The Soothing Scent Of Earth (Elemental Awakening, Book 2) Read Free Page A

before.
    "I couldn't watch him die again," I admitted, not in the slightest ashamed to own up to that fact. Davos knew already. The doctor probably knew as well. I wasn't admitting to anything that wasn't already common knowledge.
    "You have to promise me not to strike back," the doctor whispered, moving the bloodied water bowl away to the sink in the corner to wash it out.
    I turned my head with effort and watched his back for a moment. My eyelids allowed further vision as time past. The strange healing abilities of an Athanatos . I could already feel my ribs reforming and the bruise on my jaw getting smaller. But those unusual abilities were not what was making me feel unsettled.
    The doctor was acting a little too differently today than I would have liked.
    He returned to my bedside, all the while I watched him closely, and unscrewed the lid of a smelly ointment. Dipping in two fingers he pulled out a dollop of the foul stuff and proceeded to lather it on my face and jaw. I kept my lips sealed, even though I wanted to breathe through my mouth, not my nose. But fear of tasting the vile medicine kept them firmly shut.
    Once he was satisfied with the state of my face, he moved on to my ribs. Lifting my thin cotton shirt to expose my naked chest. He didn't bat an eyelash at the mess Davos had made or the glimpse he was getting of my breasts.
    He finished his task, lowered my shirt and then finally met my eyes. Green danced hypnotically across their normally blue depths.
    "How much more can you take?" he asked quietly.
    I stared at him for a long moment wondering what the best answer would be. Wondering why he would ask the question in the first place. I had no answer to either dilemma. As with everything else, I was out of my league.
    "I don't know," I whispered, finding it hard to lie to the man, despite knowing he was one of them and shouldn't be trusted. He'd cared for me, shown mercy where Davos had given me none. I didn't trust him, but I hadn't categorised him as yet, either.
    He sighed and ran a hand though his long brown hair, resting his palm at the nape of his neck.
    "It's too soon," he mumbled, not making any sense. "We're not ready."
    "What's not ready?" I asked, voice quiet in the hopes he'd not be startled by my query.
    But I needn’t have worried, because he didn't have time to answer, even if he'd intended to. The door banged open and Davos stormed in. Green flooding the darker space before him, stealing all natural light and banishing any momentary relief from rest I'd just had.
    "Is she fit for another round?" he demanded, coming to stand over the doctor's shoulder and glare at my supine form.
    The doctor met my eyes, a message there that I couldn't determine. Then he stood from his chair and turned to face Davos.
    "Too bad if she isn't," he snarled, making Davos chuckle wickedly.
    "You wanna stay and watch?" the Gi interrogator asked. "I plan on being inventive this time."
    My stomach lurched as my heart picked up speed. Davos had received too much enjoyment in my pain, to the point that I think he craved it, desired it. A sick kind of fear took root in my belly and spread through my numbed limbs.
    "I wouldn't want to get in your way, Davos," the doctor murmured, taking a step toward the door, his shoulders rigid.
    "Too bad," Davos said, effectively dismissing the retreating doctor. "All the more for me to relish."
    "At least let me have a short break before I have to return to heal her again," the doctor said at the door, his eyes on Davos, I think he no longer could look at me. Guilt? Or just a survival mechanism, knowing what was in store for me and switching off his emotional reaction to my plight. "I have an appointment in Manaus this evening."
    Oh freaking hell. The doctor wouldn't even be here if Davos got out of hand. A sense of foreboding and sudden all-encompassing clarity swamped me. I was truly, truly alone.
    Had the doctor just been another ploy to give me a slither of hope and then smash it?