Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 65310 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65310 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
I heard steps behind me start to retreat and knew Nikolai followed his orders without questioning them.
Skylar got to work, removing the bandages with a pair of wicked looking scissors, and I walked up to her, helping remove the tape and bandage as well.
“Jesus,” I whispered as the tape started to peel off. “Did you need so much tape?”
He snorted. “Wait till you see it, then tell me if you think I used enough tape.”
I understood what he meant when all the tape finally came off, and the only things that was left was the layers of gauze.
They were saturated with blood, and the moment the wound was revealed, I nearly lost it.
Although managing to stay on my feet, my head did get woozy, and my face was suddenly cool.
“Holy shit,” I breathed, utterly flabbergasted at what he was able to do with the way his arm was torn to shreds.
I could see muscle, bone, fat, and debris in the wound.
“Holy shit,” I repeated.
“It’s bad, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t see you not healing this. Especially with Declan’s abilities. You’ve probably got about two and a half to three days until it’s fully healed,” Skylar inspected the wound.
Keifer grunted. “Been worse.”
I couldn’t even imagine.
“Worse?” I whispered. “Days? What?”
Keifer looked at me and grabbed my hand, his eyes clear of any anger as he said, “I nearly had my entire leg bitten off four years ago. Declan has the ability to heal himself, as well as others. Something that’s extended down to me. I don’t heal anywhere near as fast as him, but it’s definitely significantly faster than most humans.”
I nodded, understanding what he meant completely.
“Kind of like this?” I asked, lifting my shirt sleeve and showing him my arm where the new scar was located.
He sucked in his breath, and it literally felt like all the air in the room was sucked out with it.
“Holy fuckin’ shit,” he breathed. “Oh, holy shit.”
His uninjured hand lifted, and he gently trailed his finger over the large scar on my arm.
“Does it hurt?” His voice cracked.
I shook my head. “No.”
I didn’t think it was a good idea to tell him that, initially, it’d hurt like a motherfucker.
He didn’t seem to like me having this mark and I was fairly sure it’d be bad for him to know he’d inadvertently caused me pain.
“God,” he shook his head, leaning forward and pressing his lips to the scar. “I hoped that part in the book wasn’t true. I can only imagine how many scars you’ll have by the end of our relationship.”
I winced. “Yeah, that might suck a little bit.”
He smiled, and then winced when Skylar poured alcohol over his arm straight out of the bottle.
“Goddammit, Skylar. You could’ve warned me,” he gritted through clenched teeth.
Skylar, with her long blonde hair and warm green eyes, flashed her straight white teeth at Keifer. “Oops.”
I smothered a laugh, and dropped the hand that was holding my sleeve up, concealing it from Keifer’s still searching eyes.
“What happened?” I asked quietly.
His eyes moved up from my shoulder to me, and he winced.
“A search party of Purists, stumbled through the veil. Normally all they do is bumble around looking, never to find a thing. Except today one of them found us. It was pure luck, and we dispatched them within seconds, but one of the younger dragons fell from a cross bow to the eye, and did this on the way down,” he indicated his wound.
I frowned. “Well, they have to have some clue where you are, otherwise they would’ve never gotten so close to you in the first place.”
He nodded. “Yes and no. Really, all they do is follow the Meridian. That’s what feeds the dragons. Keeps them alive and healthy. They can follow the Meridian much the same way as any human can, which is by following the rich vegetation.”
I blinked.
“What?”
He closed his eyes and his face blanked as Skylar started to pick debris out of the wound.
“The flowers. Rolling meadows. Beautiful rich grass. It’s easy to find, especially here in Texas where the land is so dry that the vegetation not located along the meridian does not thrive. All you have to do is open your eyes. Flowers bloom all year long, deer eat copiously. I’ll have Declan take us down the line of the Meridian, and you’ll see,” he rumbled gruffly.
I thought back to our trip here, and tried to remember if I saw a difference in the vegetation, but couldn’t recall much. Mostly because every time I tried to recall what I’d seen, I could only remember studying the dragon I was riding on, as well as the one that had flown beside us.
“So other than the small group of Purists accidentally finding where you live, what’s the verdict? Will you tighten up security? What?” I asked, moving forward so my butt leaned on the padded bench Keifer was leaning against.