Page 77 of Mortis

I traced the familiar lines of his face. His heavy brows. The bridge of his nose. The softness of his lips. The sharp angle of his jaw. His eyelids fell closed beneath my fingertips, and with every stroke, his breathing slowed. His shoulders sagged. The rigid tension bled from his body.

And finally, his hand around my throat relaxed.

“Come back to me, big guy.”

When his eyes opened again, I knew immediately that he’d returned. His gaze focused on me, then dropped to the hand still wrapped around my throat. Horror washed across his face, and he recoiled as though burned, scrambling backwards until his spine struck the legs of the embalming table.

Honestly, I was mostly impressed he’d managed to launch himself across the room without taking Mr Simpson and the entire embalming table down with him. If I’d possessed even half that level of coordination, PE lessons would’ve been considerably less traumatic.

“I’m so sorry,” Kael whispered, his deep voice trembling.

I sat up too quickly, desperate to get to him. To comfort him. To reassure him. But the room immediately spun, and the back of my head throbbed.

God, I hoped I wasn’t concussed. That was the last thing we needed.

I slumped back to the floor with a wince, and Kael released another pained whimper. Tilting my head to face him, I tried not to grunt as the tiles dug into the growing lump on the back of my skull. His form was still slightly blurred, but I could easily imagine the expression on his face.

I lifted an arm towards him and crooked a finger. “C’mere.”

When he didn’t move, I beckoned more insistently. Well-behaved puppy that he was, he shuffled back towards me, albeit reluctantly. Curling up beside me, he kept his glassy, inhuman eyes fixed on my neck. On the bruises that were no doubt already beginning to bloom beneath my skin.

I’d have to invest in some turtlenecks.

Or a very thick scarf.

“Kael.”

He straightened, and despite the misery written across his face, the telltale swish of his tail against the floor made fireworks burst inside my chest. His hand drifted cautiously towards my neck. When the tip of a claw brushed the tender skin, I hissed before I could stop myself. Kael flinched as though I’d struck him and immediately snatched his hand away.

Brilliant. Now I’d made him feel even worse.

“Hey, big guy,” I croaked, my voice rough from being throttled.

I reached for his hand and held it firmly in mine. Even though he could’ve pulled away with almost no effort, he didn’t. His fingers closed around mine just tightly enough for me to feel his desperation. Like he was terrified I might disappear if he let go.

“I’m okay,” I assured him.

Kael’s jaw tightened, the muscles pulsing with tension. “I hurt you.”

“Yeah.” I shrugged as best I could while lying on the floor. “But you didn’t kill me.”

His expression hardened. For the first time since we’d met, Kael glared at me.

Oddly enough, it was thrilling.

“Do not joke about such things,” he snarled, a warning rumbling low in his chest.

I rolled my eyes and tried sitting up again, taking it much slower this time. Kael’s hands shot out to steady me. Thankfully, the room stayed still. The headache, however, was beginning to settle in properly. Partly from the lump on the back of my head, but mostly because I could barely see a thing.

When I felt steady enough, I squinted up at Kael. “Can you find my glasses?”

His head whipped from side to side as he searched the room. A second later, he leaned to his right, stretching out an arm. When he straightened up, he held my glasses in a gentle grip. When he carefully slipped them onto my face, the world snapped back into focus.

“At least they’re not broken,” I said, offering him a smile.

Sadly, Kael didn’t return it.

Now that I could see him properly, I realised how pale he looked. Determined to coax him out of whatever dark place he’d fallen into, I slowly manoeuvred myself onto all fours and crawled into his lap.