"Thinking of taking up surgery?"
Tohr glanced over at Manny Manello, MD, human surgeon, mated hellren of V's twin. The guy had come with a first-aid kit, as well as his signature I-run-the-world attitude.
What was it with surgeons? They were almost as bad as warriors. Or kings.
The human crouched down beside him. "You're leaking."
"No shit."
Just as he was wondering where No'One was, the female came in with a broom, a rolling trash bin, and a dustpan. Without looking at him or the human, she began sweeping carefully.
At least she'd put shoes on.
Jesus Christ... she had been really f**king naked.
As Manello poked and prodded at the injured hand, and then started numbing and stitching, Tohr watched the female out of the corner of his eye - no direct viewing. Especially not after -
Jesus... like, really f**king naked -
Okay, time to stop thinking about that.
Focusing on her limp, he noticed that it was pretty damn pronounced, and wondered if she'd hurt herself in that great rush to get out of the pool and get clothed.
He'd seen her frantic before. But only once...
It had been the night they'd gotten her away from that symphath.
He'd killed the bastard. Shot her captor right through the head, dropping him like a stone. Then he and Darius had packed her into a carriage and headed back for her family's house. The plan had been to return her to them. Take her to her blood. Give her to those who by all rights should have helped her heal.
Except when they'd gotten close to that stately mansion, she'd bolted out of the carriage even though the horses had been going at a clip. And he'd never forget the sight of her in that white nightgown, streaking across a field, running like she was being chased even though the capture part was over.
She'd known she was pregnant. That was why she'd taken off.
She'd had the limp then, too.
That had been her only attempt to escape. Well, until the one after the birth, the one that had worked.
God... he'd been nervous around her during the months they'd stayed together at Darius's. He'd had zero experience with females of any worth: Yeah, sure, he'd grown up around them while he'd been with his mother, but that had been as a child, as a pretrans. The instant he'd gone through his transition, he'd been ripped out of his home and thrown into the sink-or-swim pit of the Bloodletter's training camp - where he had been too busy trying to stay alive to worry about the whores.
He hadn't even met Wellsie in person at that point. His promise to her had been an obligation his mother had assumed for him when he'd been twenty-five, before she'd even been born -
With a jerk, he hissed, and Manello looked up from his needle and thread. "Sorry. You want more lidocaine?"
"I'm fine."
No'One's hood shifted position sharply as she glanced over. After a moment, she resumed her broom work.
Maybe it was the alcohol kicking in, but he suddenly didn't give a shit about pretenses. He let himself openly stare at the female as the good doctor finished up on the palm.
"You know, I'm going to have to get you a crutch," Manello muttered.
"If you tell me what you need," No'One said softly, "I shall bring it here for you."
"Perfect. Go to the equipment room at the far end of the gym. In the PT suite, you'll find the..."
As the guy gave her instructions, No'One nodded, that hood of hers moving up and down. For some reason, Tohr tried to picture her face, but it was hazy. He hadn't seen her properly in centuries - that brief flash just now didn't count, because it had been from a distance. And when she'd done the reveal to Xhex and him before the mating ceremony, he'd been too rocked to pay full attention.
But she was blond; he knew that. And she'd always liked the shadows - or at least, she had in Darius's cabin. She hadn't wanted to be looked at then, either.
"Okay, doing good," Manello said as he inspected his repair job. "Let's wrap this and move on to the next."
No'One returned just as the surgeon was taping the tail end of the gauze in place.
"You can watch if you like."
Tohr frowned until he realized that Manello was addressing No'One. The female was hanging back, and sure as if that hood of hers was a face with expressions, he could tell she was worried.
"Just a warning, though." Manello moved downward. "This is worse than the hand - but the palm is more important, because that's what he fights with."
As No'One hesitated, Tohr shrugged. "You can see anything you like, assuming your stomach's up for it."
She went around and stood behind the doctor, crossing her arms into the sleeves of her robe so that she looked like some kind of religious statue. Except she was very much alive: When he winced as the needle went in with the anesthetic, she seemed to burrow into herself.
