Page 154 of Revealing Fate

Felíne felt her face flush.

Kal swung his gaze to Lucien’s body and the still-seeping pool of blood beneath it. “Santhe,” he said, tail swishing. “I owe you a life debt.”

Santhe shook her head. Her brown hair had come loose from the tie that held it, wispy bangs falling in her eyes. The aftereffects of her frenzied fear lingered in her narrow features. “It was Kitty’s key.”

Felíne grasped Santhe’s hand, and the woman stared. “And it would have been useless without you to wield it.”

“As I said,” Kal rumbled. “A life debt.”

Santhe’s eyes welled with unshed tears. She nodded once.

Beulah and Vorak approached the platform. Stef joined them a moment later. The three of them surveyed Lucien’s prone form with distaste.

“I cannot believe he would go so far,” Beulah said with a touch of sadness. “Thank the stars no one else was seriously hurt.”

“Stonehaugh?” Kal asked, echoing Felíne’s thoughts.

“He’ll require stitches, but most of his wounds have already begun to heal,” Stef replied.

“I’ve sent Penn to accompany him to the infirmary,” Beulah added.

Vorak jumped onto the dais and squatted near Lucien’s body, lifting one limp arm to inspect the wrist and hand. Blisters, now pale, peppered the skin up to his forearm.

Felíne grabbed for Kal’s clawed hand with sudden remembrance. “Saul! Where is he?”

Beulah startled. “At the conference hall. With the mender.”

Felíne looked to Kal with urgency. “I need my medicinal supplies from your cabin.”

Adder stepped to her side. “I’ll get them and meet you there. Go.”

Felíne rattled off instructions. Adder nodded once and left. Stef and Vorak volunteered to stay behind and manage the mess that was Meress’s city square. Bodies needed to be dealt with. The remaining crowd needed to be addressed. The rest of them—Felíne, Kal, Santhe, and Beulah—hurried to the Conclave’s hall. Felíne only hoped they weren’t too late.

Chapter 54

PARDON?

HOURS LATER, FELÍNE SAT SLOUCHED against a wall in the conference hall’s refectory. She’d spent a restless night at Saul’s bedside, closely monitoring his status. Beulah, her duty as fretful nurse having been relieved, had busied herself in the kitchen, whipping up some culinary masterpiece the likes of which only a professional could achieve. The smells of roasting meat and herbed bread were enough to make Felíne’s stomach cramp with hunger.

Penn had arrived some time ago to check on his mother after ensuring Beaumont Stonehaugh’s injuries were sufficiently tended to, something Kal surmised the grizzled warrior tolerated with threadbare patience. Penn had not been surprised to find Beulah in front of a stove. Cooking was how she managed stress, he’d explained.

Felíne supposed she managed stress by staring blankly into oblivion. It was all she could find the energy for at present.

Kal located her hiding spot and slid to the floor to sit beside her. He was in first form now, freshly showered and clothed. He’d spent his night monitoring her, encouraging Felíne to trade shifts with him so she could sleep and brewing her coffee when she’d doggedly refused. Bless the man.

The puncture marks marring Kal’s neck had faded to faint pink pricks, the only interruption in the otherwise smooth column of tanned skin. He glanced across the room at the empty table, then back to where Felíne sat slumped next to him on the floor. If her mother were here, she’d have fainted upon witnessing her daughter’s atrocious posture.

“Couldn’t find a suitable chair?” Kal teased.

Felíne nudged his shoulder. “It didn’t feel…grounding enough.”

Kal only nodded, somehow intuiting her meaning. His new scars puckered with the movement.

“You heal remarkably fast,” she noted. “Faster than any shurii I’ve ever seen.” Her voice quieted. “I wasn’t sure it would work. Removing that skullcage so you could shift. I thought your body might not mend quickly enough. I thought…”

Kal placed a warm, reassuring palm on her knee. “It did, though. Thanks to your quick thinking and Santhe’s sure hands.” He rested his head back against the wall, damp curls glistening with moisture. “Possessing blood of the Godking’s chosen line has its advantages, it seems. I’ve always healed quickly.”

Felíne hadn’t thought of that. Perhaps he was right. Sharing blood with the Primordial Male may have contributed to Kal’s ferocious second form and his rapid cellular rejuvenation.