? Hrudra ?

I groaned awake, slowly opening my eyes when feeling warmth consume me and traveling up my legs to the rest of my body. I looked up at Proximo, feeling his hands over my bruised body while ringing out a clean rag in the water.

"Proximo-"

"Shh. Don't speak. I'm just cleaning you up. Nothing else." He promises, wiping the blood and dirt from my face as I nodded and closed my eyes.

Sleep pulled at me like water washing over me, the feeling overwhelming making me lean back against the tube and sigh deeply.

"Get some rest, Hrudra. I'll watch over you tonight." He promises, running the rag along to top of my forehead only luring me into sleep. Though my body pleaded for rest, my mind forced me to remain awake causing me to reopen my eyes.

"Where-"

"We made it to the motel an hour and a half ago. It's around nine in the afternoon and I told Valrun we weren't leaving the room until nine in the morning. You need to rest and heal a bit. Though I don't mind carrying you, hell I prefer it, but I know you wish to remain independent." He comments correctly when I watched him run a rag along the side of my face, lightly cleaning the wound on my eye.

"Why are you doing this?" I ask him as he turned away to grab another clean rag. My eyes traced the emotions on his face, unsure what to feel at the horror and hurt in his eyes once he looked at me.

"We're mates whether you accept it or not. I am still going to take care of you even after everything. You should know this. We've been caught in this position many times before. Me saving and nurturing you back to health." He teases softly making me shake my head and run a hand down my dirty arm.

He wasn't wrong. We've been in this position more times than I can count.

"What happened when I passed out?" I question, curious and almost glad I can speak freely without people breathing down my throat.

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"I picked you up and carried you here. We made it here in maybe four hours of walking and jogging. It was quicker since I was holding you but if I wasn't we would probably be walking still." He admits, running the rag across my collarbone and lightly scrubbing at the dirt.

I blushed at his words, clearly ashamed that I was slowing them done but at the same time angry that I was treated like a slave. For all that Valrun and he did to me, I'd go twice as slow tomorrow.

We remained silent as he cleaned off my dirty body, the sight upsetting but I was so used to being dirty that it didn't feel any different than it usually did. I honestly couldn't remember the last time I cared for myself.

Though I did proudly admit I took a four-hour nap about three days ago. I also did get some sleep before Valrun had her fun so I couldn't say I was healing much faster now.

He ran the rag over my arms in such a soothing way that made me close my eyes in content. His breathing and heartbeat steady, unlike yesterday night where it was racing. Feeling sleep eat at me again, I allowed myself to divulge in the rest that Proximo promised me.

? Proximo ?

She slowly drifted asleep once again, her fingers laying limp in my grasps when I smiled softly and cleaned them up. She seemed so weak yet strong at this very moment if I had been in her position, I would be crying like a big baby but she kept it all in.

Well, that's if she was in pain since Fiero gave her something to help her with the pain. It may be why she didn't struggle to move or complain about the injuries. Though Hrudra was never one to complain or whine.

It's one of the reasons I love her.

A sigh came from her as she leaned her head on the rim of the bathtub, her eyes filled with large bags making me go a little quicker so I could get her in bed. It took me another twenty minutes to get her all cleaned up and wrapped in a soft towel.

I snatched a smaller towel from the rack and twisted her long copper hair within it, the action causing me to remember my mother and how she used to do it all the time. I could still smell the scent of her perfume even hundreds of years later.

I stared down at Hrudra, seeing my mother's stubbornness in her and smiled gratefully. I know if Hrudra wasn't the way she was, I would not be as drawn as I would be right now. Her running away from me is starting to excite me now that I think about it.

It's almost like a twisted game of tag.

Though my demon did not share beliefs with me.

I picked Hrudra up from the drained tub and brought her into the bedroom, carefully laying her down underneath the sheets and blankets. Her pointed ears twitched slightly as she turned her face away from me.

Her face was so pale and sunken that I was worried that there wasn't something I could do, but I was told by Sevetha that sleeping helped Valkyries more than we gave it credit. I only prayed that she was right because at this point I wasn't sure what to do.

There was a soft knock making me jump and snap my gaze at the door. I quietly walked over to it and opened the door seeing Fiero standing there with a couple of bags in his hand.

"What's wrong? Shouldn't you be asleep?" I question him while he shrugged and held the bags out to me.

"These are for her. Her clothes were dirty so I went to the store and got the best suitable outfit. Also, there are some bandages and medicine here for her if the wounds don't heal overnight." He tells me with a sincere look when I took them from him and nodded.

"Thank you, Fiero. I appreciate it." He merely nodded before walking towards his room. I closed the door behind me, shuffling through the bag and seeing a complete set of her armor and other things that had belonged to her.

How the hell-

I'll question this another day.

I set the bags beside the bed and made sure she was covered with the blankets before walking to the bathroom to take a shower. My muscles were sore from the relentless traveling for the last few months making me rub my hand on the back of my neck.

After all this time, we were going to return to the capital and figure everything out. I knew the demon world was a good place to be, hell it was one of the safest places right now for Hrudra since she was being hunted by Hades and the council.

My king would allow her to be in the kingdom since she has helped his lovely mate through her short life. My queen was a devil in disguise, but Hrudra was the one who trained our evil queen.

I've heard strange things about Hrudra and I wasn't about to dismiss them since I've seen her do wicked things out of spite. It didn't surprise me to hear that she taunts the gods themselves and went against their orders without care.

Hrudra was truly the perfect woman, though she loved to run away.

She ran from her issues and only involved with more problems. For all I know, the Sylphs were still looking for her because she destroyed their black market. Which we still don't know the reason she was there.

Whatever the reason, she took down one of the largest cartels but destroyed several forests in the process in doubt angering the council even more. Hrudra was right on one thing though, the council didn't care about anything other than what was on paper.

I sighed, letting my hand drop away and pulling off my clothes before getting into the shower. Thankful for the hot water that soothed down my aching muscles. It felt amazing to relax in this way, but I knew I could rest until we reached the capital since there were still many enemies out there for us.

For all I know, Mira could be coming after us now.

Shaking my head, I used to small bottles of shampoo and conditioner to clean my hair before leaving the shower and wrapping a towel around my waist. Feeling so much better than before, I left the bathroom in search of my bag of clothes.

I found it near the door from where I flung it off me earlier in order to care for Hrudra. I walked over to it, opening it up and finding one of my last clean outfits. Slipping the shirt over my head, I pulled on my undergarments and tossed the towel away on the floor.

Hearing the bed call my name, I slowly walked over to the bed and slipped underneath the sheets. Hrudra slept soundly beside me, her eye already starting to heal a bit making me sigh in relief.

I pulled her closer to me, the towel still tightly around her as she curled into me like the night before making me close my eyes and slowly drift to sleep.