Lynn leaned over the railing. “Yeah, right. Help me get Richard in, then we’ll set up camp.”
Dani hesitated a few seconds, then nodded. She tried not to hobble as she walked off, but it was obvious she was in pain.
Shit.
Dani had refused to take shorter pulling shifts or shirk her responsibilities in any other way, but her knee had slowed them down, especially when the cart needed to be pulled out of a ditch or turned to go around something. If her knee didn’t improve, they would not be arriving at the Homestead the day after tomorrow.
Lynn guided Skeever downstairs and caught up with Dani halfway down the hall to the entryway. When Dani refused to look at her and trudged on, Lynn let her; the energy required to manage pain left little to socialize with—especially after a long day like this. She would have told Dani to make camp if she didn’t need her to get the cart up the steps. “Take the front?” She’d already made her way to the back.
“On three.” Dani took up position. “One, two, three.”
The second Lynn pushed to set the cart in motion, a fresh lightning bolt of pain coursed up her arm. She set her jaw and marched on, then clenched her teeth as she hoisted the cart up to her shoulders so the wheels would clear the steps. This is why this quest is a death trap. Not just because we’re out here with bait, but also because we’ll be too messed up to deal with whatever it draws. She set the cart down with a groan and watched in relief as Richard’s body cleared the gate.
Thankfully, lowering the heavy iron barrier was a one-woman job, so Dani didn’t have to go up the stairs. “Set up camp, okay? Maybe get the candle burning. I’m going to see if I can find anything to bring the swelling down.”
Dani didn’t reply, so Lynn let her drag herself to the office as she made her way upstairs again.
“Coming down!” When no one replied, Lynn pulled the chains off the pegs.
The gate crashed down with a racket that could have woken the dead.
Lynn cringed. Making any kind of noise still rattled her, but at least this cacophony meant they were now safe. She turned toward the shelving the family had put up. The light was all but gone now, but she only needed a bit of illumination to grab what she wanted. The herb bag was still where she remembered it being. It was too large to fit in her backpack and cumbersome to latch on to the outside, so she’d left it. Getting to use its contents to speed up Dani’s healing was undoubtedly the second-best thing about only making it as far as this office today. The familiar shelter it provided was the obvious first.
Lynn also took a look at the food that had remained behind. It wasn’t much; they’d taken all they’d been able to fit easily, but there was a smoked leg of something big, probably a deer, and she found some more apples, so she took both downstairs.
Dani looked up from the unlit candle as Lynn entered. It was the one Dani had taken from the Homestead and that they’d used in the car. Even though it was halfway burned down now, it would last the night.
Skeever had curled up behind her.
“No light?” Lynn closed the door to the office behind her to keep the heat in.
“I’m having some… issues.” Dani sounded annoyed.
Lynn wrapped the food up in a blanket to keep it out of Skeever’s reach, then slid of her backpack. “What’s the problem?”
“I can’t get the wick to catch. Didn’t the family have a fireplace? This would be much easier with a fire.” Dani sat with her injured leg extended and the other curled under her so she could reach the pot.
“If they liked hot meals, they did. Just not inside, I guess.” She shrugged. “Do you want me to have a go?”
Dani sent the candle a withering look. “Yeah, go ahead. I’ll get some food ready.” She groaned as she got up.
“I brought some more meat and apples.” She opened her pack and rummaged in it for her fire-making tools. “Did you get some tinder?”
“It’s by the candle.”
“Got it.” Lynn scooped everything up. “There’ll be smoke so I’ll take it to the hallway. I’ll be back.” It took her longer than she would have liked, but eventually she got the candle lit by lighting a big pile of the dried grass on the bottom of the wolf cages, holding a stick in the flames until that caught, and then lighting the wick with that. She stomped on the pile until that went out and returned to the office with her candle. “I’ve go—” She cut herself off as she caught sight of Dani and Skeever lying together on the bedding.
Dani groaned at the sound of her voice, and her eyelids fluttered. Then she pressed her face deeper into Skeever’s fur and exhaled audibly. Within a few seconds, she was very obviously asleep again.
A surprising rush of affection warmed Lynn’s chest as she watched. Not just that Dani had fallen asleep got to her—and that she’d sought Skeever’s company while she’d done so—but that the noise of Lynn’s entrance hadn’t been a source of alarm for her. She turned to the desk. Dani didn’t have to be awake while Lynn made a poultice for her knee.
Dani had placed her plate of food on the table. Lynn ate while sorting through the bag of herbs. By the time her plate was empty, she had selected and crushed a mix of willow bark, juniper, and comfrey root. All had the reputation of helping a swelling go down. She glanced back at the sleeping Dani to make sure she was all right, then began the laborious process of making a poultice.
“Dani?”
“Whatcha want?” Dani’s words came out as a plaintive growl.
Lynn stroked her arm. “I need you to pull your pants down.”
“What?” Dani frowned and blinked her eyes open.
Shit! She thinks I want to see her naked. Lynn prayed the light of the candle would hide her blush. “I uh, I made a poultice for your knee. Let me at it. Please.”
The blank look persisted a few seconds longer, then Dani’s gaze darted to the tin and the cotton strips in Lynn’s hand. “Ah.” She rolled onto her back and wiggled out of her pants. “You made that?”
Lynn forced herself not to look at the full bush of curls Dani exposed along with her lean legs. “Y-Yeah. We need you in walking shape tomorrow, right?” She chuckled lamely, hoping to chase away the jitters she felt.
Dani hissed as she pulled up her knee. “I really hope you’re some kind of witch doctor, because it’s not good.”
It wasn’t. Dani’s knee was swollen and bruised where she’d hit the rock.
Lynn slid her fingertips over the skin and found it straining.
Dani sucked in a breath.
“That sore?”
“Pretty much.” She lay back down and stared up at the ceiling. “Do what you have to do. I know this is going to suck.”
Lynn watched her for a few seconds. When Dani didn’t look at her again, she allowed her gaze to slide down Dani’s body and lingered on her sex for as long as she dared. Her cheeks heated up, along with her groin. It was an entirely unfamiliar feeling; small sparks of heat seemed to traverse along her bones to radiate out to her skin. She shuddered. “Um. Okay. Just… keep your leg like this. I’m going to apply the poultice, then wrap it up.”
“Sounds good. And painful.” Dani smiled but gripped the bedding at the same time. “Three, two, one, go.”
Lynn scooped a mixture of herbs and molten fat from the candle onto cotton strips, waved the heat out of them, then wrapped the bandage around Dani’s knee. Now that she’d started, she had a singular focus to fulfill the task. All other thoughts fell away—right until Dani yelped. Lynn jerked her hands away as if Dani’s knee were on fire. “S-Sorry!”
“No!” Dani reached out and gripped her forearm, which had Lynn yelp in turn because of the bite wound.