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The Shadow Lord held out a dark cloth he must have had hidden away in a pocket.
I readily accepted the offering. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Do you have enough in you to finish?”
“Finish?” I wiped at my face.
“You still have to do something with that.”
One more swipe at my eyes and I looked up to see the Shadow Lord pointing at Phalen. I dropped the bloody rag.
Dearest Danaus, what had I done?
‡ ‡ ‡
Kree removed her hands from my shoulders. “Better?” she asked.
“Much. Thank you.”
“Anytime.”
Draven had returned to Embour to find Kree so she could tend to my supposed injuries. They both arrived here via a Kree-made portal. She’d walked through the magical passage offering me a smile and a canteen full of water.
More importantly, she brought a soft towel and helped me clean off most of the blood that had begun crusting on my skin and hairline. My clothes, however, were a lost cause and something to be dealt with later.
Kree could feel that my energies and their reserves were nearly depleted. She shot me up with her remarkable powers and offered to stay close by.
“Okay now that Ray-Ray is all better, what do we do with Robot Boy here?”
Cringe.
“Ray-Ray, Lyric?” I was learning that Lyric handed out nicknames almost as often as insults. Most of them I liked.
“Give it time,” she grinned, “and try to focus on Robot Boy.”
“Right. Robot Boy.”
I approached Phalen, both concerned and fascinated by his listless face. The others moved with me, forming a semicircle around the Shadow Army Commander.
The unblinking lifeless doll made it difficult to believe it was the same demon who told me to make him my bitch. The ever present twinkle in his eye was gone, as was the nearly permanent stretch of the corners of his mouth.
Troubled, I placed two fingers under the side of his jaw to make sure the most critical part of him was functioning. A strong, steady beat pulsed through his veins.
“I already checked his vitals, Raven. Everything’s good. Strong even,” Kree stated with confidence. “I’ll monitor him so you don’t have to split your attention.”
“Smart,” Lyric commended and I gave an appreciative smile.
Draven poked at Phalen’s arm. “Are you expending any energy holding him in this state?”
“Some. Nothing like earlier, though. It’s … it’s like I’ve connected to him. Once I was able to subdue his magic I somehow formed a link or bridge, maybe?”
“Like a bond?” Casimir asked.
“No. This feels nothing like a bond. This will sound odd, but it feels more like I’ve tethered him to me. Or maybe collared and leashed him is a better description? I can’t read Phalen at all, but I feel the urge to maneuver the leash, like he’s–”
“A dog?” Lyric threw out.
The Otherland didn’t have the same domesticated animals that other realms had, but we did have canine breeds of similar origin as Earth Realm. Though, the analogy was wrong.
