Page 22 of Fall of Ruin and Wrath

I stared at him a second, then shook my head. Unnerved, I grabbed ahold of his other boot. “Does the candlelight hurt your eyes?”

“No,” he answered.

I wasn’t sure if I believed him as I dropped his boot. I glanced at the bathing chamber, then took the candle from him. “I’ll get the shower ready for you.” I rose. “But I can’t promise it will be warm.”

“It’ll . . . be fine.”

Nibbling on my lip, I reentered the bathing chamber, placing the candle on a shelf. I spared a glance at my reflection and winced. The skin had split along the bridge of my nose and there was already a puffiness beneath my eyes. My nose didn’t appear broken, but I had no idea how I was going to explain this to Grady.

Going to the shower, I quickly cranked the knobs on the wall. Steady streams of water pounded off the porcelain floor of the stall. I thrust my hand beneath the stream. Blood ran between my fingers, splattering off the floor as I tested the temperature. It wasn’t exactly hot, but it wasn’t freezing. I washed the blood from my other hand, then turned.

The Lord leaned against the doorframe. How he moved so quietly while injured and so . . . well, so large, was beyond me.

“Should you be standing?” I asked.

“The chamber stopped moving.”

“That sounds like good . . .” I trailed off as he swayed away from the doorframe.

His head hung weakly as he reached for his pants. Realizing he was about to undress, I started to turn away. His fingers fumbled, though, nearly useless as he stumbled. “Fuck.”

I snapped forward, catching the Hyhborn. His weight was immense, the bare flesh of his chest hot as I kept my arms around him. “You okay?”

He steadied a little. “Yeah.”

I started to let go, but he began to wobble. “You are not okay.”

“Yeah,” he repeated, reaching around me to plant a hand on the rim of the sink basin.

Throat dry, I looked over my shoulder at the running water, mind racing. I then glanced down at the length of cloak I wore and finally at his pants. I sighed. “Can you hold on to the sink for a moment?”

Head bent, he nodded.

Sliding my arms away, I waited to make sure he wasn’t going to fall. When he didn’t, I toed off my boots and kicked them back into the bedchamber. I unhooked the clasps beneath my neck.

“What are you doing?” he rasped, voice hoarse.

“You need to get cleaned up, right?” I let the cloak fall to the floor. “And it doesn’t look like you’re going to be able to do that on your own.”

“And here I thought . . .” He shuddered, muscles along his arms spasming. “I thought you were planning to take advantage of me.”

I froze. “Are you serious?”

“No.” He seemed to shudder. “The room is moving again,na’laa.”

Damn it. I went still, thinking that it might help if I didn’t move. Wait. What did he call me? “ ‘Na’laa’?”

“It’s Enochian.” One arm dropped to rest on his bent knee. “A phrase . . . in our language.”

I knew Hyhborn had their own language, but I’d never heard it spoken before. “What does it mean?”

“It . . . has many meanings. One of them is . . . used to describe . . . someone who is brave.”

My cheeks warmed for some reason.

“There . . . must be . . . a lot of conjurer activity in your city,” he said after a moment.

Thinking of all the times in the past I’d been accused of being such a person, I glanced at him. “I honestly don’t know if there is,” I answered. “I’m not even sure I believe any of what is said to be done with bone magic is possible.”