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“You got as far as the trophy room?”

“I got as far as reaching for my face, and then that damned dragon closed his jaws around my ankle, and I lost it.”

“May I see your ankle?”

She stuck out her booted foot. “Someone bandaged it up for me while I was out of it. I was going to try that cleanup spell you gave me on it, but I didn’t get a chance.”

“Let me see.”

He gently maneuvered her foot onto his thigh and removed her boot and striped orange sock. She winced as he folded back her jeans to reveal her bandaged ankle.

“Is a dragon’s bite poisonous?”

“It can be, but if someone went to the bother of treating the wound for you, I suspect they wanted to keep you alive.”

“To use as bait.”

He looked up into her eyes, his own faintly amused. “I was already caught.”

“You were?”

“I have to thank you, actually.” He started to unwrap the bandage. “My rage at your capture allowed me to slough off the effect of my shackles with greater speed than my enemies expected.”

“Well that’s cool, because yourrage wokemeup and helped me make the decision to escape. How’s that for anger management?” She flinched as he finished uncovering the wound and touched her skin.

“I can see the tooth marks, but there isn’t any infection. Is it still sore?”

“A little.”

“I can fix that.” Warmth flowed from his fingers into her skin, and slowly the ache disappeared. “Is that better?”

“Much.” She had to get his hands off her before she launched herself into his lap and covered him in kisses. Being close to him was so confusing. She was never sure if she wanted to slap him or fuck him. God forbid she ever got up the nerve to do both. In his current form he’d probably love it. “Thanks.”

He hesitated, his broad shoulders blocking out the light from the fire. “There is something else hurting you.”

There was no point in prevaricating. She touched her upper arm. “My shoulder. When I was trying to find my way in the main entrance earlier, I got caught by some sort of magic pulse rebound.”

“You broke into the palace?”

“Yeah, did you think Adam dragged me in by the hair?”

“Iassumed?—”

“Well, we all know what that makes you, don’t we? I broke in by myself.” She glared at him. Yeah. It was so much easier to feel mad than sorry for him. She did madsowell. “I am perfectly capable of evading capture and executing my own plan.” There was no need to tell him that five seconds after getting through the door, she’d been captured again. She certainly wasn’t telling him that she owed most of her success to his powers and Rossa’s help. “I’m not stupid, you know.”

“I never thought that.”

“You said I would be a liability in Otherworld.”

“Isaidwhat I needed to say to keep you safe.”

“And then waltzed over here by yourself and were immediately captured.”

“I—”

“Just because you were dumb enough to get caught, doesn’t mean I had to be too.”

He breathed out carefully through his fangs. “I didn’t get caught. I allowed Adam to bring me to Otherworld.”