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“I said don’t touch him.” Meira pushed the words through her clenched jaw, those eyes darker and more furious than he’d seen from her before. With a wet squelch, she pulled the blade free.
Corman staggered back but managed to stay upright as blood poured out through the fingers he interlaced over the wound. All Remis could do was stand and stare. His stomach clenched and threatened to empty itself.
Another terrible scream ripped through Mavis. Her short red curls were plastered to her sweaty face as she ran her sword through Meira. Bloodied steel sparkled in the sun as it protruded from Meira’s side. Mavis stood frozen, not bothering to pull the sword from Meira’s back as the witch’s face turned to look at her. There was no pain written in Meira’s expression, only quiet outrage that she’d been struck. It was the witch who pulled herself from the blade.
The sword clattered to the ground. Mavis trembled. Took a step toward her brother, whose lips had turned red with blood as he groaned.
“Go. Now!” Meira shouted, springing Mavis into action.
The fight hadn’t been long but they’d all turned bloodied and bruised in the end. Remis didn’t even know if Corman would live through such a blow, even as his sister looped her brother’s arm over her shoulder and turned him toward the town. Corman leaned into her, his steps dragging and uncoordinated underneath him. Remis’ feet were planted in the dirt. Sweat soaked his shirt and into his waistcoat, but he watched as the twins disappeared as swiftly as they’d appeared.
Meira turned to look at him. All the anger that she’d held moments before was gone. Her lips were parted, her breath coming in ragged pants. “He hurt you,” she said quietly. Using her sword, she cut through the end of her cloak and walked to him. She smelled like sweat, spice, and iron as she carefully wrapped the cloth around his arm. Wincing, she tied a knot to hold the cloth over the cut across his bicep. She leaned into him and splayed her fingers out over his chest. His heart beat wildly under her touch.
“Meira, I—” He held her waist and she swayed with a quiet groan of pain. Blood stained his palm, slick, wet, and hot where Mavis had run her blade through her. “You’re hurt.”
“I’ll be fine.” Her lashes curled against her cheeks as her eyes fluttered closed. Her hands fell from his chest a second before the entirety of her weight began to crumble. Remis caught her against him, scooped her up into his arms just as her head lolled to the side, and turned just in time to watch a Bold Wing come crashing down through the treetops.
27
Meira
Meira dreamed but it was in that hazy sort of way not in the startling clarity of a returned memory. She dreamed of Remis closing the spark-filled space between them and pressing his mouth to hers and the flick of his tongue. His arms were a sturdy safe place for her to rest and his scent surrounded her. The feel of his hands smoothing back her curls before he nipped at her ear was the last of the dream. Though she tried to fall back into the unconscious luxury of it, she felt herself coming back to consciousness. And there were arms around her. A hand continuously brushing the curls away from her face.
There was a heaviness to her eyelids still but Meira snapped her eyes open. Her body was laid between Remis’ legs and her head propped up on his chest. His eyes were closed as he leaned back onto a tree but his hand never stopped the soft caress. She lay still, afraid to move, afraid that if she did he’d stop touching her.
Hot breath fanned over Remis’ shoulder and ruffled her hair and her cloak. She tilted her head, straining to see where it had come from though she knew before her eyes actually landed on the blue-black scales. Mrithun’s red eyes narrowed on Meira as she huffed another warm breath.
“I’m not doing anything,” Remis whispered-hissed. He opened his eyes to glare at the dragon, stopping suddenly when his attention snagged on Meira.
She shouldn’t be lying on him. She shouldn’t allow this comfortable thing that could easily progress into what she’d remembered. Love. How easily this could progress into love…but to love him was to allow him to break her heart. To love was to open yourself up to loss. It was that thought that had her sitting back up and shrugging out of his touch.
Blowing out a breath, she caught a groan behind her teeth. Pain pulsed in time with her heartbeat. Right where that little bitch had stabbed her. Dragons. Her side was stiff as she touched the material wrapped tightly around her. Red came away on her fingertips and her head swam again.
The forest around them was still much the same as she remembered. They couldn’t be far from where the twins, creepy pale creatures that they were, had ambushed them. Overhead the sun was far closer to the horizon than she’d liked to have seen.
“Can you tell the Bold Wing you’re okay?” Remis asked, remaining surprisingly still. “As soon as you passed out, she nearly ate me. We’ve been here ever since but I’ve been scared shitless to do much more than wrap the wound.”
Meira laughed but the sound turned into another groan from the ache of the still fresh injury. “She wouldn’t have eaten you.”
I think, Meira thought but didn’t say so.
She extended the arm on her uninjured side and ran a hand down Mrithun’s snout. The Bold Wing leaned into the motion, poking her head farther over Remis’ shoulder. Her nose alone was practically the size of Remis’ head. Meira swore she saw sweat glistening on Remis’ forehead. The man had turned terribly pale too. That only made her smile more.
“Mrithun, this is Remis. Remis this is Mrithun,” she said quietly.
“We met before but I wasn’t corporal at the time. It’s different getting well acquainted when I’m so aware that she could eat me. I don’t think the beast likes me much.” Remis hadn’t moved, she wasn’t certain he even breathed.
In answer, her Bold Wing let out a little growl. Meira continued to stroke over her scales. “She. And don’t call her a beast.” Remis hummed but his expression remained skeptical. So she took his hand in hers and placed it on the dragon’s snout. Mrithun made another deep rumbling noise, not quite a growl but hardly friendly either. Remis tried to pull away but Meira held his hand there. “You’ll be friends in no time,” she whispered.
But Remis wasn’t looking at Mrithun, he was watching her. He let her hold his hand there but his movements were guided by hers.
“You bled a lot,” he said when she finally let him drop his hand away. Mrithun, satisfied that Remis wasn’t the cause of Meira’s injuries, sat back and turned her face to the woods around them. “How do you feel?”
A blush worked its way over her face. “That should not have happened. I've dealt with much worse wounds during battle before. I think I’m still just a bit weaker from the magic use before…” He nodded along as though he understood. Then she blurted, “Why did you help me? Why not take your chance and run back into Yordway?”
His mouth quirked up on one side. “And follow the Maine twins? No thank you.” He gave a small laugh. “You really think I’d leave you bleeding in the Deadwoods after you just got cut open on my behalf? If I recall correctly, you told the twins ‘you would gut them and leave them for the dragonis if they touched me.’”
She had said that. When the eerie-looking siblings had appeared and threatened Remis, she’d seen red. She shouldn’t have let them go either, she should have ended them right there for even attempting anything on Remis’ life.
