Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 71832 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71832 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
It all just feels so...final. Decided. Like once you give in to resonance, the entire rest of your life has been planned out for you. I don't know how to feel about that, so I keep holding Valmir at arm's length. Easy to do when he's a sarcastic jerk.
I step inside the hut after her, and the front area of the home is full of driftwood shelves. Baskets with different colored bands are lined up, and bunches of drying herbs hang from the ceiling,. This is all Hannah's work — she handles the stores of herbs and medicine so Veronica doesn't have to. I see her coming in and out all day with tea mixes and dried plants, and Veronica has told us before that she'd be lost without Hannah's organizational skills.
The healer sets down the kids just inside the "private" portion of her home and pulls the flap closed. Then she gestures at her patient.
On the other side of the hut, in the alcove across from the herbal supplies, a pallet of furs and pillows is set up. Atop these furs, Valmir lounges like some decadent feline overlord. He's sprawled atop the blankets instead of under them, wearing nothing but a loincloth. The striping pattern on his fur is evident down his strong limbs, and only the tip of his tail twitches today instead of its normal restless full-on flicking. One foot is heavily wrapped and propped up on pillows. His eyes are closed and his head tilted back.
As I regard him, his eyes flutter open and he gives me a lazy, relaxed smile. "April. Knew it was you."
He thumps his chest twice, indicating his khui, and then his eyes drift closed again.
Veronica crosses her arms as she gazes down at her patient. "In case you're wondering, he's drugged."
I lean over him, fascinated. His face is so relaxed, his body so loose. It's hilarious and cute at the same time. "I guessed as much. I don't think I've ever seen him so chill." I've only seen him so laid-back like this after he's come. The realization makes me blush. "Is he in a lot of pain?"
"Well, re-breaking his ankle wasn't fun for anyone." She grimaces, and for the first time, I'm noticing she looks tired and drawn, too. "But the worst is over and it's been set properly. It should heal up correctly this time. It's going to ache for a few days, though not as bad as right now."
"So we can't keep him drugged up forever?" I joke.
"No, it's really a bad idea." Veronica's expression is deadpan, obviously misunderstanding my teasing. "And it's a good idea for him to keep his weight off it today. The day after tomorrow, though, he's going to need to walk and build his strength up again."
She's telling me this like I'm his nursemaid. I guess I am, since I'm his resonance mate and he doesn't have anyone else. I study Valmir's sleeping expression. His eyes are deep hollows and he looks exhausted, like he hasn't slept in weeks. He seems a little thin, too. That's to be expected after his misadventures with Corvak, Aidy, and a million metlaks, but it's still concerning. "Other than the ankle, though, he's...fine? Because he doesn't really look fine."
Veronica shoots me a look. "If you don't mind me saying, you don't look so hot either."
I touch my face. "Thanks...?"
"It wasn't meant as an insult." The healer looks uncomfortable for a second. "I've seen this enough times to advise you that, at some point, resonance becomes debilitating. It's best to give in or get it fixed the unnatural way." She grimaces again. "And I really, really think you wouldn't like the unnatural way."
Where the healer turns off all your emotions so that you feel like a zombie? Yeah, that one's never been on the table for me. Losing the ability to laugh and cry is ten times worse than having to fuck Valmir. "I'm just not ready yet."
"Everyone's ready in their own time. I'm not judging."
"You'd be the only one," I joke. Our resonance (or lack thereof) has been the primary source of entertainment for everyone on the beach. I've had people offering me suggestions to add to my honey-do list, and if Valmir and I go anywhere together, we're watched. I don't really mind it most of the time, because a big nosy family feels good to me. I don't know if Valmir feels the same way. He seems annoyed at the attention we get.
What do we do when one of us is social and the other is a huge dick and a loner?
We dance around resonance until it drives us crazy. We come up with honey-do task lists that get one partner injured. We make things worse. So much worse.
I've never been so worried as I was when Valmir didn't come back on time. I thought I'd gotten him killed. Luckily, we found him with Aidy and Corvak, but I can't stop thinking about how I felt when I thought something happened to him. It was regret and grief and a burning anger, like something had been taken from me before I'd gotten a chance to enjoy it.