Like his being in pain affected her.
Tohr shifted his eyes away for the duration.
"All right, you're done," Manello said sometime later. "And before you ask, I'll give you a 'yeah, probably.' Given how fast you guys heal, you should be good to go tomorrow night. For f**k's sake, you're like cars - take a beating, go into the body shop, next thing you know, back out on the road. Humans take so damn long to get over things."
Uh-huh, right. Tohr wasn't quite ready to put himself in Dodge Ram territory. The exhaustion he was lugging around with him meant he needed to feed - and that these relatively minor injuries could take a while to repair themselves.
Aside from that one session from Selena, he hadn't taken a vein since -
Nope. Not going there. No need to open that door.
"No walking on this foot," the surgeon ordered on as he snapped off his gloves. "At least until dawn. And no swimming."
"No problem." Especially on the latter. After what he'd just seen floating in the middle of the goddamn thing, he might never go in the pool again. Any pool, for that matter.
The only thing that saved his having walked in on her from being a complete mess was the fact that there had been nothing sexual on his side. Yeah, he'd been shocked, but that didn't mean he wanted to... you know, bang her or some shit.
"One question," the doctor said as he rose up and held out his hand.
Tohr accepted the palm and was a little surprised to find himself pulled solidly to his feet.
"What."
"How did it happen?"
Tohr glanced over at No'One - who looked away so quickly, she turned her whole body in the opposite direction.
"Bottle slipped out of my hand," Tohr muttered.
"Ah, well - accidents happen." The yeah-sure tone suggested the guy didn't believe the fudge for a second. "Call me if you need me. I'm down in the clinic for the rest of the night."
"Thanks, man."
"Yup."
And then... he and No'One were alone together.
Chapter Eleven
As No'One watched the healer go, she found herself wanting to take a step back from Tohrment. It seemed as if, in the absence of any other parties, he had suddenly gotten closer. And much, much larger.
In the silence that transpired, she had the sense that they should be speaking, but her mind was clouded. Mortified did not begin to cover it, and she had some instinct that if she could just explain herself, mayhap she could make that feeling go away.
In the meantime, too much of his physical form registered for comfort. He was so tall - inches and inches, a whole foot taller than she was. And his body was not reedy as hers was: Although he was thinner than she remembered from before, and a great deal lighter than his Brothers, he was still broader and more muscled than any male member of the glymera ever had been....
Where was her tongue? she thought.
And yet even as she wondered that, all she could do was measure the brutal width of his shoulders, and the massive contours of his heavy chest, and those long, viciously muscled arms. It was not because she considered him comely, however. She was abruptly frightened of all that physical power -
Tohrment was the one who took a step back, his face registering disgust. "Don't look at me like that."
Shaking herself, she recalled that this was the male who had gotten her free. Not someone who had ever hurt her. Or would. "I am sorry - "
"Listen up, and I want to make this clear. I'm not interested in anything from you. I don't know what kind of game you're playing - "
"Game?"
His powerful arm shot out as he pointed to the pool. "Lying in wait for me to come down here - "
No'One recoiled. "What? I was not waiting for you or anyone else - "
"Bullshit - "
"I checked first to make sure I was alone - "
"You were naked, floating there like some kind of whore - "
"Whore?"
Their raised voices ricocheted around like bullets, crossing paths as they interrupted each other.
Tohrment jutted himself forward on his hips. "Why did you come here?"
"I work as a laundress - "
"Not the training center - this goddamn compound."
"I wanted to see my daughter - "
"Then why haven't you spent any time with her?"
"She is newly mated! I have tried to make myself available - "
"Yeah, I know. Just not to her."
The disrespect in that deep voice made her want to shrink away, but his unfairness gave her a backbone. "I had no way of knowing that you were going to enter herein. I thought all were gone for the night - "
Tohrment closed the distance between them. "I'm going to say this only once. There's nothing here for you. The mated males in this house are bound to their shellans, Qhuinn's not interested, and neither am I. If you've come looking for a hellren or a lover, you're out of luck - "
"I want no male!" Her shouting shut him up, but that wasn't nearly enough. "I shall say this only once - I would kill myself afore I ever accept another male into my body. I know why you hate me, and I respect your reasons, but I do not want you or any other of your persuasion. Ever."
