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“It’s going,” she said. “That mother trucker got him to the bone. Why in the heck didn’t someone carry him? He had to be dying in pain.”
Guilt dropped like a lead ball in my stomach, and it must have shown on my face because Turik’s hands immediately settled on my waist.
“He is stubborn,” Turik said. “Maybe next time, he will be less stubborn.”
Cassie rolled her eyes at him before focusing on me again.
“You might as well go home and clean up. It’s going to take Kerr a while. I’ll make sure someone walks Vorx back when he’s done. And you all are getting some first aid lessons. You should have known he would make his injuries worse by running the whole way back.”
Turik grunted, and she gave him a stern look before walking away while grumbling about stubbornness being a universal trait.
“Maybe you should stay here to help him home,” I said. “I can find my own way.”
“No. I will stay with you,” he said. “My brothers will help Vorx and Gyrik.”
The entire walk home, the attack replayed in my head. The injuries the fey received would have been superficial if that stupid beast had only followed the rules. After all, the infected were nothing to the fey—a nuisance at best.
Once we reached the house, I had no choice but to strip down to my shirt and underwear just inside the door. Not that Turik minded as he took each discarded item from me and promised to wash them so I would have them tomorrow.
I walked away from him, feeling his gaze on my backside. And it wasn’t a horrible feeling. In fact, it was a nice distraction from the guilt I carried.
It wasn’t until I was in the shower that I realized what I’d overlooked regarding the attack. The infected had been in the house with the hound. Considering how many bodies we’d left behind, they had to have been packed in there.
Why?
Since the day of the earthquakes and the first time Nat spotted an infected, I’d never seen a hellhound and infected together like that. What did it mean?
I opened my mouth to call for Turik before snapping it shut and rinsing my hair. My questions could wait until I had clothes on.
Clean of infected blood, I turned off the water and reached for my towel. The underclothes I’d worn today were already gone, replaced by a neatly folded pile of string and a see-through tee-shirt.
“Oh, hell no,” I said softly, picking up the thong.
“Turik,” I called. “I am not wearing this.”
I wrapped a towel around my torso and opened the bathroom door. Sure enough, the fey in question waited there. But his expression wasn’t one of eager anticipation. Worry pulled at his features, and a clean white tee dangled from his hand.
“Azio gave those clothes to Terri. They frightened her because she thought they were sex clothes. They weren’t. Azio only wanted to see her breasts to help her.”
“How in the hell would seeing her breasts help her?” I asked.
“Ghua told Azio that Eden’s nipples get darker just before her period. That’s when her breasts ache and need gentle massages. Azio only wanted to watch for signs of pain. But that’s not why I’m hoping you’ll wear those clothes.”
I waited for him to connect the dots for me, but he didn’t.
“Okay. I give up,” I said when he paused for too long. “Why do you want me to wear them if it’s not for sex or boob pain? And it better be a very good reason after the way I woke up this morning.”
“Groth lives with Azio and Terri. He forgets things when Terri wears the shirts. They are distracting. Maybe Vorx will forget his pain and you will forget your guilt?”
He handed me the oversized white tee-shirt, and stunned by his insight, I robotically accepted it.
“It is your choice, Shelby.”
I realized the clothing choice wasn’t just about Vorx and me.
“You’re worried about him, too, aren’t you?”
Turik studied me for a long moment.
