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Catherine could hardly believe that she was perched on the edge of his bed, holding the hand of aShe had never ily ed

"Give ood reason"

"Because you can"

Leo shook his head slightly, holding her gaze At first she thought he was refusing her But it turned out that he was shaking his head in rueful wonder at his own actions He gestured for the slass of liquid on the bedside table "Give it to me," he muttered, "before I have a chance to think better of it" She handed the glass to hiulps A shudder of revulsion swept through hilass back to her

They both waited for thefor her bandaged fingers The tip of his thuently over the surface of her nails

"It’s nothing," she whispered "Just a few scrapes"

The blue eyes turned hazy and unfocused, and he closed thean to relax "Have I thanked you yet," he asked, "for hauling me out of the ruins?"

"No thanks are necessary"

"All the sa one of her hands, he cradled her paluardian angel," he said, the words beginning to slur "I don’t think I ever had one until now"

"If you did," she said, "you probably ran too fast for her to keep up with you"

He made a quiet sound of amusement

The feel of his shaven cheek beneath her hand filled her with astonishing tenderness She had to re its influence on hi between the froe of their forh her as she felt the ripple of his s in the space beneath his jaw

They stayed like that until a noise from the doorway caused Catherine to start

Caave Catherine an approving nod "Well done," he said "This will er you," Leo repliedhis eyes open as Cam and Merripen went to the bedside A Reluctantly, Catherine pulled away from Leo and retreated to the doorway

Cam looked down at his brother-in-laith a ht from theslid over the shiny black layers of his hair "I can take care of this, phral But we could send for a gadjo doctor if you prefer"

"God, no Anything he did would be far worse than your blundering And he’d start with his damned jar of leeches"

"No leeches here," Cam replied as he eased the pillows from behind Leo’s back "I’m terrified of them"

"Are you?" Amelia asked "I didn’t know that"

Cam helped Leo to lower to thewith the tribe, I ading in a spring-fed pond with a few of the other children We all cas I would say I screairls were

"Poor Canant "What about ive you too ht of et out of the turnip planting"

Leo replied with two choice words thatthe bed linens to her brother’s waist, Amelia carefully tucked towels beneath his injured shoulder and side The sight of his lean, s of hair on his chest--caused Catherine’s stomach to dive in an odd little swoop She retreated farther behind the door, not wanting to leave and yet knowing it was improper for her to stay

Caed her away from the bed "Wait over there, monisha--we need room to work" He turned to the nearby tray of supplies

Catherine blanched as she heard the rattle of knives and oat or perform a tribal dance?" Leo asked woozily "Or at least chant so?"

"We did all that downstairs," Cam said He handed a piece of leather strap to Leo "Put this between your teeth And try not toon you My son is napping"

"Before I put this in ht tell ht … never mind I don’t want to know" He put the strap between his teeth, then removed it te"

"If we do," Merripen said, swabbing carefully around the injured shoulder, "it won’t be intentional"

"Ready, phral?" she heard Caht On the count of three"

Amelia joined Catherine in the hallway, her face tense She wrapped her arroan, followed by a voluble flow of Roe was brisk but soothing

It was clear that despite the effects of the opium, the procedure was difficult to endure Every ti froether

After two or three minutes had passed, Amelia looked around the doorway "Did it splinter?" she asked

"Only a little, monisha, " came Cam’s reply "It could have been much worse, but--" He paused at a muffled sound from Leo "Sorry, phral Merripen, take the tweezers and--yes, that part right there"

Amelia’s face was pale as she turned back to Catherine And she astonished her by reaching out and drawing her close in the saed Win, Poppy, or Beatrix Catherine stiffened a little, not in aversion but aardness "I’lad you weren’t har care of Lord Ra back, Amelia smiled at her "He’ll be fine, you know He has more lives than a cat"

"I hope so," Catherine said soberly "I hope this isn’t a result of the Ramsay curse"