Mirror by Monique Martin

Author:Monique Martin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Monique Martin

Chapter Fourteen

“What on earth were you thinking?” Victor ground out as he looked down at his daughter’s burned hands.

She didn’t answer his question; she didn’t have to. He knew exactly what she’d been thinking. She thought her friend was in trouble and rushed off to save her. She acted rashly, thoughtlessly, and had nearly gotten herself killed.

And he understood.

Not that it was the right thing to do, nor was it something he wanted her to repeat. But he understood.

However, he didn’t want her to know that just now. He needed to impress upon her the colossal stupidity of what she’d done.

“You could have been killed,” he said as he put a salve of linseed oil and chamomile on the bright red flesh of her palms.

Artemis hissed in pain and flinched away from him.

He took another deep, calming breath. “I’m sorry.”

He looked to his daughter for silent permission to resume putting the medicine on her hands. Her troubled expression worried him more than the burns.

She held her hands out again and he gently applied more salve.

“There’s a bit of cocaine in it,” he said, then added at her wary look, “just a little. It should help with the pain.”

Despite her accelerated metabolism and ability to heal at a rapid pace, she was still quite capable of feeling pain. Among all her gifts, immunity from that particular affliction was not one of them. He supposed that was for the best. If she was injured this badly while still able to suffer pain, he didn’t dare imagine what she would put herself through if she couldn’t.

As he finished applying the salve, Artemis merely stared down at the bright red glistening skin of her hands.

“I can give you something else for the pain, if this isn’t enough,” he offered.

“No,” she said quickly and then added, “Thank you.”

She’d told him everything that had transpired, from receiving the note to hurrying out of London to the abandoned house, and finally about the pool of what she described as “liquid fear.”

He had known that her becoming the Blaze would be dangerous, that she would face perils he could not imagine. But this, this went beyond anything he could have conjured in the darkest recesses of his mind.

She kept her head down, looking at her hands.

Uneasy at her silence, he put a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Artemis?”

Is she reliving the moments she was submerged in the fear? It pained him to think of her enduring all that. She’d only told him a little of what she’d experienced. He didn’t blame her for not wanting to bear those thoughts again, but not knowing all she’d gone through, all she’d suffered, left him feeling helpless.

“I’m all right,” she said, looking as though some faraway thought still occupied her mind before she pushed it away. “I am sorry about not telling Mrs. Perry or leaving a note or something. I was just so ….”

Victor lightly brushed his knuckles along the side of her cheek. “I know.”

She attempted a wan smile, but he could see she was still thinking about something else.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.