Fallon
The scent of blood clung to the air, thick and metallic, mixing with the dampness of the forest. My hands trembled as I pressed them against Kane's side, where blood seeped through his torn tunic, warm and wet against my skin. His breathing was shallow but steady, his jaw clenched so tightly I thought his teeth might crack. He refused to look at me, his eyes trained on some distant point beyond the trees as if willing himself to ignore the pain, to ignore me.
But he couldn't. Not when I was the only one keeping him from bleeding out.
"You need to hold still," I murmured, reaching for the small knife at my belt to cut away more of the ruined fabric. The gash wasn't deep enough to be fatal, but it was long and jagged, cutting across his ribs. The enemy's blade had found its mark before Kane had taken the bastard's head clean off. The fight had been fast, brutal, and though we had won, the price had been high.
I should have been relieved we survived. Instead, my heart was still hammering against my ribs, the rush of battle refusing to fade. The image of Kane dropping to one knee, blood pouring from his side, was burned into my mind. I had never seen him falter before. It had scared me more than I was willing to admit.
His breath hitched as I pressed a cloth against the wound, applying pressure. "If you don't stop flinching, I swear I'llâ"
"I'm fine," he growled, his voice strained.
I shot him a glare. "You're bleeding all over the damn place, Kane. You're not fine."
His hazel eyes, dark with pain and something unreadable, finally flicked to mine. "Then do your job and patch me up."
I grit my teeth, resisting the urge to slam my fist into his already bruised ribs. "You know," I muttered as I reached for a flask of water to clean the wound, "a normal person would say 'thank you' when someone is trying to keep them alive."
He let out a breath that was almost a laugh, though it was bitter. "You expect gratitude for doing what you should have done?"
My fingers curled into fists, knuckles white around the bloodied cloth. He was impossible. Even now, injured and vulnerable, he wouldn't let his walls crack, wouldn't let himself be anything but harsh and unyielding.
And yetâ
I wasn't blind to the way his muscles had tensed beneath my hands, to the way his breathing had quickened the moment my fingers brushed his skin. It was subtle, almost imperceptible, but it was there. A hesitation. A crack in the ice.
I took a slow, steady breath. "Tilt forward."
He obeyed, though not without a sharp inhale as he moved. The firelight cast deep shadows across his face, highlighting the hard lines of his jaw, the sharp angles of his cheekbones. His body was all tension, his shoulders drawn tight, as if he despised the very idea of needing help.
I dipped the cloth in water and wiped away the excess blood. His skin was hot beneath my touch, feverish. Too much blood loss. Dammit.
"This might sting," I warned before pouring a small amount of strong liquor over the wound.
He hissed, his fingers digging into the dirt. "You enjoying this?"
"Immensely."
His glare could have cut through steel. I just smirked, pressing the cloth back against the wound a little harder than necessary. He flinched, barely, but I caught it.
"I don't understand you," I muttered, shaking my head. "You act like you don't care about anything, but I saw you today. You threw yourself into that fight like you didn't care if you made it out."
Silence.
Kane's eyes flickered, something unreadable passing through them before he masked it with that familiar coldness. "A warrior doesn't hesitate."
"That's not what I asked."
He exhaled through his nose, his patience thinning. "I did what needed to be done."
I studied him, the way his fingers curled slightly, as if itching for a weapon. As if words unsettled him more than blades. "You can't protect everyone, you know."
His eyes snapped to mine. "And you can?"
I swallowed. He had me there. I wasn't any betterâI'd spent my entire life trying to fight against the things I couldn't control, trying to fix what was broken, trying to protect the people I loved, even when it wasn't my battle to fight. But Kane...
Kane carried that burden differently. He wore it like armor, like a shield against the world. Against me.
I didn't know why that realization stung.
I let out a slow breath and focused on wrapping the wound. My fingers brushed against his bare skin as I secured the bandage, and for a fleeting moment, neither of us moved. The air between us shifted, charged with something dangerous, something I wasn't ready to name.
I felt him watching me. The weight of his gaze was heavy, unrelenting, and it sent heat curling through my spine, despite the cold night air. His breathing was steady now, his body still, as if waiting for something. As if waiting for me.
I swallowed hard, forcing myself to look at him. His green eyes were darker than usual, golden flecks catching the firelight in a way that made my stomach tighten.
For a moment, just a moment, the distance between us felt impossibly small.
I could see the way his jaw tensed, the way his fingers twitched against the dirt as if fighting the urge to move. The fire cast shadows along his face, highlighting every sharp angle, every scar. I had never really looked at him like this beforeâhad never let myself. But now, with my hands still pressed against his skin, with the silence stretching too thin between us, I couldn't ignore it.
The tension was suffocating. My pulse pounded in my ears.
Kane exhaled slowly, his voice barely above a whisper. "Are you done?"
I blinked, jolted from whatever spell had taken hold of me. I forced myself to move, to pull back, to put space between us before I did something reckless. Like lean closer. Like test the weight of this impossible thing building between us.
I cleared my throat. "Yes. Try not to get yourself killed before morning."
His lips curled into something that almost resembled a smirk. "No promises."
I rolled my eyes, standing. The fire crackled between us, but the tension remained, lingering like smoke in the cold night air. This was dangerous.
I didn't know what the hell had just happened, but I knew one thing for certain: Kane Vaelrik was going to be the death of me.