Page 23 of Cherished By the Sinners

He too, bent close and sniffed.

“I don’t think the first aid kit she’s got is sufficient,” Mason said, concern turning his voice almost, but not quite, tentative.

“I’ll grab one of the kits from the surveillance room,” Magnus said as he slipped a hand under her elbow and guided her out and toward the bed.“While I’m gone, drink a glass of water and some over-the-counter pain meds, then lie down on your stomach.”

“Oh, sure.Okay.”Actually, it sounded like good advice.

By the time she reached the bed, Magnus was gone, the door closing behind him.

Chapter Eight

Mason

Mason filled a glasswith water in the bathroom, and grabbed the container of over-the-counter pain meds he saw in the first aid kit.He brought them out to Darlene and handed them to her.

She took the pills with a swallow of water, then drank about half the glass.

“Finish it,” he ordered as she moved to put it down on the side table.

Her shoulders tensed.

Easy, don’t scare her.

He cleared his throat and added a deferential, “Please.”

A small smile tilted up the corners of her lips.“Still a magic word.”

He let one side of his mouth slide upward.“Truth.”

She laughed softly as she finished her glass of water.She set it on the side table, then lay down on her stomach on the bed.Which gave Mason the opportunity to study her back in more detail.Her bra covered some of the wounds and scars, but there were so many.

The lines, ridges, and curves of the healing wounds covered her from the top of her shoulder blades down to about an inch above her hips.The deepest one, still bleeding, crossed her spine.

The bastard could have easily cut her spinal cord.

Infection hadn’t set in yet, he would have smelled it if it had.But it would soon without proper care.He’d seen and bandaged enough wounds to know over the eight-hundred-odd years he’d been alive.