as she lifted her head, trying to avoid the pain. “Fracking is from another TV show. TV is—”
“Yes, Lochlan has explained the odd instrument that provides entertainment to small human minds.”
She was about to protest his characterization of TV nerds when a shadow crossed over them. An irritating shadow. “What do you want?”
Lochlan scowled down at her, his face never softening. “Your shoulder needs tended to.”
“Wasn’t that what the torture was for?” She narrowed her eyes.
“It wasn’t torture.” He looked away. “Finn, help her up and bring her to my tent.”
He stalked back the way he’d come.
Finn’s body shook with silent laughter.
“What?” Brea snapped.
“I just… Lochlan never gets perturbed. He controls every emotion, every impulse.”
“Are you saying I perturb him?” She almost laughed at the funny word.
Finn stood and dusted off his butt before bending and sliding his arms under her. “I’m not quite sure yet.”
She let out a squeal of surprise as he hoisted her into his arms, jostling her shoulder and sending sparks of agony curling through her. He carried her into Lochlan’s tent without waiting for Lochlan to enter.
A single thin bedroll occupied the far corner next to a bucket of water and a stack of cloth strips.
Finn set her on the bed and backed away. “Well, I’ll leave you to Lochlan’s care.”
“Traitor,” she called after him. Her words died off as Lochlan entered, taking Finn’s place.
He didn’t speak to her as he pulled leather shoulder plates over his head and set them aside. Crimson blood coated his shirt, making it stick to the ridges of his stomach. The sight of the remnants of battle stole any remaining biting words from her.
“How many soldiers did you lose?” She pictured the Iskalt warriors and the way they overwhelmed Lochlan and his people. There was no way they came through unscathed.
His shoulders dropped just the slightest bit, and he turned away from her to view their small camp through the tent opening. “Four.”
“I’m sorry.” She’d never seen battle before, but they were no strangers to the cost of war in the human realm. Many young men from their small Ohio town joined the military after high school. Some never returned.
He rubbed a hand across his face and looked back over his shoulder at her. “They knew the risks of this mission. My queen is not the only ruler who wants you.”
She’d spent her entire life wanted by no one, and now, suddenly three realms fought for her. It was surreal, and she didn’t understand it. Which one of them was good? Could she trust any of them, or was she just a pawn to all?
With a shake of his head, Lochlan turned and lowered himself to his knees beside where she lay. His long fingers reached for the bucket of water and pulled free a small sponge.
“We must keep the area around your wound clean.” With surprisingly gentle fingers, he dabbed the sponge along her skin. They’d cauterized the gash in her shoulder from the sword, but tiny cuts still stretched out from the wound. Each time the sponge made contact with a wound, her breath hissed between her teeth.
Lochlan refused to even meet her eyes as he cleaned the area.
“Are you mad at me?” She knew what Finn had said, but she still sensed a new irritation in Lochlan.
He only grunted.
“Is it because you had to be saved by a woman?”
He pulled the sponge away and dropped it back in the bucket with a splash. “Brea, we fae are not like the humans you’ve lived around—or even the fae of Regan’s court. One’s gender is of no import.”
She remembered what Neeve told her about them not falling in love with a gender, but surely the army was different. “You can’t tell me you value the women in your unit as much as the men.”
He finally met her eyes. “Why would I not? They are as skilled as any other. You forget we have one thing humans do not. Magic. It is the great equalizer. Our fights rely little on brute strength, allowing us to put aside any human biases. Fae do not stoop to such levels.”
He wrung the sponge out and cleaned the remaining blood from her wound, his touch flitting across her skin with a care she’d never imagined from him.
“You’re trying to tell me this is some feminist dream world?”
His brow creased. “I know not what a feminist is.”
A laugh burst out of her. “You know human fantasy books but not basic principles of human life?”
“I