Once Upon a Quest

by Joanna Mazurkiewicz

  Strong arms gripped me from behind, and I instantly knew it was Eric by his scent. Thank God! He cradled me in his arms and stroked my hair while I cried.

  “Hush now. Tonight might have been a wash but it wasn’t all for nothing. We’ll rescue Lucy.” He kissed my forehead, and I hiccupped. I was trying really hard to stop crying. I knew I looked a right mess and stunk to high heaven. How he was holding me without gagging was truly a mystery to me.

  “Just take me back to the brothel,” I choked back a sob. “I need a shower.” I wailed again, and he pulled me closer, rocking me gently.

  He was so sweet and kind. And I stunk like arse. And I just knew snot was smeared across my face. When his hands brushed across my back, I cried out in pain.

  “What is it, Catherine? What happened to you?” Eric lifted me up, looking at my back.

  “Some big arse ugly creatures,” I sobbed, “took a swipe at me,” I hiccupped, “and clawed my fucking back.”

  All right. That was enough crying. I needed to dry that shit up.

  “What did you just say? What hurt you? I’ll kill them!”

  “I sort of already took care of that part, well, one of them I think.” I wiped my face with the back of my sleeve. So gross.

  Eric growled nastily. “Your back is soaked with blood! This needs to be taken care of straight away.”

  James and Tobias approached just as Eric was about to have a meltdown. Wonderful timing. My meltdown was dreadful enough. Someone around here needed to keep their head.

  “Catherine,” Tobias said, “are you all right? We could hear you crying far off in the distance.”

  “It sounded like a dying animal,” James interjected.

  “Shut the hell up, James.” I glowered at him. “I couldn’t save my sister. Some warlock placed a spell on her cage; a golden cage, I might add, and I need magic to get her out.” I almost started crying again just thinking about it but held my tears at bay.

  “I’m sorry, Catherine. We’ll do all that we can to help save your sister.” James took a step toward me, and Eric growled at him. What was with him and the growling business? It was quite irritating at times.

  Tobias was silent as usual.

  Great. Not this again. “Can we just get back to the brothel?”

  My companions nodded, and I couldn’t wait to get the hell out of that damned forest. I was dreaming of a hot bath, but in my mind, I wondered what would happen to Lucy now? Julius must have known the brothers had something to do with my failed attempt at helping her escape. Unfortunately, I hadn’t killed the guards, at least not all of them, and that meant they would be able to identify me. They would most likely move Lucy somewhere else, and that was what frightened me the most.

  God, I didn’t want to think about this anymore, but we had to prepare a plan and go back for her. My heart was broken, and if anything happened to her because of this I wasn’t certain I would ever be able to forgive myself.

  “Yes, we need to take care of these injuries,” Eric said. “I have a feeling your arm is broken as well.”

  Then James pushed him out of the away and glanced at my back. “Eric’s right. We need to get this seen about straight away.”

  “All right, all right. Since we’re all in agreement, let’s move,” I said.” I can walk. You’re smothering me.” As happy as I was to see them, they were frustrating the hell out of me, and wasting precious time with pointless conversation.

  Eric insisted on carrying me, but when I threatened to punch him, he quickly changed his mind. Okay, my arm hurt like hell, but I could still walk; I wasn’t helpless. Tobias and James remained silent. Thank God. I wasn’t certain I could deal with any more bickering.

  We had to stop a few times, seeing large shadows move across the sky. I had a feeling it was Julius sending out his shifters to search for me and most likely the dhampir brothers as well. I was in no shape to fight and honestly had no strength left within me tonight. We kept close to the shadows and trees and made our way as silently as possible through the forest.

  By the time we reached the brothel it was early morning, but Bertha seemed to be waiting up for us. I wondered if the woman ever slept; she always seemed to be around. All the other ladies were still asleep; it was around three or four a.m.

  “Catherine has been injured.” Eric stormed through the door, “and I need to tend to her wounds straight away. She needs a hot bath, some bandages and magical potions if you them,” he demanded when Bertha welcomed us in wearing her dressing gown.

