“Oh.” Nicodemus raised his head. “I thought you wanted others to see me like this.”
Bel curled his lip in a snarl.
“I see,” Nicodemus murmured, although he did not, not exactly. Wobbling, he held up his arms, and was fitted into Bel’s coat, which of course was too big. The sleeves were torn besides. But the collar smelled familiar. Bel pulled it up as if trying to hide what he had done to Nicodemus’ throat, and Nicodemus idly patted it back down because it rubbed against sensitive places in a way he did not like. “Are we leaving now? There is a path.”
He glanced around the clearing, abruptly noticing there were several gaps in the trees, meaning there were probably several paths. “Um. There are…. I ate the nuts you gave me, and there should be shells in the correct way out.”
Bel made a rough sound in his throat. “How did you get here? And I don’t meanwalking.”
“I made a Ring,” Nicodemus replied while scowling at all the different paths, then jerked his head up. “I made a Ring,” he repeated, wide-eyed.
Bel didn’t even raise his eyebrows. “You made your own Ring. Then you found me, in the Realm, inmyforest, becauseyou brought me here, yet you believe you will have towalkout of this place?”
Nicodemus’ mind was still addled and his body was still sore. He returned Bel’s flat look with one of his own, then said, “I don’t actually want to walk at all. I am quite tired now…among other things.”
Bel swept him into his arms before Nicodemus could draw in his next breath, cradling Nicodemus against his chest. Bel was fully and smartly dressed, except for his coat and tie.
He had the nerve to comment on whatever Nicodemus did while he possessed power like that. Nicodemus made a face but held to him tightly when Bel asked, “Ready?” and a Ring cut through the air.
NICODEMUS WAS reasonably certain Bel had returned them to the same alley as before, although with the lingering fog and the lack of light, he could not be sure. Bel set him on his feet, then lit a flame that hovered to the left of the Bel’s shoulder while Bel scanned the shadows and all the windows glowing red.
Bel was no longer a giant, no longer had horns or any hidden wings beneath his clothes. His hair was tied and somewhat neat. His vest was buttoned. His shirtsleeves remained torn and bloodied.
“Oh!” Nicodemus felt most of his sense return and pulled Bel’s arm up so he could fold down the sleeve to look at Bel’s injuries. “You’re hurt!”
Bel turned to him with raised brows. “Yes?”
Nicodemus uncovered one of the bite marks, which was deep and jagged and still bleeding. The flesh looked torn, because Bel hadn’t bitten down and released as he had with Nicodemus. He’d been locked in a fight with something terrible and it showed. “You didn’t hesitate to hurt yourself,” Nicodemus observed quietly.
Bel must have taken it for a scolding.
“Had to be rid of it,” he answered with a shrug. “I would have done more, but someone sent it who knows where. Where did you send it, by the way?”
Glancing up afforded him a glimpse of that face Bel made when he thought Nicodemus had done something unusual and he wasn’t sure what to think of it yet.
Nicodemus, lacking his handkerchief, turned Bel’s arm this way and that to discover the extent of the damage. He cleared his throat. “Well, you see, I don’t…know. I didn’t even know I was doing it. I just—it wanted you and I…did not like that. That it also wanted you and touched you and—I didn’t like it.” He bent his head to try to see to Bel’s leg. “You had another wound on your thigh.”
Bel stopped him. “Leave it for now. I’ll be fine.”
“Do they have infections in the Realm?” Nicodemus faced him again just to frown at him.
Bel flashed a little smile. “Not with you around, I bet.”
Nicodemus chose not to acknowledge this. He tugged his shirttails, since Bel had not fully tucked his shirt into his pants for him anyway, prepared to tear the shirt and make some bandages if he could, but Bel’s hand on his waist stopped him.
“You can take care of it later,” Bel told him. Then his gaze dropped to Nicodemus’ exposed skin. He exhaled slowly.
He was very sure of himself. Very sure he would not die this night, or from a later malady brought on by these events. Nicodemus dropped his shirt and patted his pockets before he remembered he was in Bel’s coat, not his own. He pulled Bel’s tie from the pocket and waved it in Bel’s face before he realized what he was doing.
“Obviously, this will not heal it, but it should staunch the bleeding,” he heard himself saying, cheeks stinging, when Bel simply held up his arm and closed his mouth. Bel would know that. Bel probably took care of his own injuries all the time. Nicodemus wound the strips of cloth around his arm as tightly as he dared despite that, and kept speaking, a silly innocent all over again. “When we are home, I have a solution to bathe it. As well as proper bandages. I also have developed a salve for small aches and pains. I keep some in my…in my room for my affliction. For afterward, I mean.” He knotted the makeshift bandage and told himself he should take his hands away. He did not.
“You do not know when to stop, you said.” Bel looked at him directly, as if this was a question.
“You stopped me,” Nicodemus reminded him. “I was vexed over it, but you were right to hold back. At least,thenyou were. Someday, you—”
Bel took Nicodemus’ hands in his and tugged them down. “Your time is almost here.”
That did not seem relevant, but Nicodemus nodded because it was still true. “It will be, soon. When I am no longer hungry or have any interest in eating, and I get…restless, and sometimes irritable.” He admitted that reluctantly. If he were truly a ram, he would be fighting with every creature he came across. Mostly, he just got snappish with whoever was around for those few hours, usually Holt, who took it in stride. He briefly wondered what Bel would do. Spank him, likely. Which was a strange thought, since Nicodemus had never been spanked, even as a child, and must have been something Alistair had mentioned in one of his off-color jokes. Nicodemus blushed as he decided to blame the stray thought on his rut. If anything, Bel would just overpower him, which….
