Bruise on her cheek. Every head turning.
Alone.
My hands curl.
"I'll handle the pack." Whatever he sees on my face makes him drop whatever smart ass thing he was about to say.
"Go. Clean up. She doesn't need to see you like this."
I don't answer. Don't thank him. Past him, arms at my sides, heading for the tree line on the far side. The air on my skin. Her scent lifting off me with every step, carried on the breeze, spreading through the clearing for anyone close enough to—
Let them smell it. Let them all—
Someone's child darts across my path and stops dead. Wide eyes. Staring up at the blood on my chest, the scars, the empty socket. Then the scent hits and the child bolts.
Fine.
My dwelling is dark when I push through the door.
Not alone.
Kestria.
I close the door and grab a tunic from the shelf. Pull it over my head because having this conversation naked is—
"Don't bother." Her voice is ice. "I've already smelled everything I need to."
I pull it down anyway.
"What happened out there?"
"She was attacked. I killed them."
"And?"
Silence.
"Keer." Low. Controlled. "I just cleaned blood off my best friend's face and held her hands while she lied to me. So I need you to tell me what happened after you killed the humans."
"Kestria—"
"Don't." She stands. "Don't 'Kestria' me. The whole clearing can smell what happened. I could smell it on her. While I was washing her arms. While she was shaking."
I go still.
"She told me about the scouts." Pacing now. Three steps one direction, three back. My dwelling isn't big enough this. "Told me they grabbed her. Told me you showed up and killed them." Her voice tightens. "I saw the blade mark on her throat while I was cleaning her up. She didn't have to tell me how close it was."
Her eyes find mine.
"And then she stopped talking.Melori. The woman who never shuts up, who talks through everything, who fills every silence with six different thoughts—she went quiet. Looked at the floor. Her hands were shaking and I had to figure out the rest myself."
"I could smell you on her. I could smell—" She stops. Swallows hard. "How could you?"
She's so still it's worse than moving would be.
"She's my friend. She saved my life. She came here because she had nowhere else to go and she's been working herself to nothing trying to earn a place and you—" Words tumbling fast, running together. "She was pickingflowers, Keer. Flowers! Because everything here is brown and ugly and she wanted to fix it. That's who she is. She fixes things. And she almost died doing it and you—"
"I know."
