bedroom door, preventing him from going anywhere once my back was turned.
Kerr watched me move around the room as I unpacked the supplies I needed from the diaper bag.
“Let’s start with the ones that hurt the most,” I said, slipping the gloves on.
He pointed to the one just over his heart. It wasn’t deep, but it was long, reaching to his nipple.
“Thank you,” I said as I bent closer. “For keeping us safe. I’m sorry you were hurt because of us, though.”
He reached up and touched my hair. The towel moved again.
“I will always keep you safe.”
The heat that had been fading flared in my face again, and instead of seeing the wounds, all I could see was a heavily muscled chest and a man who wanted me beyond measure. My pulse doubled its rhythm, and I struggled to regain the detachment I needed to get my job done.
“It might be better if you don’t touch me until the stitches are done. I don’t want to sew crooked,” I said.
He set his hand on the mattress, but the look in his eyes and the tented towel let me know he was still thinking about touching me.
Seven stitched gashes later, I was done with Kerr’s front and asked him to roll to his stomach. When I reached to hold the towel in place, he caught my left hand. His warm fingers feathered over mine. I held still, craving his touch as much as he craved mine.
His fingers paused over the rings I still wore. His gaze locked with mine. With great care, he slowly removed my wedding band and placed it on the bedside table.
“Now, you are free.” He held my gaze for a moment longer before rolling to his stomach and resting his head on his hands.
My heart thundered in my chest as I recalled his words. I would be his once I was no longer married. My insides went crazy as my imagination played with what being his would entail.
With shaking hands, I checked the wound on his back. Nothing needed stitches, but I did bandage a few spots.
The soft sound of sobbing interrupted the growing silence.
“I’ll be right back.”
I picked Caden up from the floor and opened the door. In the next bedroom, Dawnn was on the bed, bawling her heart out. I felt no anger or frustration toward the woman. Only pity.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
She lifted her head and looked at me.
“What’s wrong? What’s wrong! I’m here, that’s what’s wrong. I thought we were going somewhere safe. I’m no better off here than I was back in the attic.”
Her tears and near panic weren’t making sense to me.
“You’re much better off,” I said, keeping my voice soothing. “You just don’t know it yet. We have food, we have water, and we have medicine.”
She shook her head and cried harder into her pillow.
“We’re going to die.” She was beyond terrified, and it was likely not due to her present circumstance but more due to the trauma of what she’d already endured.
“You need sleep, Dawnn. Would you like me to check if there’s something in the supplies that can help you do that?”
“God, yes. Please. Anything to skip tonight.”
I went downstairs and asked one of the fey to get the red totes out of the truck, along with the little book that gave information on all the different pills we had picked up. As soon as they set the totes on the table, I started searching for something that would knock Dawnn out. I had several options that not only helped with sleep but anxiety too.
Giving two pills and a glass of water to a random fey, I sent him up with a message that the pills should work but that I was not one hundred percent sure. While he did that, I fixed myself a box of mashed potatoes and fed Caden.
I could tell that Caden was tired, but his appetite kept him eating between each slow blink. Several of the fey passed through the kitchen and paused to watch Caden before continuing on. Without a doubt, my son would be the center of attention for a while.
The fey returned before we finished eating and said Dawnn took the medicine without hesitation. I hoped the pills would do the trick.
After cleaning up Caden and rinsing our dishes, I went back upstairs to check on both of my patients.
Dawnn lay on her bed in the same position as before. She was still trying to quietly cry but seemed a bit calmer.
“I’m sorry for everything you went through, Dawnn. Truly.”
“Yeah, well, me too.”
I stood there for a minute, debating.
“You saw him, didn’t you?” she asked.
I didn’t pretend to misunderstand who she meant.
“Yeah. Just outside the subdivision.”
She nodded.
“I think that hellhound in the store was the same one that came to the house last night. Caden was hungry, and he started to cry. Just a small sound. But, that’s all it took. A single howl came from outside. It was far away, but I knew it had heard Caden. Before dawn, I heard
scratching at the front door. I kept Caden quiet, praying for the sun to rise.”
I didn’t ask how she had kept him quiet. I already knew. If she hadn’t—I shuddered to think what would’ve happened to both of them.
“Get some sleep.”
I left her alone and nodded to the fey who were already crowding into the hallway.
In the master bedroom, I closed the door and looked at Kerr. He’d fallen asleep on his stomach where I’d left him. There was plenty of room on the king-size bed. Perfect for Caden and me to join him.
Slipping off my shoes, I settled on the opposite side of the bed and placed Caden between us. Even with the lights on, Caden was out cold within minutes.
Curled on my side, I studied Kerr’s sleep-relaxed face. My heart gave a large lurch, and I reached out to gently touch his face.
He opened his eyes and caught my hand.
“Mine.”
Chapter Seventeen
I woke up disoriented for a moment and looked at the space beside me. Both Kerr and Caden were gone. I lifted my head and blinked several times, trying to focus.
Not far away, I saw Kerr holding Caden close as he spoke softly to my son. My heart squeezed at the sight.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
Kerr looked up at me, one of his braids clutched tightly in Caden’s little fist.
“There’s nothing wrong. Caden was hungry. I fed him milk like you did. He is happy now but not tired. Neither am I. Close your eyes. Rest, Cassie.”
I smiled slightly at the not tired comment. Caden’s blinks were slow, but he wouldn’t stop staring at Kerr. Likewise, Kerr was completely enchanted by Caden’s tiny hand.
“You are small but fiercely strong,” Kerr said softly. “No stupid human will survive in your presence once you are grown.”
He melted my heart a little with those words and the easy way in which he held Caden.
“If you hold him against you and bounce a little bit, it’ll soothe him. He might go back to sleep.”
Kerr did as I instructed, and I watched Caden’s head drop to Kerr’s shoulder. Smiling, I lay down again. I wasn’t going to go back to sleep. I just wanted to close my eyes.