  “Eric, for heaven’s sake! Bertha’s isn’t your servant.” I really needed to sit down. “Stop barking orders at her.” My adrenaline was slowly wearing off, and I nearly swayed on my feet.

  “And what do you mean, you’re going to take care of her?” James shouted. “We both know I was the one who cared for the wounded during the war, so I have more experience than you ever will.”

  “You’re not going anywhere near her,” Eric growled—again with the growling—and within moments they were at each other’s throats, arguing about who was going to do what to me.

  Eric pointed his finger in James’s face, and I thought Eric might choke him and toss him through another wall. Oh, my. This surely wasn’t going to end well.

  “Gentlemen, please,” Bertha interjected. “This is neither the time nor the place. Catherine needs medical attention, not grown men bickering.”

  I wanted to high-five Bertha. I seriously couldn’t believe those two were arguing about this right now. I didn’t have the energy to tell them to shut the fu—hell up. All I could do was watch. I just wanted to get clean and rest. Morons.

  Damn the luck. My knees gave out on me, and I knew it was going to hurt when I hit the floor. I didn’t even have the strength to brace myself for the fall. This was certainly a shit day indeed.

  Fortunately, the pain never came; someone caught me before I could do a faceplant onto the floor. Thank God!

  “Shut up, you idiots!” Tobias shouted, catching me in his arms. I opened my eyes, staring at him in shock. He looked bloody furious; I’d never seen him so angry. “There’s no time for arguments, and this is what’s going to happen: I’m taking her upstairs, so I can heal her with my magic while the two of you send word to Mother and Father. Tell them we are breaking our alliance with the Drakins.” He took a measured breath and then continued. “And if either of you dare interfere, I swear on the God of the Seven Kingdoms that I’ll remove your memories—all of them. Fucking imbeciles! She’s in pain!”

  My mouth fell open. I was truly bewildered, and I didn’t know whether to laugh or keep my mouth shut. If I wasn’t in so much pain, I most certainly would have giggled a little. I glanced at Eric and James; the shocked expressions on their faces were priceless. Tobias didn’t swear, and as long as I’d known him, he’d never lost his temper. He’d struck them dumb! I just knew I would laugh about this tomorrow. Now simply wasn’t the right time.

  Bertha smiled and before Eric or James could react, Tobias headed up the stairs, still carrying me in his arms. Bertha walked silently behind us, but I could have sworn I heard her stifle a laugh.

  “You better use all the magic you have, Tobias!” Eric shouted from the first floor.

  “You know I can walk on my own now.” I attempted to wiggle a bit, but the look Tobias gave me was one that told me to keep my mouth shut. A vein in his neck was throbbing erratically. Damn. He was pissed. Alrighty then.

  Bertha opened the door to my chamber, and quickly went to the bathroom to draw me a bath. I stunk to high heaven but felt even worse.

  Tobias carefully laid me on the bed and then shut the door, locking it behind him. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. He was so sweet, wanting to take care of me, but I wasn’t bloody disabled. Damn. I hoped Bertha changed my bedding after this. I surely didn’t want my horrendous odour permeating the sheets. That simply wouldn’t do. No one wanted to sleep in that.

  “Right, so, this is going to hurt, but I have to set the broken bone
in your arm first.”

  Oh, my! I wasn’t looking forward to this. In all the years of dragon slaying, I’d never once broken a bone. This was certain to be quite painful indeed.

  Tobias was staring at me intensely. He was damn good looking, and for a moment I wondered if I could choose him. Then again, I wasn’t certain if I was attracted to him in the same way I was to Eric or even James.

  Dear God. I was injured. What was I even thinking? Hussy Catherine needed to go into hiding. These dhampirs had brought out a part of me that I didn’t even know existed; made me feel things I’d never felt before.

  Stop, Catherine. If my entire body wasn’t in pain, I would have slapped myself.

  Bertha was singing in the bathroom when Tobias lifted my arm. Warmth moved through me instantly, but the pain was worse than before. I was breathing hard, trying to think about something else other than my broken arm or my bloody hormones.

  “On three,” he said, and I gritted my teeth. “One, two—”

  He pulled it on two instead—arsehole—turning my arm until something that was clearly my bone popped back into place. I nearly gagged. The pain was sharp, and I screamed, but it was over almost as soon as it started.

