Magician's Touch (Deadly Touch book 3) Chapter 9: 9: Not On Our Watch

Read chapter 9 of Magician's Touch (Deadly Touch book 3) by Deb E Howell on NovelPedia.

Jonas’s hollering had Llew on her feet in an instant. The blanket tented as his stump rose, both his hands reaching to clasp at it. They overshot, clutched air and blanket where only a day before his knee would have been. He bellowed again, the grunt of pain joined by a wail of surprise and anguish, and he turned horrified eyes on her. Or was that plain, unbridled fear? “ It hurts,” he said, his voice pitched high. “It’s not there, and it hurts!” Llew didn’t know what to say. All she could do was grasp the bottle Raena had given her. “ Maybe this will help.” The laudanum had certainly helped Llew after Aris’s attack. The drug had also provided a distance between the event and her having to deal with the emotional scars. She squeezed the rubber top, filling the glass tube. After thumping his stump down on the bed repeatedly, Jonas managed to hold himself steady to accept the measure of laudanum, his hands gripping the sides of the bed, his breathing rapid and ragged. Growling through gritted teeth, he continued to writhe restlessly, slapping his stump down, or drawing it up and reaching to clasp hands over a knee that wasn’t there anymore. Every time that happened, he flailed and looked to Llew, distressed. “How does it hurt so much when it’s not even there?” “ I don’t know.” Llew wished she could do more, but she had nothing. All she could do was be with him, offering a light touch in an attempt to give support, bear witness to his pain. Why couldn’t she heal him with a touch? She wished more than anything she could’ve done so before his leg became septic. They could’ve been most of the way to Quaver by now. If only … After some time, Jonas ceased thrashing and lay down, seemingly calm. His breathing was shallow and slow and his head lolled. Llew sat back down, heart still pounding, wishing things were different. Footsteps on the stairs raised her heart rate further. Who in the house wouldn’t have heard Jonas’s wailing? Their vulnerability in this home settled heavily. The hallway floorboards creaked. The door handle squeaked, the latch clicked, and Raena stepped through carrying a tray with a rack of toast, a bowl of hard boiled eggs, and grapefruit halves. From the crook of her other arm hung her bag. “ He woke?” she asked as she crossed to the table by the window and placed the food tray on a clear corner. Llew nodded. “He said it hurt. The bit that’s not there.” “ Yes. That happens. Here. I thought you might like to see one.” Raena held out a book, the cover soft with wear and well cracked, the pages yellowed and curled at the corners. In bold text at the top of the cover it read: JONAS The Great Syakaran of Quaver A thickly muscled man, long hair floating in the wind, strode confidently across the cover, his bare chest puffed out clearly showing his tattoo of a gryphon that didn’t quite match reality, while someone else cowered below him, an arm extended up defensively. A snigger escaped Llew. Everything about the man on the cover was bigger than real life, except the tattoo, which merely sat upon his pectoral muscle, rather than sweeping around his ribcage. His jaw was large and square, his biceps round, his thighs straining his trousers. It wasn’t the Jonas she knew. Well, the hair and the beard growth matched pretty well, actually. That would be how Elka recognized him. Llew snorted again. “ I thought you might appreciate that. I suppose you don’t need to look strong when you simply are. Syakaran strength doesn’t seem to be worn the same way a regular strongman might. Please, eat.” Raena indicated the food and Llew didn’t hesitate – she was starving. She placed the book on top of a stack of others, hesitated, lifted it again, and the book beneath and swapped their places. She suspected Jonas wouldn’t appreciate seeing it there. “ We’ll try to get food into him, too, but going by his reaction to the ether, he may not keep much down for a day or two.” Raena slid between the wall and Jonas’s bed, so she still faced Llew,