Magic Strikes(99)
«Just do it,» he said. «Or are you going to faint?»
«Settle down, Princess. It's not my first time.»
I put my fingers on the first spot. The muscle under my fingertips was hot and swollen. I pressed
down, defining the target area the way I was taught, and sliced. He strained. Black blood poured
from the wound and a chunk of silver surfaced. I grabbed it with forceps and plucked it free. Three
quarters of an inch wide and two inches long. Shit. Enough silver to make an average shapeshifter
violently sick. How many spikes did he have in him?
I dropped it into a metal tray, wiped the blood from his back, and went to the next one as fast as I
could.
Slice, pull, wipe. Over and over.
He growled once, quietly.
«Almost done,» I murmured.
«Who taught you to do this?» he asked.
«A wererat.»
«Do I know him?»
«Her. She died a long time ago. She liked my father.»
Nine spikes.
His wounds were closing, the muscle and skin knitting together. I rose, wet a towel, and cleaned
his back. He leaned back a little, prolonging contact with my fingers.
I wanted to run my hand up his back. Instead I forced myself up, rinsed the towel, and tossed it
into the bin Doolittle had set out.
«Good to go,» I told him and walked away before I did something seriously stupid.
CHAPTER 28
IT WAS LATE. I SAT IN THE HOT TUB, SUNKEN DEEP in a windowless room. Moisture
beaded on the ceiling and weak electric lamps provided hazy illumination. The jets didn't work with
or without magic.
My whole body ached. My side, my arms, my back. The golem had dished out a lot of
punishment.
I contemplated emerging from the hot tub. My feet were wrinkled and I was really warm. But
that would mean going back into the bedroom. We had made it to the championship fight and the
Red Guards kept a very tight watch on us now. The only way out of our rooms was through a first-
class interrogation and with a huge escort. Even now, as I sat here, a couple of Red Guards lingered
outside the door.
A pale, sweaty Corona bottle invaded my field of vision. It was clamped in a hand attached to a
muscular arm with pale blond hair.
«Peace offering,» Curran said.
Did I hear him come in? No.
I took the beer. He paused on the other side of the tub. He was wearing a white gym towel. «I'm
about to take the towel off and hop in,» he said. «Fair warning.»
There are times in life when shrugging takes nearly all of your will. «I've seen you naked.»
«Didn't want you to run away screaming or anything.»
«You flatter yourself.»
He took the towel off.
I hadn't exactly forgotten what he looked like without clothes. I just didn't remember it being
quite so tempting. He was built with survival in mind: strong but flexible, defined but hardly
slender. You could bounce a quarter from his abs.
Curran stepped into the tub. He was obviously in no hurry.
It was like walking on a high bridge: don't look down. Definitely not below his waist . . . Oh my.
He sank into the hot water near me. I remembered to breathe. «How's your back?»
«It's fine,» he said. «Thanks.»
«Don't mention it.» It had to be sore.
«Does your side hurt?»
«No.»
His smile told me he knew we were both full of it.
I drank a bit of my beer, barely tasting it. Having him at the other end of the hot tub was like
standing face-to-face with a hungry tiger with no fence between us. Or rather a hungry lion with
very large teeth.
«Are you going to sack Jim?» I tried to sound casual.
«No,» the lion said.
Exhaling in relief was completely out of the question-he'd hear it.
Curran stretched, spreading the breadth of his massive shoulders against the tub wall. «I concede
that if I was paying attention, I would have nipped this in the bud. It never should have gotten to
this point.»
«How so?»
«Jim took over security eight months before the Red Stalker appeared. The upir was his first big
test. He blew it. We all did. Then there was Bran. Bran stole the surveys three times, waltzed in and
out of the Keep, attacked you while you were in our custody, and took out a survey crew, Jim
included. Jim considers it a personal failure.»
«The guy teleported. How the hell are you supposed to guard against someone who pops in and
out of existence?»
Curran shifted along the tub wall, sinking a little deeper into the water. «Had I known how hard
Jim took it, I would've pointed it out to him. You remember when he tried to use you as bait?»
«I remember wanting to punch him in the mouth.»
«It was the first sign of trouble. His priorities had shifted to 'win at any cost.' I thought it was