  Well, at least my arm no longer looked mangled and I didn’t cry. Tobias was using his magic to heal my broken bone; I could feel the pain slowly fading away. Dear God! His eyes were glowing, gleaming with power. Holy hell! I’d never seen anything like that before in my life. Sure, he’d spellbound me, but I was actually seeing magic—in my face—right in front of me. It was an extraordinary sight indeed.

  Now that the pain in my arm was gone, I wanted to sleep, but dear God, the smell. I could still smell myself; I stunk so badly. I had no idea how anyone could be around me without gagging. It was truly dreadful. I had to have a bath and wash away the gawd-awful stench wafting from my body. I was beginning to sound like a broken record, but I couldn’t help myself. Bathing was a necessity.

  “Thank you for healing me, Tobias. Your magic is spectacular.” I reached up and touched his cheek. Heat danced along the surface of my skin. We were bonding, and I imagined kissing him, but only for a moment. I simply couldn’t do it. Not with him. We were friends, and anything more than that didn’t feel right. Thank God.

  He smiled at me, and my insides melted. At least he was a gentleman, not like the other two morons.

  “Your bath is ready,” Bertha said. “Do you want me to help Catherine with her clothes?” She walked back into the room looking toward Tobias.

  Tobias cleared his throat. “Yes, thank you.” He nodded and then looked back at me. “But Catherine, I need to use my magic to heal the wounds on your back.” He ran his hand through his hair nervously. “It’s best if we do it while you’re in the bath.”

  Oh, damn. This was certainly going to be a bit awkward, and highly inappropriate, I might add. I would be naked in the bath. I mean, he was going to see me naked. Dear God.

  I was utterly mortified. “Right, so, the sooner we get on with this, the sooner it will be over, and I can go to bed.”

  Tobias helped me up, and I walked to the bathroom. Bertha helped rid me of my blouse and—Shit! I was right: the blood had dried and stuck to my shirt. She near ripped it from my back. I thought I might cry, or gag or puke from the pain, but I didn’t. I just gritted my teeth and cursed under my breath.

  Bertha kept saying, “Oh, dear,” as she looked over my wounds. She repeated it at least three times. I didn’t mind her seeing me naked, but I had no idea how I was going to deal with Tobias being here, too…seeing everything… all my naughty bits… I might just die or drown myself. It could go either way.

  “The wounds are bad, Catherine. I have some very good potions downstairs that might help. Go ahead and get into the bath, and I’ll run and fetch them.” Bertha looked at me sweetly. “We’re very fortunate Tobias has magic.” She smiled and then walked out of the room, leaving the door wide open.

  I quickly slipped into the bath and moved forward, hugging my knees so Tobias would only have access to my back. This way he wouldn’t be seeing anything other than my naked arse. Well, I had to deal with this dreadful situation somehow. I was certain he’d already realised we were only going to be friends and, at that thought, I felt a tiny bit better. Still mortified, but better.

  Chapter 21

  When Tobias walked into the bathroom, he took a deep intake of breath, and I knew my injuries were bad and his breathing had nothing to do with him seeing my arse. I could feel skin hanging from my back—gag—but I honestly had no idea how deep the arse-breath creature had clawed me. Based on his reaction, I was betting on deep and nasty.

  “All right, then. Let’s get on with it.” I turned my head sideways to see him still standing in the doorway, holding small potion bottles in his hands. His mouth was dropped open in what seemed like shock. “Oh, come on, Tobias. You’re a dhampir. I’m certain you’ve seen your share of blood and gore; it can’t be that bad, right?”

  He visibly gulped and nodded. “Right, yes, I have. But… your back.” It was as if he couldn’t mutter a coherent sentence. Damn. That didn’t make me feel very confident in his abilities at that particular moment.

  “What? Out with it, then. Can you heal me or not? Or are you just going to stand there all night and stare at the wound?” Bloody hell. He was near pissing me off. I was tired.

  Tobias shook his head. “My apologies. I’ve just never seen claw marks of this magnitude. What was it again that attacked you?” He finally stepped into the room and set his potions on the countertop.

