Forever The World of Nightwalkers - By Jacquelyn Frank Page 0,97
the medicine of the normal world will save his life! It’s been two days since he went missing, Marissa. For two days he has been at the mercy of the Templars and god only knows what they’ve done to him in that time.”
It was self-evident what they had done to him, but Marissa became subdued, biting anxiously at her lip as she tried to clean away some more of the blood. She began to find his injuries and—
“Oh my god,” she exclaimed, horror lacing her words. Under all of that blood were furrows … gouges in his flesh, as though someone had taken a melon-baller to him and stripped him of chunks of his skin. Somehow they were in varying stages of healing … and none of it seemed to be a source of free-flowing blood.
“Kamenwati m expression on his face”
“Did he … did he do this? This Kamenwati?”
“Probably. Maybe …” Jackson prevaricated. “I don’t know. Instinct tells me Kamen had a hand in it … although I have to admit, firsthand torture doesn’t seem like his style. But he isn’t above hiring the job out to another.” There was hard contempt in his words and listening to him talk about the other man had her looking anxiously about.
“Where is he?”
“Ahnvil and Ihron have him. Let’s just say they will keep him safe until we need him again.”
“More torture?” she snapped at him, her blue eyes full of fire. “One person isn’t enough?”
He blinked, looking incredibly surprised at her sudden release of ichor in his direction. Then he looked hurt. Really hurt. She knew it because he didn’t jump down her throat with equal force, defending himself to the core. Instead he sighed and looked away from her.
“I thought you knew me better than that,” he said, sounding so very lost. “But that’s been your point all along, hasn’t it? That we’re strangers to one another. That perhaps it would be best to maintain the status quo.” Then he was looking at her, the peacock blue and green of his eyes full of the fire of his temper, though he did not raise his voice. “But if I were to do that,” he said tightly, “it will be you who next lies on this floor in a bath of blood and at that point there would be nothing I could do about it! Now you see? You see what can become of you if you go off on your own? Hate this place if you will, hate me if you will, but do yourself a favor, Dr. Anderson, and stay where I can help.”
Because he couldn’t bear being helpless, she thought, her throat tight with self-recrimination. She did know him better than this. She knew damn well he deserved much more respect from her than she was giving him.
“I’m sorry,” she said softly to him, reaching out to cover the hand that held Leo’s. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I know that. And I do know you as well. Menes notwithstanding, you are a strong man with a great focus on doing what’s right. And I should know after these past couple of days that there are things in this world of which you have a far better understanding than I do. Jackson, I’ll take care of him until your help arrives. You know that I will and I know you know me and just how stubborn I can be.”
By the time she said that last part his anger was visibly gone and he even spared her a small smile as he reached for a cloth and began to help her clean the blood away from his friend’s wounds.
Kamenwati let Ahnvil shove him into the small bedroom. Judging by the size of the house and the grand appointments within it, it was probably intended as servant’s quarters. Ahnvil shut the door, the rough stone beast shifting form from grotesque to human with a wide shrug of his shoulders, his wings collapsing to his back and then disappearing altogether. He did not, however, rid himself of his stone skin. Kamen might have told him there was no need for it, as he wasn’t planning on battling him or es expression on his face for itihlycaping his present situation. No. Kamen was not always a fool. He knew he was, at present, in the safest place on earth.
But neither did he hold out much hope that they would be any match up against a god. Spell work had conjured him from the depths