When his steady heartbeat pulsed against her ear, she suddenly had to fight to stay awake. “Where are you taking me?”
“Home. Wherever else?”
Lux didn’t move. She was too warm, her ankle a dull throb. “I can’t go home. I can’t tell Riselda what happened to me.”
She could feel him turning over what she said, thinking.
“A physician, then.”
She breathed a laugh. “If you can find one.”
Lux squinted against thelamplight, her ankle swollen to twice its natural size, blackening and bare upon the table.
The physician peered at her, glancing at her foot and back again. “You fell into a sinkhole? Near the marshes? I guess it would explain why you are covered head to toe inthis.”
He gestured to her person with a distasteful flourish before dark hands, callused and sure, lifted her ankle. Lux hissed. She’d never met this physician, but Shaw apparently trusted him. Though that didn’t mean much to her anymore, either.
She glared up at him, though she knew somewhere deep down, he treated her as gently as possible. “How bad is it?”
“Broken. More than once. Like you took a midnight stroll after your injury.” Deep, clever eyes studied her above half-moon spectacles, and she fought the sudden urge to shrink away.
She stared back instead, unflinching. “Wouldn’t that be absurd?”
“Indeed.” His face dipped to her arm, but when she turned it outward so he couldn’t see, a tired sigh left him. His attention returned to her ankle. He prodded a particularly sensitive spot, and she cried out, biting her lip against a sob. “I’ll have to set this before it’s bound. It will hurt plenty. I have sedatives?”
The question surprised her. He’d already deduced something about her, though Lux wasn’t sure what it was.
“No sedatives.”Never again.
“Suit yourself. You’ll want this though.” She stared at the thick strip of leather. “And don’t move.”
Chapter thirty-three
No person would everventure near the physician’s home again after that—Lux felt sure of it. Her throat ached, raw from guttural screams, just as every muscle was now sore from keeping them locked in place. It had been one of the hardest things she’d ever done—going against instinct shouting at her to kick the physician in the nose with every twist and pull.
She hadn’t expected Shaw to be waiting for her when she shuffled into the street on her new-to-her crutches. The bulky and difficult to maneuver contraptions were certainly something she planned to toss at the first opportunity. She caught Shaw smother what looked suspiciously like concern as she wobbled past him.
Her chest burned over it, anger pooling before seeping through every part of her. She hated that she was indebted to him. Again. She hated that he’d deceived her. Shehatedhim.
“Do you need a carriage called?”
She stared at him like he’d sprouted a third eye. “At this hour?”
He shifted his feet, flummoxed. “Right. I’d forgotten.” His attention left her to study the falling moon.
It was late. So late, it was nearly morning, and she didn’t want Riselda awake when she arrived home. Lux pitched forward, righting herself awkwardly before continuing down the street. Two long strides and Shaw was alongside her.
“What are you doing?”
His gaze didn’t leave the buildings. “Delivering you home. You’re injured, and the streets aren’t safe.”
She scoffed. “You’re the most dangerous person on these streets. I don’t need your help.”
He didn’t even acknowledge that she’d spoken, which somehow irked her more. She seethed silently as the click of her crutches over stone resounded against darkened buildings. She couldn’t fight him off as she had done the night before. She was helpless.
Physicallyhelpless. “Does the mayor employ you? A hired assassin thriving on violence, coin and a promise in a share of lifeblood?” Lux didn’t actually believe that theory. More likely he was a greedy man who happened to possess a little skill with a blade, though what he did upon draining all those bodies he’d murdered was beyond her. His sister likely had a vial or two.
Shaw snorted. Still, he didn’t speak, but continued to match his pace to her much slower one.Like I am not even worth his energy.Her teeth ground against one another until an idea formed, bringing a wicked grin to her lips, hidden by the night.
