Free Shadowlander by Theresa Meyers Page B

stared at her. Cate shifted in her saddle, uncomfortable at being the center of their attention, especially when she was all alone. Twilight was coming quickly, casting long shadows along her path and turning the thick forest behind her formidable and dark. The hours were ticking down quickly and if time passed the same here as it did at home, Cate was certain she had only four or five hours left until midnight.
    Even without the snow piled on the ground, the icy air sliced into the exposed skin of her cheeks and hands. She clutched her coat more tightly around her. The last thing she wanted was to be alone in the fae woods by herself.
    The earth trembled slightly. Beneath her the catamount tensed, a low rumbling growl vibrating its body. Around the turn in the trail came Rook and his catamount.
    Cate heaved out a sigh of relief and gave him a brilliant smile. She’d never been so glad to see him in all her life.
    “Are you unharmed?” he called out to her.
    “I’m fine, what about...” Her words drifted away as she saw the bright scarlet color saturating his sleeve. “You’re hurt! Settle!” The cat hunkered down and she slipped off. Cate jogged over to him, and he dismounted with a grunt. Up close Cate could see the tight lines of pain bracketing his eyes and the grayish cast beneath his skin that she didn’t think was normal, not even for a fae.
    “Sit down and let me look at that.”
    He didn’t argue.
    The sleeve of his coat was nearly sliced through and hanging open, exposing his tattered and blood-soaked shirt. She swallowed hard, uncomfortable with the sight of his blood—well, really anyone’s blood besides her own.
    “Let’s just see.” She tried to pull back his jacket and he grunted and glared at her. Cate licked her lips. “Okay, how about we try this.” She pulled down on the hanging sleeve, and the fabric gave a ripping sound. He cursed beneath his breath.
    “You are a lousy caregiver,” he muttered.
    “And you suck as a patient,” she snapped back as she peeled the sticky, blood-soaked fabric away from the raw wound.
    He sucked in a breath between his clenched teeth. So did she. “Oh, that’s just nasty.”
    He chuckled, but it was not cheerful. “Have you ever stitched up someone before?”
    Cate shook her head. “That’s what we have urgent care for.”
    He frowned. “Then just bind it. I’ll have the healers look at it when we get to Seaneath.”
    “This is going to take more than a Band-Aid.”
    His frown deepened, merging his brows into one solid line of disapproval over his intense brown eyes. “There are bandages in one of my saddle packs.”
    Her knees felt a bit rubbery as she pulled the packs down off his catamount and started digging through them. There were the bandages. And there was the traveling key coin he’d shown her. Her heart gave a little flip inside her chest. After what she’d just been through, maybe a little insurance she could get home was necessary. There was no guarantee she’d find Maya in time in this strange world. Anything could happen when they reached the capital, and if she got separated from Rook, she’d be totally screwed.
    Cate took them both, surreptitiously sliding the coin into the pocket of her coat. She felt a twinge of guilt at taking it, after he’d nearly had his arm cut off to protect her, but she had to be practical. If she didn’t find Maya before the solstice came, she’d need it to operate a portal to get them out.
    “You mean this roll of gauzy stuff, right?” she said, waving it slightly.
    “Yes.”
    He patiently explained how to cut away the remainder of his sleeve and how to properly wrap his wound. Doing just as he asked, she wrapped and overlapped the fabric around his huge arm until the blood no longer seemed to be seeping through, then tucked the end beneath the wrapping to secure it. Rook glanced down at her handiwork.
    “You did a good job,” he said softly, his warm breath ruffling the hair at her