Chapter 50

"Vervain, where have you been?"Thor asked as I lurched through the door. "What the hell happened? Teharon!"He caught me just as I was about to fall.
"I'll be okay."I smiled weakly. "It's just a little bite."
"A little bite?"Thor carried me to the bed before shouting again, "Teharon!"
"I'm here."The Indian walked in with his perfect forehead creased into lines. "What's the problem? Ah."His gaze fell on me. "Trouble again, Godhunter?"
"When is she not in trouble?"Thor grumbled.
"Thanks, babe; really helpful."I grimaced when he untied the torn sleeve from my shoulder.
Teharon gently nudged Thor aside and came up to inspect the damage carefully. He made some pensive sounds as he prodded lightly. I hissed; sharp pain streaking through the numbness that had been taking over. Teharon frowned and held up a hand when Thor started to move forward.
"Give me space."Teharon touched the edges of the nasty wound.
My shoulder had been reduced to a mass of chewed meat, but I felt a tingling warmth start to spread; immediately reducing the pain. I watched as Teharon's fingertips began to glow; the light growing brighter until it flowed from his hands and sank into my flesh. It itched like crazy, but I clenched my fists and held them still at my side while he finished. When he finally pulled away, my skin was whole again. A little pink, but healed and pain-free.
"Thank you."I took Teharon's hand and squeezed it. "You must be sick of saving me by now."
"Not at all."He patted the top of my hand as if I were a little girl. "My magic is happiest when it's being used. Your constant need fuels me."
"Well, stick around."I chuckled. "I've just been told I've got a boatload of blood and pain coming my way."
"What?"Thor took a seat near my feet as I scooted up into a sitting position. "What exactly were you doing today?"
"I think I'll leave you two to it."Teharon nodded at me and discreetly left.
"I went to breakfast with some friends."I shrugged.
"Vervain"-Thor shook his head—"you know better than that. How could you go out alone and unprotected?"
"I wasn't alone; I was meeting friends."I frowned down at the huge bloody mess that used to be Thor's tunic. "Sorry about your tunic. It looks as if I need to go home and get some clothes."
"Does that mean you're staying?"Thor lifted a brow.
Aha; the one thing that would distract him.
"For now."I gave him a little smile. "I just need to grab some of my stuff; my paints and some canvases as well as clothing. There are a couple of portraits I need to finish by the end of the month. All of us non-god types have bills to pay."
"I'll go with you to get them,"he said decisively.
"I'm staying, but I'm not going to barricade myself in Bilskinir, babe."I got up when I saw Nick come striding in. "Hey you."I reached down and scratched his chin.
"You can't go gallivanting around with fragile mortals when the wolves have your scent."Thor looked as if he was going to start yelling at any second.
"Look, it's cool, okay?"I left Nick to go curl up in one of the heavy chairs by the fire. "The werewolf that attacked me today is on my side now."
"I figured that was a werewolf bite."Thor gave me an exasperated look. "Wait, what? He's on your side? What's that supposed to mean?"
"I demolished him."I gave Thor a saucy grin. "Then I felt bad so I backed off and let him heal. He said he'd try to stop the others from coming after me."
"One wolf is not going to make a whit of difference against the whole Froekn family,"Thor huffed.
"Froekn?"
"It's what the wolves call themselves and it's also beside the point."He got up and pulled the useless tunic off me. Then he inspected my shoulder; making satisfied sounds before he picked me up and carried me back to bed. "If I have to, I'll make you too exhausted to leave Bilskinir,"he declared.
"That may not be such a bad idea."I wrapped my arms around him but then frowned as I recalled Jackson's prophecy in full. "Does Sif call herself the Queen of Love by any chance?"
"Not that I know of."Thor pulled his face back to gaze down at me. "Why do you ask?"
"A good friend of mine is a clairvoyant,"I explained. "He read me today because I mentioned that I had a new boyfriend."
"You told your friends about me?"Thor got the cutest goofy look on his face.
"Yes, and they want to meet you, but focus."I snapped my fingers, and he blinked. "Jackson said some nice things about you."
I blushed when I remembered what he said about Thor already being in love with me. Was it true?
"Did he now?"Thor's face was going from goofy to cocky, and I preferred the goofy.
"Cut it out."I slapped his arm. "He went on to say how you were terrified of me getting hurt, but you had good reason to be scared. He said there was going to be a lot of blood and then he mentioned something about the Queen of Love only bringing pain. I don't know what it means, but it doesn't sound good."
Thor sighed and got to his feet. "We need to tell the others."He fetched another tunic; this one in powder blue. "You get dressed, and I'll go call them together."He took one last, long look at my nudity before handing me the tunic and then groaned as he left.