Free Bewitched & Betrayed by Lisa Shearin Page A

modesty, and prevent any cold -related . . . issues.”
    I tucked the sheet around my waist, and lifted the cover off one of the two plates on the tray. There were eggs, bacon, cheese, fried potatoes, bread, and butter. “And my appetite would like to thank you in advance. How did you know when to have food brought?”
    “I asked that it be brought in ten hours.”
    I stopped with a fork of eggs halfway to my open mouth. “We’ve been in bed together for ten hours?”
    “The minimal length of time for healing injuries as severe as yours is seven hours. I allowed another three for sleep for both of us.”
    Meaning I’d been naked in Mychael’s arms for ten hours—and during seven of those hours, his hands had been all over me.
    Since that image struck me pretty much speechless, I stuffed a forkful of eggs in my mouth.
    Mychael pulled the nightstand over next to him and put the second plate on it. He had the same breakfast as mine and dug in with gusto. I imagine healing a naked woman all night and half the morning combined with what we had just done would give a man one hell of an appetite.
    Mychael scowled at me between bites. “I know the answer I’m going to get, but I have to ask. What possessed you to throw yourself into a nest of Reapers?”
    “Those things went after Dad. I—”
    “A man who has been protecting himself against Reapers for centuries. Your father’s had plenty of practice. You, on the other hand, have not.”
    I stopped chewing, and the fire crackled in the silence.
    “So I tried to save someone who didn’t need saving,” I finally said.
    “Someone who was trying to save you . That you’re still alive after what you did is nothing short of a miracle.”
    I just stared at him. He didn’t know. If he couldn’t see Reapers, that meant he didn’t see the souls that tore their way out of the Saghred through me.
    “Mychael, when I started screaming . . . did you see what was happening?”
    “You were surrounded by Reapers.”
    “You could see them?”
    “No, but I could sense them.”
    I took a breath and slowly let it out. “Mychael, four souls from inside the Saghred . . .” I stopped, my food suddenly like a rock in my stomach. “They came out of me and went into a Reaper.”
    Mychael froze. “The Reapers took them out of you?”
    I shook my head. “No, the souls wanted to go. They were . . .” I fought down the sensation that I’d felt, could still feel. “Squirming inside of me. They wanted to get out. They ripped their way out; it was like someone grabbed a handful of my guts and pulled.” I put my fork down, and made myself take another breath. “When they were out, the Reapers took them. I couldn’t stop them from going or the Reapers from taking.”
    “Vidor Kalta told me he’d seen something moving between you and the Reapers, but he didn’t know what it was.”
    Fear seized me as I remembered Kalta looking at my dad, recognizing what he was, what he’d been. “Kalta knows about Dad.”
    “Vidor is the finest nachtmagus I know; I fully expected him to know your father for what he is.”
    “You don’t sound concerned.”
    “And you shouldn’t be, either. I’ve spoken with Vidor and he understands the need for discretion.”
    “You trust him?”
    “Without hesitation. Your father and Vidor are fine; you however are not. I’ve had Vidor ward this room against Reapers. There’s nothing strong enough to keep them out, but Vidor’s discouraged them. Just because you appear to be healed doesn’t mean that you are. You need sleep. I don’t want you leaving this bed for at least the next day, and this room until I have located and dealt with Sarad Nukpana.”
    I sat up, sloshing coffee on the tray. “Not without me, you don’t.”
    “Raine, you’re hardly in any condition—”
    “Neither are you.”
    “I wasn’t the one buried in Reapers.”
    “You heard Nukpana; he wants me last . For the first time in my life, I have a dad.” My voice caught.