Page 3 of Untempered
There were no men wearing black tabards in front of her door when I returned. Probably best for all of us. With the hum of violence low in the back of my brain, it wouldn’t have ended well if Wade had gotten lippy with me again. I inhaled deeply as I opened the door, half-hoping the Butcher would still be there.
He wasn’t. There was no one there at all.
I held myself still, listening.
Silence.
My eyes tracked across the room, looking for anything out of place. My heart beat steadily and ice settled into my veins as I shoved the door closed, hard, to protect my back. There would be signs of what passed, information written on the ground.
I didn’t see her at first. She’d almost completely vanished into the floor, or so it seemed. Pale as a ghost, she lay, helpless. I didn’t go to her immediately, clearing the rest of the rooms to ensure there was no further threat before I folded myself down beside her.
Demanding my hands be steady, I pressed my fingers to her throat. She was warm, and I could feel the drum of her lifeblood, a slow, tortured rhythm. My lungs expanded, and I felt the press of my bodice against my upper body as I swelled with rage.
What an illustrious leader. What a brave warrior. What a peerless General.
He won a war against a child. He ought to be proud.
Working quickly, I ran my hands over her head and neck. She was banged up, but I could identify no serious bleeding. Her arms were whole. She hadn’t tried to defend herself.
Of course she hadn’t.
Fury pounded behind my eyes as I straightened her form and went to get a pitcher of water. She hadn’t defended herself, but she’d known it was coming.
And she’d sent me away.
I heard a hitch in her breath as I knelt beside her again, flipping up my dress to tear one of my underskirts in a quick, vicious motion. Her eyelids fluttered. “Stay still,” I told her impatiently. The naive child had tried to protect me and look where it had gotten her. “You’ve taken a few hits, haven’t you?” It wasn’t a real question. The answer was painfully obvious.
Her eyes, when she opened them, were the same pale liquid brown that I’d seen just an hour ago, but unfocused. Now, her breathing was shallow and reedy.
“I’m going to check for breaks,” I told her, frustrated with my own poor judgment. I felt past the flimsy barriers of her clothing, searching for knots or irregularities in the rounded bones of her ribs. I left my investigation, feeling sick, after finding two.
“I need to get you up,” I told her grimly. If those bones moved too much, they could puncture something important.
He’d made a bloody mess of her.
“Can’t,” she said, and the word was desperate and broken.
I remembered the way she’d ordered me out. The word bounced around my skull over and over.Go. Go. Go. The way her head had snapped up like a terrified rabbit.
“Won’t,” I corrected, ruthlessly.
She could take what I would give.
Her big eyes closed in pain. Her mouth was drawn, and I had no doubt she was in genuine agony. I stayed there, reliving every moment I’d shared with her, weighing it all up again, judging it in a new light. What if she wasn’t simply a coward? What if she was exactly what she needed to be to survive?
What would happen if she learned that she didn’t need to be a wallflower, but a spearhead?
I leaned forward and rested my forehead gently against hers. “I’m going to get these injuries strapped,” I told her.
There was pride in my chest, a hot, hard ball. I’d done wrong…butshe’ddone smart.
She’d done what she could. Now I’d match that.
“I’m going to help you, Audrey.” Her eyes opened, unfocused and confused, but present enough to settle, briefly, on my face.
I smiled at Audrey, hard, with teeth. She met my gaze and a tear spilled down her cheek, her own expression one of hopelessness. I didn’t wipe the tear away. She’d earned it, and more.
“I know you don’t believe that’s possible, but it is. More importantly, I’m going to help you help yourself.” She continued to lay there, breathing those shallow breaths, and my heart roared with fury. Taking her forearm, I prepared to lever her up, quick and smooth. Gentleness wouldn't help her now. Steel would. Strength would.