  “I’m not quite sure exactly.” I shrugged. “It was larger than any dog I’ve ever seen, with huge teeth and arse breath. Whatever it was, it was ugly as hell.”

  “All right. Well, lean forward a bit more and turn your head. This might sting a bit but then you’ll feel a warming sensation when the healing begins to take place. Are you ready?”

  “Just waiting on you.” I smiled up at him and turned my head. “Finally, he was going to heal me, so I could go to bed.

  Tobias knelt beside the tub, and my heart began thundering in my chest. I was suddenly so nervous and frightened at the same time. It wasn’t that I didn’t think he could heal me, but what if I’d contracted some sort of disease from that creature.

  I felt his hands touch my back and I inhaled sharply. “Wait!”

  “What’s wrong. What is it, Catherine?”

  “Why did you ask what sort of creature attacked me? Does it matter or were you just a bit startled? I mean, I need to know these things. You know, do any of those sorts of creatures carry diseases I should be worried about?”

  He laughed, and I didn’t think it was funny at all. “No, no diseases. I was only wondering because I’ve never seen claw marks with diamond-shaped punctures. That’s what it looks like at the top of each wound. It is odd, that’s all.” He cleared his throat to keep from laughing again. “Are you ready now?”

  “Yes.” I sighed. “Carry on.” My nerves were getting the best of me and my back fucking hurt.

  I felt the tips of his fingers graze my skin, and I wanted to jump out of the bath and cry out, but I was naked. He should have given me a wash cloth to bite down on. Was he peeling my skin off? Shit! This was not magic! I could’ve done that myself, maybe. Oh, my. I might pass out. And where the hell was Bertha? FUCK.

  Ah, that was better. Warm liquid ran down my back like a soothing balm to my shredded skin, and I breathed a sigh of relief. It must have been the healing potion because—Holy mother of—What the burning fires of hell? Dear God! I was dying. Warm my arse?

  “What the fuck, Tobias?” My body was trembling, my entire body felt like it had been dipped into the fires of Hell.

  Please God. I promise I’ll be better. If this is what Hell feels like, I surely don’t want to go there. I—

  What in the ever loving? Oh, my! Darkness was obscuring my vision. I was going to be one of those women. I never fainted but I was making an exception toni
ght.

  It was happening; I could feel darkness settling over me and then… Wait. Warmth. Not fire? This was better. And Tobias was chuckling again. Arsehole.

  “I’m almost done, Catherine. Your wounds are closing up and healing now, and you may not have any scars.”

  Well, that was reassuring. “Thank you, Tobias. You could have warned me about the burning fire part.” I rolled my eyes even though he couldn’t see me.

  He chuckled again. “Just a bit more.” I was glad he was having such a mighty fine time.

  “The water’s getting cold and I’m shriveled. Are you done?” I was losing patience quickly and I was still naked. I sort of forgot about that part while being burned alive. All thoughts of mortification had slipped my mind, until now.

  “Nearly there.” He paused. “And, I’m done.” I turned my head to see him sit back on his heels, and it looked like he was appraising his handiwork.

  “Alrighty then. Thank you for not killing me.” I was well and truly spent. I wanted to lie down and sleep for a week, but Lucy…

  “I’ll just set your towels here on the floor. Go ahead and get washed up, and I’ll send Bertha in.” He stood and made his way to the door. “And Catherine, you were never going to die. If I told you how badly it was going to hurt, you may not have allowed me to heal you.” He winked and left me sitting alone in the room again.

  “Arsehole!”

  I let some of the cold water drain and then turned the hot water on to warm me up. I needed a good scrubbing. Although my body was healed, I most certainly wasn’t feeling one-hundred percent. I needed to sleep in the worst way, and I was afraid if I didn’t hurry and wash up, I might actually drift off in the tub. Then I would really die from drowning.

  I scrubbed as quickly and efficiently as I could, ridding myself of the filth and horrendous stench. Just as I was stepping out of the tub, Bertha walked in.

  “Do you need anything?” she enquired, placing a fresh white robe on the hook near the door.