Page 101 of Property of Crypt Keeper

“Remarkable,” he murmured. Then he turned and disappeared into the darkness.

26

CRYPT KEEPER

Pain had become familiar. It was no longer sharp, but it was there.

A dull ache had settled into my bruised ribs. The pull of stitches across my chest, a constant reminder of the scalpel that had opened it. The sting of the lingering burn wherever the warded silver had kissed my skin.

Yet, I’d survived worse after Thane.

Barely.

The clubhouse infirmary had been unusually quiet for two days—almost respectfully so. Nobody barged in. Nobody made jokes. Even Zeus had somehow restrained himself.

The brothers understood.

I’d come home. That was enough.

But damn, was I ready for my own bed, I thought as I dozed off for the hundredth time.

Slowly, I opened my eyes. Each time I did, I was afraid I would be looking up at bright white lights.

Yet, early morning sunlight filtered through the curtains, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

The room smelled faintly of coffee. With the underlying scent of antiseptic… and lavender.

Katalina.

Rolling my head to the side, I drank her in. She was sitting in the chair beside the bed, one boot propped against the frame, reading one of Hack’s reports.

Still wearing one of my T-shirts.

She’d argued the first night, claiming she’d only borrowed it because hers had been destroyed. Now she’d stolen three more. But I wasn’t complaining.

She looked up and her beautiful lips curved up. “You’re awake.”

“I was trying to get some healing sleep,” I replied, my voice sleep-rough.

“You’ve been asleep for twelve hours.” She cocked one brow as she smirked.

“I was committed,” I replied.

A tiny smile tugged at the corner of her mouth before disappearing again. There it was—the smile she always tried so hard to hide. The one she only seemed to forget and use around me.

“How bad?” I asked.

“Obviously, you’ll live,” she replied as she closed the folder. She set it aside and leaned forward to rest her elbows on her knees.

“I figured. You disappointed?”

“Terribly so,” she murmured as she got up, leaned over the bed, and braced herself above me.

I reached up to run my fingers over her silky, dark hair.

When I did, she glanced at my wrist and turned her head to place a kiss on the still-reddened inside of my wrist.

“What else happened?” I asked, some of my memory still a bit hazy.