Page 147 of The King's Man
“What hurts? I need a list—don’t skip a thing. Even if it seems minor now, it might be serious. You’re probably in shock. Moveeach of your limbs slowly and breathe between, see whether your fingers and toes respond…”
On and on, she checked me from head to toe. And despite the pain and exhaustion, there was a strange, warm prickle in my chest. My mate was so…concerned.
When she was finally convinced that I wasn’t dying, only sore, she sat back on her heels and met my eyes. “What the actual fuck, Jann?” she breathed, pushing the hair back from my face, her expression pained and confused.
“I don’t know,” I said hoarsely as I rolled to my hands and knees and started the painful process of getting to my feet. “But looks like I won’t be making good on that promise of a real bed for tonight.”
Even through the pain, I smiled when she snorted.
51.Careful What You Wish For
~ DIADRE ~
His little grin was a relief—he couldn’t be dying if he could joke… right? But the fluttering chill of fear coursed through me.
Jann grunted. “Don’t worry, Dee. I just need some time—”
“You needrest,”I interrupted him. “Surely even you can see that you can’t fly over those mountains tomorrow?”
His expression went dark—like a child faced with a truth they didn’t want to admit.
I sat back on my heels and shook my head. “Jann, you’ve been pushing yourself for weeks. And now you’re injured—”
“Yes, but we Neph heal quickly—”
“You won’t have a chance to heal if you’re dead!” I snapped, putting a hand on his chest when he moved like he’d get up. “And we’llbothbe dead if you get those mountains wrong. You told me that!”
“Yes, but—”
“Dear God, my mate is as stubborn as me,” I muttered,putting both my hands on his shoulders and noting his wince when he resisted me. The sheer fact that I could make him wince was startling—andnotgood. “Jann… listen to me. We’re resting here. Fordays.You said you wanted me to challenge you when you’re wrong. Well, this is that moment. Prove yourself. And besides, think this through. You’re a soldier, and you’re hurt. Let your brother—or sister—in arms help.”
He sighed, but lay back, nodding, though his expression was dark.
I sighed. “Lay here and rest. Soak in the water if you think it will help. Let me get camp set up—I’ll find a way for you to lay down more comfortably.”
“No beds in the middle of Kyrion Vale,” he muttered, but he didn’t argue and when I got up he didn’t leap to his feet again, thank God.
It took over an hour, but I got everything figured out. I made a campfire in a spot where the trees were thin, but would shield us from view overhead, and stacked dry branches nearby so no one needed to hunt for more wood. While I worked, Jann carefully stood, then stripped and walked into the lake, wincing and blowing against the cold, but soon letting the water take his weight as he floated on his back.
Finding a way to let him rest more comfortably was harder, but finally I found a way to knot the corners of the furs with the flying straps to fashion a large hammock big enough for a Neph.
I muttered a great deal about male pride and bullshit while I did it, but in truth it was only to distract myself from the creeping dread that Jann was more hurt than he was letting on.
I was worried. He was incredibly strong, but he’d been leveled by this, and we’d almost dropped out of the sky more than once. It would appear we had no allies out here, and…
God, help us both,I prayed frankly. What else could I do but force him to rest?
As I finished the hammock and tested it for weight with rocks and our bags, my mind turned that question over… and I discovered I had an answer.
One Jann wouldn’t like. But we neededsomething.
As I worked, I kept looking at the problem from all the angles.
*****
~ JANN ~
The hammock was a stroke of genius. I could sit down into it, then turn my body, so there was no need to get up and down from the ground. It would be warmer than laying on the chilled earth—and much, much softer.
