Dark Awakening: Echoes of Destiny (The Children Of The Gods #88)

24. Ell-rom

24

ELL-ROM

E ll-rom watched Jasmine devour two eggs that she'd fried in butter, her expression and the noises she made reminding him of the passion they had shared last night.

"Are they that good?" he asked.

"Delicious. How is your breakfast?"

"Plain." He moved the spoon around the porridge. It had pieces of fruit in it, which made up for the bland taste of the gooey whitish substance. "I think that tomorrow I will try what you are eating."

The smile that bloomed on Jasmine's face was precious. "Do you want a bite of my eggs?"

"Tomorrow. I'm not brave enough to taste them today." He looked at the closed doors down the hallway. "Aru said that they are done with the equipment. Do you think that they are just sleeping late?"

"I doubt it." Jasmine finished the last of the eggs and carried her plate to the kitchen. "We were the ones who overslept. The others must have left already."

Smiling, Ell-rom rose to his feet and carried his bowl to the sink. "We didn't oversleep." He leaned to kiss her on the lips. "We were busy doing other things."

There was something to be said for making love without the venom bite. Jasmine hadn't blacked out, and they had held each other for long moments, saying silly love words and just basking in each other's company.

"We were," she finished rinsing out his bowl, "but if anyone asks, we overslept." She winked.

"Got it." He wrapped his arm around her waist and led her back to the bedroom.

When he closed the door behind them, his gaze wandered to the folded walker propped against the wall. It had been days since he'd last needed it, and the sight of it was a reminder of how far he'd come.

"I should return the walker to Julian. He could take it to the village for when Morelle wakes up. She'll need it."

Jasmine paused on her way to the closet. "That's a great idea. We can stop by the clinic to drop it off before our morning walk."

That had been easier than Ell-rom had expected.

He'd thought Jasmine would argue, insisting that he might still need the walker, and it was nice that she had faith in his recovery and believed he wouldn't need it anymore.

She finished lacing up her walking shoes and looked up at him. "I have an idea. Instead of walking down the same streets again, I can drive us to another part of town for our walk today. It will give you some new scenery to explore."

"I would love to see more of the city, but I'm not sure that I'm ready to be far away from the keep, Julian, and Morelle."

Jasmine nodded, but given her expression, she wasn't ready to give up on her idea just yet. "We can ask Julian what he thinks when we drop off the walker. How does that sound to you?"

"Perfect."

They made their way to the clinic, Ell-rom carrying the folded walker instead of leaning on it, and it wasn't even difficult. The thing didn't weigh much.

When they entered Julian's office, the usually calm and collected medic appeared stressed, and Ell-rom felt his throat constrict.

"Is Morelle okay?" he asked.

"Morelle is unchanged." Julian sighed, running a hand through his hair. "If I look tense, it's because the Guardians are resuming their missions tonight, and one of the teams is bringing in a test subject. As much as I despise those traffickers, I have a problem with doing intentional harm. That's not what I signed up for when I became a medic."

Jasmine gave him a reassuring smile. "We don't know if the tracker will harm the scumbag. It might not."

Ell-rom had a different concern. "Where are you going to put the test subject? I don't want him anywhere near Morelle, and we are not moving to the village yet."

"Don't worry," Julian said. "He's going to be kept in the dungeon until the clinic is ready for him."

"You have a dungeon in the keep?" Jasmine asked.

Julian smiled. "Of course. What kind of a keep would it be without one?"

Jasmine leaned against the desk. "Can we see it? Is it like in the movies? Dark and musky with dangling chains and bloodstains?"

Ell-rom grimaced. "I hope not."

He didn't remember ever seeing a dungeon, but since the word translated into Kra-ell and he knew what it meant, the concept wasn't foreign to him. He must have either seen a dungeon back on Anumati, or had been told about it, or had read about it.

"Nothing of the sort." Julian pushed to his feet and walked out of his office. "Gertrude, you are in charge," he told the nurse. "Jasmine and Ell-rom want to see the dungeon. I'm taking them down there."

"Have fun." The nurse waved them off. "How long will you be gone?"

"Fifteen minutes tops," Julian said. "It's not like there is much to see."