Page 63 of Bones
“I just wanted to get far away.” I could feel my cheeks warming again.
His eyebrows raised. “So you just set off into the mountains without a plan?”
Gods, he sounded like Wolf right now. “I was doin’ just fine.”
His lips twitched. “You and I haveverydifferent definitions of ‘fine.’”
I glanced back down at the kitten. It had calmed enough to poke its head out from under my sleeve, sniffing curiously. I shifted to hold it with one hand and used a finger to stroke the top of its head. After a minute, a rattling little purr filled the room. I looked smugly up at Trey.
“How did you do that?” he demanded.
“If you pet it like this,” I continued stroking its head, “it feels like a mama cat licking it and it's comforting.”
“You are full of surprises, Bones.”
"I had…I knew someone really good with animals once." Why was I constantly telling him more than I meant to? My stomach twisted in panic.
He studied me with his head tilted as though he could sense my chaotic emotions, and I dropped my eyes to the kitten he held and frowned.
“You’re bleeding.”
He glanced at his hand. “Oh, yeah that’s where that one,” he gestured at my kitten, “bit me.”
“Can I heal it?” I asked.
His eyebrows raised. “You don’t have to. I don’t want you to push yourself too hard.”
I gave him an exasperated look. “I think I can handle it.”
One side of his mouth tilted up in a crooked smile. “Alright.”
I stepped closer, freeing one hand to cover the small wound. My healing power ached, but it took just a few seconds to heal. Trey smelled good, I realized as I stood close to him, like my lavender soap and the oil he used to clean his gun. As soon as the wound vanished, I quickly stepped backward.
“What’d you mean when you said it would never be enough?”
The sudden change in topics made me nauseous.
“It’s…nothing,” I lied.
“You can tell me,” he urged.
“I…I just…” Gods, those damn brown eyes made it hard to think straight. “I have a lot of blood on my hands.”
He frowned.
“I have this…this power toheal…but I keep…I keephurtingpeople. I don’t know…I don’t know if I can heal enough…to make up for it.”
“Are you keeping score?” he asked, but not in a mocking way. He studied my face, his brow furrowed as though he wanted to understand.
“No. I don’t know. I just…I want to…I need to balance the scales.”
“What scales?”
“The…scales.” I gestured vaguely with one hand, my face heating.
“Do you feel responsible every time you can’t heal someone?”
“I've watched so many people die," I whispered. "People I could've saved with my powers."
