Page 107 of Journey to the Elderoak
“Umm…yeah. I guess we did.”
“How?” asked Thorne.
“The first one, I shot in the eye with an arrow and when it fell Casimir finished it off with his sword. Another, he trapped in a root ball, and I impaled it. The third picked me up and tried to carry me away, but I was able to get my dagger under its belly and gutted it all over me.” She grimaced at the memory.
“That’swhy you stink,” said Quinn.
“Yes. It was disgusting. The last one bit Cas but Aro showedup and I used myself as bait. Then Aro killed it as it flew for me.”
Raine gave a loud laugh.
“What?” Ava asked.
“You killed more of them than Cas,” he said.
“I suppose I did.”
He looked pleased. “Impressive.”
A noise sounded from the bed. She whipped her head toward Casimir whose eyes were open as he quietly laughed.
“You’re awake.” She gasped.
Thorne stood. “It’s time we leave them alone. We need to speak at dinner in a couple of hours about the ball tomorrow.”
“See you later.”
They left and she turned back to him. Alone in the infirmary, Kai was nowhere to be seen. He had bandaged Casimir’s shoulder and put it in a sling to prevent movement.
“How are you feeling?” she asked as she squeezed his hand.
“I’ve had worse,” he said, smiling at her. “How did you get me back?”
“I dragged your ass onto Aro’s back and he took us home. You’re really damn heavy.”
“It’s all the muscles.”
She gave him a flat look. “Are you okay? Are you in pain?”
“Not much. I’m fine. Seriously. This will finish healing in a day and I’ll be as good as new tomorrow. Are you alright? You look…stressed.”
“I was worried about you. And I kind of lost control a bit…you know…I yelled at everyone. Yelled at Kai to hurry and heal you.” Her face flushed with embarrassment. “And all the heightened senses are overwhelming. Everything smells and I can hear things I couldn’t before.”
“You lost control because I was hurt?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Of course I did,” she said. “Don’t look so smug.”
He smiled even bigger as he ran his thumb across her hand. “Smell and sound aren’t the only senses that are more intense, you know.”
She pulled her hand away, crossed her arms and looked at him. “Nice try. You’re injured. I smell like a pile of rotten garbage, and we have dinner in a couple hours.”
“We still haven’t gotten the chance to finish what we started the other day,” he said, staring at her.
“I know,” she whispered. “When you’re healed.”
“Alright then.” He settled back into the bed.
She leaned over and gave him a light kiss on his cheek.
