The Puppet Assassin [TTR sequel]

The Puppet Assassin - Ch 30 [death's harvester]

“I’ll heal fine naturally.”

“Pfft.” He shook his head, reluctantly amused. “I really mean it Dizelde. If you can’t agree with what I say right now, don’t say anything or I’ll shut you up myself, my way.” He winked at me and I tried to stop myself from smiling but my lower lip twitched.

“Alright then,” he said triumphantly. “Now take of your sweater. I need to see your shoulder.”

I sat still. Now that the adrenalin had depleted, I was left with the sharp, stabbing pain of my shoulder wound and I knew I wouldn’t be able to lift my arm, let alone take my sweater off. His face dropped any hint of amusement.

“It’s that bad?” He glowered and pushed his sleeves up, approaching me. “You see?! If you had just left this to us, you wouldn’t be in such fucking pain.”

I jolted at his aggressive outburst and he sighed.

“I’m trying, very hard, to stay calm right now.” He crouched down in front of me, his eyes earnest. “I really, really don’t like it when you’re hurt.” He reached up and brushed his fingers over my eyebrow where I felt a bruise throbbing. At his touch, the pain disappeared. His hand came down and patted my knee. “Lie down on your stomach.”

He got up and went to his desk. I shifted on the bed, turning to lie on my chest, careful not to tug on my arm. He came back and clicked some scissors open and closed.

“I’ll replace the clothes,” he said simply and then I felt him lift my sweater and singlet away from my skin.  He cut through the cloth all the way up to the collar and through it. When he pulled it open, gently around my shoulder, I felt exposed. I knew he wouldn’t be looking at me like he wanted to eat me up but I was showing him skin that only the complex’s doctor had ever seen.

I sucked in a breath when his fingers touched lightly around the cut. It hurt and at the same time sent warmth shooting through my veins. And he hadn’t even started the healing yet…

“Is Luke okay?” I said to distract myself. I felt the strange heat of his magic and fought the urge to roll my shoulder around like I was scratching an itch.

Lark snorted. “He is unscathed. Luke is something out of a martial arts movie. He was the reason Scythe backed out so quickly.”

It was hard to imagine Scythe retreating, he was always so hard, so emotionless.

“You, however, are not okay. I…” He stopped what he was about to say and sighed. I tensed as his hands moved across the skin of my back, moving down to my waist. I felt one hand brush over the longest scar on my stomach. A second later, I was startled as I felt his gentle lips against the back of my neck. They trailed down my spine until they reached the point in between my shoulders. He pulled me back and nudged my arm until I turned over. I just knew that my face would be flaming red.

He lifted my arm up and brought my fingers to his lips, his eyes on me. When I felt the soft skin brush against my knuckles I trembled lightly. He had shot magic through my fingers and the one that had been swelling into the size of a zucchini shrunk to its usual size. It was weird to watch.