"Then how about you start by keeping your goddamn clothes on."
She would have slapped him if she could have reached that high. Her palm even started to tingle.
But she did not jump up to wipe the terrible expression off his face with force. Lifting her chin, she said with as much dignity as she could, "In the event you have forgotten what the last male did to me, I can assure you I have not. Whether you choose to believe me or prefer a delusion, that is not my doing - or my concern."
As she limped past him, she wished for once that her leg was what it had been before: Pride was far better served by an even gait.
Just as she got to the anteroom, she looked back at him. He had not turned about, so she addressed his shoulders... and the name of his shellan, which was carved in his very skin. "I shall never go near that water again. Clothed or unclothed."
As she wobbled to the door, she was shaking from head to foot, and it wasn't until she felt the cold slap of the air out in the corridor that she realized she had left the rolling trash bin, the sweeper, and her sheath behind.
She was not going back for them, that was for certain.
In the laundry room, she closed herself in and leaned against the wall by the doors.
Abruptly, she felt like she was suffocating, and ripped the hood from her head. Indeed, her body was hot, and not because of the heavy layer she wore. An internal burn had taken root and used her gut for kindling, the heated smoke from that fire filling her lungs, crowding out the oxygen.
It was impossible to reconcile the male she had known in the Old Country with the one she saw now. The former had been awkward, but never, ever disrespectful, a kind, gentle soul who somehow excelled at his brutal endeavors in the war - whilst retaining his compassion.
This current iteration was but a bitter shell.
And to think she'd assumed preparing that dress would be of any benefit?
She'd have better luck moving the mansion with her mind.
In the wake of No'One's pissed-off departure, Tohr decided that short of the fact John Matthew hadn't managed to cut himself on the hand and foot thus far tonight, it looked like Tohr and the kid had a lot in common: Courtesy of their tempers, both were now dressed in the Captain Asshole costume - which included, for no extra charge, the cape of disgrace, the booties of shame, and keys to the Fuck Up mobile.
Christ, what had come out of his mouth?
In the event you have forgotten what the last male did to me, I can assure you I have not.
With a groan, he pinched the bridge of his nose. Why in the world would he think, for even a second, that female would have any sexual interest in a male?
"Because you assumed she was attracted to you and it freaked you out."
Tohr closed his eyes. "Not now, Lassiter."
Naturally, the fallen angel paid no attention to the verbal POLICE LINE - DO NOT CROSS tape. The blond-and-black idiot walked over and sat down on one of the benches, putting his elbows on the knees of his leathers, his odd white eyes steady and grave.
"It's time you and I had a little talk."
"About my social skills?" Tohr shook his head. "No offense, but I'd rather take advice from Rhage - and that's saying something."
"Have you ever heard of the In Between."
Tohr awkwardly pivoted around on his good foot. "I'm not interested in a class on fractions. Thanks."
"It's a very real place."
"So is Cleveland. Detroit. Beautiful downtown Burbank." He'd been a Laugh-In fan in the sixties. So sue him. "But I don't need to know about them, either."
"It's where Wellsie is."
Tohr's heart stopped in his chest. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"She is not in the Fade."
Okay. Right. He probably should follow that one up with, "What the f**k are you talking about?" Instead, all he could do was stare at the guy.
"She's not where you think she is," the angel murmured.
Through a dry mouth, he managed, "You're saying she's in hell? Because that's the only other option."
"No, it isn't."
Tohr took a deep breath. "My shellan was a female of worth, and she's in the Fade - there's no reason to think she'd be in Dhund. As for myself, I'm through with jumping down people's throats tonight. So I'm going to walk out that door over there" - he pointed in the direction of the anteroom just to be helpful - "and you're going to let me go. Because I'm not in the mood for this."