Page 38 of Ravenous

His puzzled expression deepened. “I didn’t expect you to have one. I find you peculiar.”

“That’s better than repellent. I’m gaining ground.”

He seemed to find himself onuneven ground. He didn’t like her. Didn’t trust her. Yet he wasn’t gloating. Guilt? Conscience? In her world, that was rarer than a day-walking vampire.

He cleared his throat, steering for safer terrain. “The physic who attended you said the balm will keep you from scarring.”

Her gaze darted, unbidden, to his own scars.

Arctos tensed. “Yes, unlike me. Decades ago, we had no access to witchly potions.”

“You were a child then,” she said. “What happened to you?”

“Bear attack. I was four.” His simple answer simmered with currents. The straightening of his broad shoulders told her he’d reveal no more.

“Maybe you’ll tell me about it someday.”

Not likely, his expression said.

Because she had no future here? Or because she had no future with him? “Then how did you get the balm now?”

“Inkletter has a new contact that trades with rogues.”

“You felt betrayed by him and still reached out?”

“Don’t read too much into it,” Arctos said flatly. “My orders are to train you as long as you’re with us. If you’re bedridden, no one benefits.”

“You’re right. Very well, I’m ready for the afternoon session.”

“Afternoon?” He arched his brows. “You’ve been asleep for three days.”

“What?” No wonder her bones felt refitted, her muscles sore instead of screaming. Eager to redeem herself from the…stew incident, she shoved the cover down. “I suppose that’s one way to earn a reprieve.”

“You’re meant to rest longer.”

“Nonsense. I’m fine.” She swung her legs over the side and stood. His gaze dipped, and she realized she wore only a thin shift. A flush climbed her cheeks, heating the balm. “Did you change me?”

“Of course not.” The answer came sharp, offended. “I brought in a nurse and the physic to help you.”

Lia tilted her head. “Makes me wonder where you’ve been sleeping all this time since I’ve taken your bed.”

“Another room,” he bit out. “I don’t know what kind of males you’ve known, but I would never crawl into a bed with an unconscious woman who hates me.”

She believed him. Still, the idea that she’d been that vulnerable made her stomach clench, and her thoughts turned dark. “You said if you found your mate, she would kill me. What if she’d come along over the past three days while I was defenseless? Would she throttle me in my sleep? Would I ever have woken?”

He looked astounded with the flights her mind had taken. “No Berserker would be such a coward.”

“You are the one who said she’d kill me!” Lia reminded him. “Seemed very certain about that.”

“She would challenge you to combat. Which you would lose. Handily.”

“Ouch.”And he isn’t wrong.Learning from a battle-hardened warrior made more and more sense. If survival was paramount, training might be her only means of achieving it.

Maybe once she was old enough to regenerate, she could escape this place and go on the run. That would give her the best chance of evading Co?tin forever. As it was now, he’d probably already learned her location.

“I only tell the truth.” Arctos scrubbed a big hand over his nape. “Your questions indicate a…different environment in Crypt Castle.”

“Most vampires there are depraved.” Her own brother was. Yet Arctos didn’t strike her so. Was he as opposite to Co?tin as he could be? The anti-Co?tin?