Page 71 of Blood Curse

“And keep everyone out of the Night Hall.”

“That may require throwing someone through a door.”

“Use your working arm.”

She smiled and slipped into the corridor.

Elias came with us as far as the king’s rooms. He checked my pulse while Stellan lit the fire. I perched on the edge of the bed in wet clothes and tried not to watch Stellan move around the room.

The Crown kept finding reasons for me to look.

His shirt clung to his back. He pushed his silver hair away from his face. When he crouched at the hearth, the muscles in his thighs tightened under damp trousers.

My body reacted every time.

None of those reactions made a decision for me.

Elias let go of my wrist. “Your pulse is fast but regular. You need warmth, water and ordinary food.”

“Will that help the blood hunger?”

“It will help you tell which hunger you’re feeling.” He closed his case. “Eat before you try to decide anything else.”

“You sound like Lenora.”

“She trained me.”

Stellan glanced over his shoulder. “Lenora trained everyone.”

“Some of you resisted.” Elias looked pointedly at him. “I’ll make sure the new arrivals keep their distance. Call my name twice if the Crown issues another order.”

“We will,” I said.

He left and shut the door.

Stellan crossed to a wardrobe and brought me a white shirt and a pair of loose black trousers. “They’re mine, so the trousers may fall off you.”

“Your confidence in your size is touching.”

“You are a foot shorter than I am.”

“A boring explanation.”

“I can lie if it will improve your recovery.”

“Later.”

I changed behind the dressing screen. The shirt reached my thighs, and I had to roll the trousers at the waist and legs. When I stepped out, Stellan had removed his wet shirt.

The small dagger mark over his heart had vanished.

I looked anyway.

“Do you need me to dress?” he asked.

“I need to know I can look without doing anything.”

“All right.”