Dragon Bound (Elder Races #1)(38)

How f**king charming. Ignoring his bleeding fingers, he pulled the sword into the car. The other Goblins snarled but kept well out of his reach.

He wedged the sword near his hand and turned his attention back to Pia, ignoring when the ruined car lurched. The Goblins lifted the wreckage onto a flatbed with them still inside.

At least she was breathing easier. Contusions, cuts and bruises mottled her face. The shirt she wore like a jacket was cut and damp with blood in places. Always pale, to his grim gaze she looked too white in the dirty morning light. A delicate tracery of blue veins was visible under the fine skin at her temple.

The flatbed truck lurched into motion, turned off the highway road and cut across country. Armed and armored Goblins jogged alongside and behind, keeping them surrounded. They traveled toward the passageway that would lead them to the Other land.

Dragos scanned down her body with Power, paying close attention to her spine and legs. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found them intact. He’d managed to throw enough cover over her to prevent major structural damage. Next he checked for bleeding. He found jagged metal cutting into her right calf. No wonder she had passed out when he tried to shift things. He lowered his head and used his shoulders as he pushed up against the crumpled roof, gaining them several more needed inches.

He studied how her legs were pinned until he was satisfied he had found a way to widen the area without hurting her further. He gripped the two places he had chosen and pulled them apart. The metal protested but gave way until her legs were free. Blood gushed as the jagged metal left her leg. He slapped his palm over it. Despite the urgent need to stop the bleeding, he paused and sucked in a breath as he felt her Power welling underneath his hand.

Liquid sunlight, magic eternal, young, wild and free. He discarded each word as it came to him. They were all inadequate. What he now knew for sure was what he had suspected before. He was in the presence of something unique. In the series of surprises he had encountered since coming aware of her, he came to another first in his long bad life as he discovered reverence.

He sent a very gentle pulse of Power to seal the wound and stop the bleeding. He sent the pulse over her body, sealing other, smaller cuts. She would hurt and be unhappy when she woke up, but she would live. That’s all that mattered.

That’s everything that mattered.

He straightened as much as he could and cupped her chin. “Pia,” he said, reaching soft and calm into her unconscious mind. “Time to wake up. I want you to open your eyes now.”

She pushed at the fingers gripping her chin. She was tired, damn it. She muttered, “Would you stop talking so loud?”

“Pia, look at me.”

“I want to sleep,” she said, her tone petulant. Why did that voice have to be so damn beautiful?

It crooned, “I know, but you can’t. Suck it up, baby.”

“God, you’re so annoying.” She sighed but opened her eyes.

She looked up at Dragos, who smiled at her, his dark expression lit with an unfamiliar expression. On someone else she would call it relief. He propped his weight on one elbow by her head as he leaned over her. One side of his face was a dark purple bruise.

Her gaze left that puzzle and went on to others, traveling over an unfamiliar misshapen metal while they lurched in a constant, uneven motion. She lifted her head to peer out and she wished she hadn’t bothered. Monsters ran alongside them. The sense of dread from before hit her full force. The surrounding land shimmered with magic that was growing in strength. It was too much to take in all at once.

“We’re being kidnapped,” he told her in a calm voice. “Car wreck. Remember? I’m pretty sure they’re hauling us into an Other land.” He stroked her hair. “You’re all right. You were hurt but it isn’t bad.”

She looked down at her battered and blood-smeared body. A switch flipped in her head. “Oh God, I’m bleeding,” she stammered. She brushed at her arms, scrubbed at the wetness streaking her face.

“Whoa,” he said. He grabbed her hands. “Stop panicking. I said you’re all right.”

“Make it stop. I can’t bleed.” She struggled and started to hyperventilate.

“Keep your voice down. One of them might understand English.” He put a hand over her mouth, holding her down. “Damn it, I just closed your wounds. You’re going to cut yourself again if you’re not careful.”

“Dragos, I can’t bleed,” she said, muffled against his palm. “Do you understand? I can’t bleed!” She looked at him with wild eyes. “Can you burn it?”

He stared at her, his gold gaze arrested. “Pia,” he said, “you were cut all over.”

“It doesn’t matter,” she panted. “We’ve got to get rid of the blood.”

After a quick murderous glance at what was happening outside their private cage, he said from between gritted teeth, “Shit. All right, hold still.”

She froze, pushing out the panic. Moving fast, he tore her capris above the knees and stripped the bloody cloth off her. He used it to wipe her legs and the edge of metal that had cut her, and wadded it up. She fought to wriggle out of her overshirt, hampered by their close space. He helped by shredding it and then he used it to wipe the cuts on her arms and her face as best he could. He added it to the wad of material he clenched in one fist.

Magic surged. The truck coughed and stalled. Goblins ran to unhitch the flatbed, calling to one another as they ran chains underneath. A dozen Goblins grabbed the chains and began to haul them forward.