[This post is from Thom’s point of view.]
He wasn’t sure if he slept or how much time had passed when he clawed his way back to the surface of the blackness that had swallowed him whole. Marin’s voice was nearby, speaking in hushed tones, as if she didn’t want to disturb him. He could hear another voice, more distant, hurried, rushed—familiar, but too quiet for him to fully recognize.
Thom shifted in the bed, sucking in a breath as a sharp pain stabbed through four distinct points in each shoulder—three in back, one in front. “Hell,” he rasped, then coughed. It felt like he’d swallowed an electric sander while the damned thing was still turned on. “Mar?”
The voices stopped for a moment and he heard the scrape of her boot against the floor. “I’m here,” she said, steps echoing softly. “Did we wake you?”
“No,” he murmured, cracking one eye open, then the other. It was dim and the light still hurt his eyes, but it was bearable. “No, you didn’t. That was all me. How long have I been out?”
“Since the last time you were awake? About four hours. It’s midday.”
At least it helped. “And since the fighting?”
“More than twelve,” Marin said softly. Her fingers were cool against his face as she ran them along his cheek and jaw. “Feeling any better?”
“Hurts like hell,” he muttered, then coughed a little, squeezing his eyes shut for a few seconds. “Head’s pounding. Everything hurts. Twelve hours?”
“More,” she whispered, then pressed another kiss to his forehead. “But we won, and that’s what matters.”
“Good,” he murmured. “Good.”
“Did you want me to go?”
It was Kellin. That startled him, but he wasn’t certain why. He cracked an eye open again, peering at her in the dim. She was ghost-pale, standing near the door. His guts twisted. “What’s wrong, Kel?” he asked. He saw Marin wince out of the corner of his eye.
That didn’t help the sick feeling that had settled in the pit of his stomach.
“It’s nothing,” Kellin lied, shaking her head quickly.
Thom cursed under his breath, trying to push himself up onto his elbows. His shoulders screamed and he bit back another curse, shaking as he let Marin push him down as if he had no strength left at all.
“Stop,” she said firmly. “Stay down.”
“Will one of you two please tell me what the hell is going on?”
Kellin sucked in a breath. “Just something Phelan said. That’s all. Don’t worry about it. I’m fine.”
She turned quickly and jerked the door open, clearly intending to go whether he wanted her to or not.
