Iron Crowned Page 0,49

Your testing has begun."

"Fantastic. Ow!"

"I'm saving you from infection," chastised Kiyo. That seemed to be the last of the sanitizing, thankfully, and from there he began layering gauze and tape. What he did was far from erotic, but it amazed me how gentle and steady his hands could be after seeing him savagely fight and rip things apart.

I glanced over at Deanna, who had simply observed the fight. She'd said nothing, but I thought I caught a glimpse of relief on her face. My death would have put a serious hitch in our bargain.

"How long until the entrance? When we lose you guys?" I asked. Annoying or not, Volusian would be missed - especially if these snakes were just the warm-up act.

"A few hours," said Deanna.

I frowned, unsure if I should dread it or not. We'd lose our backup but be that much closer to finishing this anti-vacation.

"I suppose it'd be too much to hope you've brought any painkillers?" asked Kiyo, still layering me up. I felt like I had a quilt on my back.

"Vicodin probably isn't the best asset for impending battle."

"I was thinking more like aspirin."

"Nope." But it did remind me I was due for another antibiotic dose. I'd arrogantly thought I didn't need them but now was glad for my mom's vigilance. Not that I wanted to admit any of this to Kiyo. The thing about dating a doctor was that he'd always been on me about taking better care of myself. I didn't want to hear any I-told-you-so's now. And unsurprisingly, there was more advice to come.

He finished the last of the tape and helped me put on the clean shirt I'd packed. "Eugenie, wrapping this is a nuisance, but any gentry healer could have fixed this up in their sleep. Dorian's got great healers. Why didn't he have one of them take care of this? He should know better."

I shifted around so I faced him. "How on earth did this suddenly become Dorian's fault? Why is he responsible for everything evil? Of course he offered to get a healer. I refused because I figured other people needed it more." I'd also totally forgotten to ask Shaya.

Kiyo's expression relaxed and actually grew apologetic. He looked away. "Of course you did. I'm sorry."

"Sorry for accusing Dorian or for forgetting I'd be foolishly altruistic?"

Kiyo turned back, a small smile on his lips. "What do you think? There's very little I feel apologetic for when it comes to Dorian, especially when I'm still convinced he wants to father Storm King's heir."

I smiled back. "I'm sure he does too. But it's a moot point. I've still got birth control pills. I still don't want any kids. My life's stressful enough." Belatedly, I recalled his adoration of Luisa. "No offense."

"None taken," he said, still smiling. "Really ... I should be better about trusting you. I just keep thinking ..." The smile dimmed a little.

"Thinking what?"

"I don't know. That one day this will all get to you. And I don't mean about Storm King. I mean just ... everything. You'll totally give yourself over to this world. I'll lose the Eugenie I know."

I grabbed his hand without thinking and squeezed it. "Hey, stop that. You said it yourself: trust me. I'm the same Eugenie. Still split between identities ... but nothing can change that."

"I know." He continued holding my hand. The touch of his fingers, which had been so objectively medical minutes ago, now took on another feel ... something warmer. Something that made my body feel strange, as those dark eyes stayed fixed on me. I found myself falling into them like I used to, into those sexy, smoky depths....

I abruptly stood up, breaking that dangerous touch. "Well," I said awkwardly, "seeing as it's already light out and we're up, we might as well get going. Breakfast in the saddle?"

Kiyo rose too, looking troubled. "Sure. The sooner we're moving, the sooner we're past any snake threats."

As we packed up and got back on the horses, I wondered if we were riding toward something much worse than snakes. Don't get me wrong: they'd been bad. But I fought supernatural creatures all the time. There'd been so much hype about the crown. Was it simply going to involve a monster buffet?

I kept those thoughts to myself as we traveled, having plenty of other things to preoccupy me. My meager breakfast. Kiyo's presence. The pain in my back. The meaning behind the scattered holes in the terrain.

On the road went, just as it would