Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 134898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 540(@250wpm)___ 450(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 540(@250wpm)___ 450(@300wpm)
Fifty-One
Gwenna
Iwake up in the softest hospital bed, a down pillow tucked under my cheek. I’m facing a window, and the panes are absolutely filthy. I bet no one’s cleaned them since I was here months ago. It figures that I was the only one having to clean the damned things.
I roll over in bed, feeling like one big bruise. Everything hurts. On the bed to my other side is Raptor, his big Taurian body practically overflowing the much smaller hospital bed. His eyes are closed, bandages up and down his arms, and one across his muzzle. The moment I roll over, he turns to look at me.
“We’ve got to quit meeting like this,” I murmur.
“I don’t know. Every time I wake up with you next to me, I consider that a win.”
“I don’t know if it’s much of a win if we’re in the hospital,” I say, rolling onto my back. Immediately I wince as pain shoots up my arm, which I notice is wrapped so tightly it looks like it’s wearing a corset. “Gods, everything hurts. Are we injured?”
“You, my delightful mate, are dehydrated and exhausted from being in the caverns, and you fractured your wrist. Me, I lost some blood and got bitten a hundred times by ratlings, so they’re filling me full of the worst herbal concoctions possible to ensure I don’t get sick.”
He sounds so grumpy and put out that it reminds me of teenaged Aspeth every time someone tried to get her to put down her book. I look over at Raptor, frantic. “Wait—Aspeth—Kipp—Arrod—”
“Everyone’s safe,” Raptor continues. His mouth lifts in a smile. “You think I’d let you lie about if they weren’t? I know you better than that.”
I relax, because he wouldn’t, in fact, let me sit around if my friends were in danger. He’d be the first one to wake me up. “What did I miss?”
“A lot, it seems. Hawk took control of the situation. Once they dumped your group, they decided to take Sparrow and Arrod hostage. They tried to get Kipp, but he was too fast and scaled the walls to get away from them. You know he can move sideways on a wall?”
“His little feet are sticky,” I remind him.
“So weird, slitherskins.” He shrugs. “Anyhow, Kipp went and got Hawk, and their plan was foiled before it even began.”
Mmm. I think of the passageway the ghost of Hemmen had shown me, and the faces of the guilty parties. I also think about how Rooster now knows I’m the mancer, and how even now they could be preparing a pyre in the plaza to burn me on. “And what do you think of everything that happened?”
“Hmm?” He eyes me.
“About me. About what I did.” There’s a nervous quiver in my belly. It’s the first time I’ve openly used my powers in front of him—in front of anyone, truly—and I’m worried that he’ll be disgusted. That he’ll see nothing but a mancer in front of him. That he’ll find me freakish and want nothing to do with me.
But Raptor just grins in that confident, sly way of his. “Are you kidding me? The dead were showing you exactly where to dig, aye? When we graduate, we’ll be the most successful team the guild has ever seen.”
“When we graduate?”
He snorts. “Yes. Did you think I’d leave my mate behind to be in someone else’s Five? Not bloody likely. I’m staying with you.” He runs a hand down his muzzle and gives me a heated look. “Plus, you might need more distracting the next time you go down in the tunnels. I aim to be the only one who ever ‘distracts’ you.”
My cheeks heat at his words, but I’m glad to hear them. “I plan on you being my only distraction as well. What comes next, then?”
Raptor sends me another heated look, but settles back in the bed, as if deciding we’re both too injured to do more than talk about “distractions.” “I spoke with Rooster and Hawk earlier. They’re trying to round up the culprits so we can have a magistrate called in to sentence them.”
Makes sense, and I’m relieved that it’s already being handled. I’m so tired of all of it. “Thank the gods it’s all settled. Is that why the windows are dirty, then?”
Raptor eyes me, curious. “What do you mean?”
“The nestmaids,” I say, the uneasy feeling returning. “They’ve been arrested, right?”
“Why would the nestmaids be arrested?”
“Because Mistress Umala is the one behind it all. She and Marta are involved. Those were the names Hemmen gave me when I contacted him. They communicated through borrowed library books. When he died, Marta hid them all so they wouldn’t get caught.”
“Mucking hells.” Raptor jumps out of bed, stark naked, and looks around for his clothing. After a moment, he wraps the sheet around his waist and points at me. “You stay put. I’m getting a message to Hawk or Rooster. We’ve got to tell them about this.”