Page 39 of Forging Bonds: Part Two

I frown and reply, “Well, yeah.”

Maybe he didn’t see me get sliced by that poacher, and that’s why he sounds surprised that I’m bleeding.

I don’t have time to question him though as the others all surround us and I’m gently tugged out of River’s arms and into Evander’s.

“Hey!” I greet the rest of them happily as they surround me in seconds and smother me in cuddles and kisses. “You guys didn’t have to come and meet me out here, although I’m really glad you did. I was getting so fucking bored. Did you like my dance?”

Apparently, because I’ve had to keep all my thoughts inside for a while, I now can’t stop talking, and I’m babbling instead. It’s a good job that I know that the guys don’t mind. They pull back at my onslaught of questions though and all look at me like they’re incredibly confused.

“What the hell are you talking about, Nene?” Van asks.

I frown and open my mouth to ask him what he’s talking about because obviously I’m talking about what they just watched on the Choosing, but River’s eyes suddenly flash to those of his kitsune as his eyes narrow on the wound in my side, and he growls.

“You’re bleeding,” his voice is harsh, as he repeats his earlier words, his kitsune that closer to the surface. “I smelt it before, but that’s a lot more.”

I frown, “Well yeah, I got stabbed by the poacher, you saw that.”

“No, we didn’t,” Reed says, looking at me with concern.

Doc moves forward, “We can deal with whatever is happening in a second. First, I need to heal you.”

I nod, “Yes, please. My arm is still hurting, although not as much as it should be.”

“Your arm?” Raiden asks and glances at the bandage wrapped around it. “What happened?”

“That was in my first trial, I got burned by one of the backwards knee walking creatures that I told you about before from Luesidious,” I explain.

The guy’s eyes widen.

“Right, I think there’s a lot to explain, but Doc is right, let him heal you first and then you can explain everything,” Evander suggests.

I nod in agreement, but quite frankly I’m confused as shit.

“Alright, I’m going to heal the slice first since that’s pretty straightforward,” he explains as I feel his magic flow through me.

Within seconds, the pain from the cut on my hip is completely gone, and I let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank you,” I say gratefully, pulling him closer so I can give him a thank you kiss.

His smile is stunning, when I pull back, but he quickly becomes serious again as he says, “Let’s have a look at the burn, if you got it from some kind of supernatural then I need to check that there isn’t any sort of poison or something else that I need to be aware of before I heal you,” Doc says as he gently takes my hand.

I nod and smile, “Yeah. That sounds good to me. To be honest, considering how bad it was, I am concerned that it’s no longer hurting. Doesn’t that mean that there’s really bad damage or something?”

Doc frowns, “Yeah, it does. The good news is I can fix that, but I do need to do it quickly.” He begins to unwrap the bandage around my arm and asks, “When did you stop noticing that it was hurting?”

“Well, it was definitely hurting after the fight with the poachers, and I’ve been walking for about an hour, so maybe two hours ago maximum was when I last noticed that it hurt,” I explain.

“Alright, well, that’s good. It wasn’t that long ago that will make it easy for me to heal,” Doc says, as he pulls the last of the bandage off and his eyebrows hit his hairline, “Or not.”

I grimace, refusing to look at my arm in case it’s all blackened and charred, or burned down to the bone, or something equally disturbing. “It’s bad, isn’t it?”

The guys are all still crowded around us, and it’s Griff who replies to me, “It’s healed. That’s why you aren’t feeling any pain, it’s pretty much nearly completely healed.”

My eyebrows rise in shock as I look down at my arm, and sure enough, where the giant and very painful burn was only a few hours ago, there is now just a red mark that looks like mild sunburn.

“Huh,” I say, at a complete loss for what else to say, because of all the things that I was expecting when Doc took off the bandage, I definitely wasn’t expecting it to be healed.

“Your supernatural healing must be kicking in,” Ransom suggests with a smile.

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