My Second Chance Mate is a Barbarian (Sera and Fenris) novel Chapter 103

103 /328

Sera

"Let's get out of here,"

The heavy kitchen doors swung open before we could take two steps.

The remaining noise in the room completely evaporated. The crackling fires were the only sound left.

Fenris walked in.

He wore the same grey shirt from last night. His dark hair was messy, his jaw set in a hard, unforgiving line. He didn't scan the room. He didn't acknowledge the cooks backing away from the tables. He walked with heavy, purposeful strides directly toward me.

Mina took a quick step backward, giving him space.

Fenris stopped in front of me. He looked down at my hand holding the cheese. The knuckles were rapidly turning a deep, angry shade of plum. The skin over the middle joint was split wide open, the blood drying into a dark crust.

He looked like a tired warlord dealing with a mess.

"Put the food down," Fenris said. His voice was a low, rough gravel.

I set the cheese back in the wooden bowl.

He reached out, wrapped his large fingers gently around my uninjured wrist, and turned around. "Walk with me."

He led me out of the kitchen, back into the freezing corridor. He didn't take me toward the Great Hall or the upper levels. He pulled me down a narrow side passage I hadn't noticed before and pushed open a solid wooden door.

It was a small, quiet washroom used by the servants. It smelled faintly of lye and dried lavender. A large stone basin sat in the corner under a small, frosted window.

Fenris shut the door behind us. The iron latch dropped with a heavy click.

He let go of my wrist, walked over to the basin, and grabbed a clean linen cloth from a stack on a wooden shelf. He turned a small iron valve, letting icy mountain water run over the cloth until it was completely soaked.

He turned the water off and walked back to me. "Hold your hand out."

I raised my right hand.

Fenris wrapped his warm fingers around the base of my palm, supporting it. He pressed the freezing, wet linen directly against my split knuckles.

I hissed. My teeth clenched together as the icy water stung the torn flesh. I tried to pull my hand back instinctively, but his grip was solid. He didn't let me move.

"Hold still," Fenris ordered quietly.

He wiped away Torin's dried blood, his touch surprisingly careful given the sheer size of his hands and the rough callouses on his skin.

"Torin is currently screaming in the healing ward," Fenris stated, his eyes focused entirely on the red stain spreading across the wet linen. "He is bleeding all over their clean sheets. He is demanding that Captain Elias send a raven to Valdris, claiming you attacked him in the hall without a single word of provocation."