Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
It does not matter what happened in the past. All that matters is the future. And it is a happy one.
EPILOGUE III
MELINA
“Shh,” I tell my patient. “You’re safe now. I promise. It’s all right.” I wring a cloth out and place it over his pale, pale skin. He burns with fever, delirious. Nothing I do can bring his fever down, which is concerning to me. But then again, I’m not a real doctor, and I don’t have any medicine. All I can do is hope that whatever healing I can provide will do something.
If nothing else, I can offer him some comfort.
I dip the rag into the water basin at my side, then wring it and place it against his bare shoulder. Such a strange, pale color all over. I don’t know what to make of it. His hair’s the exact same shade as his skin, which is a weird thing. Even weirder are his nails, which seem thick and blunted, and the tiny, broken knobs that protrude from his hair, as if they’re growing…back. But I don’t know how that’s possible, because I don’t know what they are.
Then again, this is the After, and you see some strange shit.
I bathe his skin, watching his eyes flick under his eyelids as if he’s dreaming. He might not live, not if his fever continues to rage like this. I can’t see any other fresh wounds. There’s an older one in his chest that looks as if it’s healed badly. Old gunshot wound, unless I miss my guess. But all the soot and blood that covered him when he showed up on our doorstep? It wasn’t his blood.
“You’ve got an interesting story, my friend,” I murmur to him. “Let’s hope you get to tell it, hmm?” I finish bathing him and drop my rag back into the basin, then stand.
A hand grabs my wrist.
I gasp, his touch burning hot. When I look down, I see his eyes are a strange, whirling yellow and black. I’ve…seen that before. He’s a dragon, like Claudia’s Kael.
But then he licks his lips and focuses on me. “Where…where am I?”
The words are accented but in perfect English. I relax. He’s human. I’m imagining things. Claudia’s dragon never spoke. He just stared at you with those intense golden eyes. This can’t be the same…or if it is, he’s not crazy like that one.
I sit back down, putting a gentle smile on my face. “You’re in Fort Dallas. You showed up sick and delirious on our doorstep after the last dragonfire attack.”
“Dragons…” He swallows hard and gazes down at his hand, then flexes it.
“Yep. But that was days ago. You’ll be safe here. We’re behind concrete walls in this building. They can’t get to you through here.”
A hint of a smile curves his mouth, and he closes his eyes. I notice his teeth seem to be large, but they’re perfectly square. “Safe.”
“That’s right,” I tell him. “Rest now.”
I could swear he chuckles even as he relaxes in his sick bed. Strange man.