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“I do.” He nodded several times in quick succession.
“So we’ll try?”
“We will.” She even smiled, a sure sign the healing was almost complete.
Endelle, who stood nearby, moaned then made a gagging sound. “Would somebody please get me away from these two? I’m ready to puke. Why does the breh-hedden always make such saps out of two perfectly decent people? If I ever behave this way, just take me behind the palace and shoot me.”
A ripple of laughter rolled through the warriors and Fiona grinned. Jean-Pierre, having just arrived, laughed as well. He slid his arms around his woman from behind, holding her tight.
“Don’t pay any attention to Endelle,” Fiona said quietly, one hand on Jean-Pierre’s face, caressing her breh.
“I heard that,” the scorpion said.
With the healing complete, Rachel had the healers lean back. In the way of powerful ascenders who could fold clothes from one dimension to the next, Rachel donned a light green robe, replacing her battle-damaged clothes.
Duncan then helped her to her feet, but slid an arm around her waist in case she needed support.
The darkening grid was long gone, sealed up, no doubt, by the Third Earth grid operators. Because the grid floated in a mysterious way, no two exit points remained the same. If Yolanthe wanted to hunt for Rachel, she’d be starting over and it would take time to find her again.
And there was no reason to think Yolanthe had changed her mind about wanting Rachel dead.
~ ~ ~
Rachel wanted badly to be in her own home, but Endelle asked her to stay for a little while, until they’d figured a few things out. But Her Supremeness did allow Rachel to use her bathroom.
The battle, the severe injury, and the subsequent healing had left Rachel feeling used up and edgy. A shower was just what she needed.
She let the hot water beat on her head, arms and shoulders. She hadn’t wanted to wash her hair, but the smoke from the battle permeated every strand.
Occasionally, she touched her stomach, unable to believe just how much pain she’d recently endured. And now she was as good as new.
She recalled lying on her back, staring up at the ceiling, and wondering why she could see the stars. She’d understood, then, just how close she was to death and how she’d had one foot in the other-world, the place the Creator lived.
She felt changed in some indefinable way, yet not a lot, just more like herself, more alive.
Shutting off the showerheads, she toweled dry then went to work on her hair. Because it was long, it took some time to get dry.
Afterward, she sampled some of Endelle’s numerous toiletries and settled on one that smelled like powdery flowers. She savored the sensation as she smoothed the lotion over her arms, her chest, her healed abdomen, and her legs. It felt good to be alive.
She put on a pale blue cotton dress that ran to her ankles, then slid into navy flats. She folded her brush into her hand, flipped her head forward, and worked the rest of the tangles out. She recalled how Duncan, in years past, would hold her hair when he took her from behind.
Duncan.
What was she supposed to do with him? She felt the call of the breh-hedden working inside her again; desire was never far away.
He said he wanted to try, but how realistic was that?
A knock sounded on the door.
“Rachel?” Duncan’s low voice flowed through her chest, working her heart as though massaging with fingers.
“I’m here.”
“How are you feeling? You okay?”
She knew only one thing - Duncan would be dead if she hadn’t engaged in the battle, if she hadn’t played the warrior, something she despised. She’d shot at a wrecker, and hit his arm so that his shot went wide.
Then she’d been hit.
