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“It’s my fault,” he croaked.
“What is?” she asked while eyeing the room.
It was a huge room, about twice as big as hers. The enormous four-poster bed stood in the middle, neatly made up as if it had never been slept in.
“The raid. The carnage downstairs. They came for me because I crossed the line.”
“Where can I find bandages?” Eloise asked.
“By the hearth.”
Eloise stood and went to the side table by the hearth. Aside from the strips of cloth, there was a pitcher of water, a box of hook-like needles, thread, and jars of what looked like salve. Apparently, this wasn’t the first time he’d gotten injured.
She took everything she thought needed to complete her task and returned to sit at Hades’ feet.
Hades was quiet. Was he dozing? Or had he lost consciousness?
“Are you feeling well?” she asked.
Hades made no noise. He was lying in the chair. His eyes were closed, but his face was a grimace of pain. She doused a piece of cloth in water, then took his hand and started pressing it to the wound, trying to clean it.
Hades hissed, and his entire body tensed.
“How did you cross the line?” Eloise asked to distract him from the pain.
“You… I took you. And the Shadows might be cads, but they look out for the vulnerable.”
“I am not vulnerable,” she said instantly.
Hades made a strange coughing noise and shook his head. “They don’t know that.”
So it was all her fault? Those injured people and the burnt-down hell were all because of her.
“You were in pain,” Eloise said.
She realized that she was trying to make her captor feel better about the deed of snatching her away from her home. It was strange, but she felt sympathy for this large, powerful man, who grieved so much he made all the wrong choices. If Eloise had died, Ford would not be making all the right decisions either. Thief-taker or not, he would have grieved, and grief makes one do very foolish things.
“I am still in pain,” Hades said.
“Well, I am here to make it better.”
He looked at her intently as if trying to decipher her thoughts. Eloise took a jar of salve in her hands. “What is it exactly?”
“Eastern remedies.”
“What’s in it?”
“Honey, herbs… I don’t know. But it should help with the burns.”
“Are you certain?” Eloise asked with a grimace.
“Grace made it. She doesn’t want me dead.”
Eloise was startled into a chuckle. “Very well, I am going to rub some salve on you,” she warned. “I don’t know what it’ll do, so… just be prepared.”
Hades nodded, and she gently layered the salve onto his hand. His fingers curled, trapping her fingers within his grasp. A light tickle went up her body, and Eloise caught her breath.
Now was not the time for her foolish tingly feelings. Hopefully, she wasn’t making it worse. He groaned quietly, and his entire body tensed for a moment before relaxing. It didn’t seem to hurt him much.
