Timebound (The Chronos Files) by Rysa Walker

Author:Rysa Walker [Walker, Rysa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Skyscape
Published: 2013-12-31T22:00:00+00:00

15

I don’t remember screaming, but I must have, since it was a scream that brought Connor to the kitchen. In retrospect, a scream would have been a perfectly normal reaction to the fact that ninety pounds of vicious Doberman was so close that I could, very briefly, smell him and feel his breath, warm against the skin of my arm. After a moment had passed without teeth again puncturing my skin, I tentatively opened my eyes. I looked around the dark kitchen and then sank to the floor, pulling in ragged breaths and wrapping my arms around my chest in an effort to calm down.

Connor and Daphne were in the doorway a few seconds later. “What in God’s name have you done, Kate?”

I gave Connor a weak smile as Daphne came over to nuzzle me. “Remember that book you wanted from the library?” I pulled the Book of Prophecy out from beneath my shirt. “Turns out the Cyrists release the hounds on you if you don’t have a library card.”

I could tell from his eyes that he was very happy to see the book, but the sentiment didn’t reach the rest of his face. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Why on earth would you take such a chance just to get that? You’re bleeding all over the damned floor.”

He was right. It wasn’t a major injury—I’d had one cut that was nearly this bad back when I was just learning to shave my legs. There were, however, twin two-inch furrows in my leg, just above the knee. A dark stain on the leg of my jeans was growing, and blood was dripping into a small puddle on the marble floor.

“I’m just glad Katherine didn’t hear you—fortunately, once her meds kick in, she sleeps through anything,” he said, shaking his head. “I’ll get the bandages. You stay there,” he added forcefully, and rather unnecessarily, since I was highly unlikely to be traipsing off on another adventure with a bleeding leg.

I waited, my face buried in Daphne’s ruff, until Connor returned with a pair of scissors, a washcloth, antiseptic ointment, several gauze bandages, and a roll of medical tape. He pulled me up onto one of the kitchen chairs, cut away the leg of my pants, and began to clean the wounds.

“Ow!” I said, flinching from the washcloth, which he had apparently dipped in alcohol.

“Stay still. You’re lucky this isn’t worse than it is, Kate.”

I shuddered as my mind flashed back to the image of the Doberman flying toward me. Connor didn’t realize exactly how lucky I was, and I didn’t think it was a good idea to give him the gory details. He didn’t speak again, just finished cleaning the cuts and applying the ointment and bandage.

When he was done wiping the blood from the floor, he pulled up a chair and stared at me for several seconds. “So?”

I gave him a brief overview of my past few hours. When I was finished, I pushed the book toward him. “The book isn’t why I went.

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