The Sweetest Burn (Broken Destiny #2)(25)

After what might have been minutes, but felt like hours, Adrian pulled away. He lifted my head, and the faint light from the electronics on the dashboard showed blood running from his ears and from the countless tiny cuts on his face. He leaned over and took some napkins out of his glove box, wiping at my face instead of his. I only realized I was bleeding, too, when I saw that they were stained red after he drew them away.

"Is-is it over?" I asked, surprised that I was barely able to hear my own voice.

He nodded, and I lip-read more than heard him say, "Yes."

I drew a shaking hand through my hair, feeling the bite of countless shards that were stuck inside the brown mass. A glance down revealed that Adrian and I were covered with glass. All of the windows and most of the windshield were gone, and my mind flashed to his prior erotic statement. How I wished these had broken from uncontrollable passion instead of a realm slamming into this section of desert.

Even if Adrian hadn't told me what was happening, I'd have figured it out from the new frigid temperatures and the utter darkness. No moonlight interrupted the unbreakable blackness, either. If the moon existed in demon realms, it was never seen because not even the sun's reflection made it into these frozen facsimiles of hell.

I shivered, shock wearing off enough to remind me that I was dressed in shorts and a tank top. Perfect for an afternoon in Death Valley; highly dangerous for our new surroundings. Adrian caught the shiver and drew his shirt off, causing a small shower of glass to hit the seats. Then he balled it up and began using it to brush the glass off me. He said something, but I only caught a word or two. Then he shouted, which made my ears hurt even more, but at least I understood him.

"Get up slowly, there's glass everywhere."

No shit. I managed to get to the door, wincing at all the new cuts that caused despite my being careful. When I was finally outside, I began brushing the shards off me while my shivers turned into shudders. Where had that wind come from? It felt like it skipped my skin and went straight into my bones.

Adrian got out and walked over to the trunk. When he returned, I was relieved at the thermal pants, boots and ski jacket that he held out to me. Thank God his car was stocked for emergencies, and a demon realm landing on us definitely qualified as an emergency.



       
         
       
        

I stripped off my torn, bloody shirt and shorts without hesitation. Clad only in a bra and panties, I started to pull on the new clothes when Adrian stopped me.

"Wait," he said, holding up a plastic bag. His headlights, which miraculously hadn't shattered, showed a cake-like substance in the bag that I recognized as manna. Right, better heal my injuries before bleeding all over my new clothes.

I scooped out a handful, wincing as I spread it over the parts of me that were the most red-splattered. You'd think that I could feel where the cuts were, but with being nearly naked in the cold, everything hurt. I sure felt it when the manna began to heal my cuts, though. They stung like I'd jabbed myself with a fork before the pain faded into a slight itchiness. The fabled bread of heaven that had fed the Israelites while they wandered in the desert had more than one use. Manna's healing properties were amazing, but it also had its limits, such as how it couldn't heal a mortal wound. Thankfully, I didn't have one.

Adrian positioned himself behind me and lifted my hair. His hands were gentle as they moved over me, but any enjoyment I would have normally felt faded at the numerous stabs of pain as he spread manna over the cuts on my back. Once he was finished, I hurriedly put on my new clothes and boots, then grabbed a handful of manna and gestured to him.

"Your turn."

Either his ears weren't as damaged as mine or he could lip-read, because he understood although I'd forgotten to shout. He turned around, moving until he was directly in front of the headlights. When I saw his back, I sucked in an appalled breath.

Long, deep gashes rent his skin. Glass was still embedded in multiple slashes, reflecting the light through sheens of red. I couldn't believe he'd treated my insignificant wounds first. He looked like he could bleed to death from some of these!

And he'd gotten them while shielding me from the worst of the fallout when the windows exploded. I blinked back my tears. These wounds should have been mine, but he'd taken them for me. How did I begin to say thank you for that?

First things first, by healing him. I started to lay my manna-smeared hand on his back, but he stopped me.

"You need to get the glass out first, or it'll be stuck beneath the newly healed skin."