SHADOW AND BONEÂ
âłbook > screen
âYou were children. Was there no one to protect you?â âWas there anyone to protect you?â She paused behind him. âYou protected me, Kaz.â âThe fact that youâre bleeding through your bandages tells me otherwise.â
She glanced down. A red blossom of blood had spread on the bandage tied around her shoulder. She tugged awkwardly at the strip of towel. âI need Nina to fix this one.â He didnât mean to say it. He meant to let her go. âI can help you.â
He was so close now. His mind took in the shell of her ear, the hair tucked behind it, that rapid pulse fluttering in her throat. Alive, alive, alive.
After all sheâd endured, he was the weak one. But she would never know what it was like for him to see Nina pull her close, watch Jesper loop his arm through hers, what it was to stand in doorways and against walls and know he could never draw nearer. But Iâm here now, he thought wildly. He had carried her, fought beside her, spent whole nights next to her, both of them on their bellies, peering through a long glass, watching some warehouse or merchâs mansion. This was nothing like that. He was sick and frightened, his body slick with sweat, but he was here. He watched that pulse, evidence of her heart, matching his own beat for anxious beat. He saw the damp curve of her neck, the gleam of her brown skin. He wanted toâŚHe wanted. -Crooked Kingdom
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