A loud thump and laboured breathing drag me out from the depths of my sleep. Instantly, I'm aware that I'm sore. My body protests each time I move a muscle. And I find that I have a hard time opening my eyes.
A pained grunt fills the room, and that is reason enough to fight through the pain and the haze of sleep. I feel groggy, and aching and I barely manage to push myself off the bed.
Blinking a few times to clear the fog in my vision, I notice that the lights are on, and there is a form sitting on the edge of my bed.
Sliding out of the bed, I smother a grunt of pain when the soles of my feet touch solid ground. It hurts. It hurts everywhere.
" I didn't mean to wake you up," He quietly says, as he rips off his trousers.
" Mason?" In spite of the wane in his voice, I'd recognise him anywhere.
" Why are you here?" I ask and he winces as he thumbs the gash in his thigh.
I draw closer, and I see the pool of blood at his feet, and the wound that spans from his hip bone to his knee.
" What happened ?" Pushing away all the pain that courses through me, I lean in to have a better look at the wound. It's deep.
" There is a medical bag under your bed," He takes a shuddering bed, and I'm already crawling on the floor in search of said medical bag.
" I'll get Philip to have a look at it. It doesn't look like something we can fix with what it is in the medical bag," I try to keep calm, but I find it hard at the sight of the pool of blood on the floor.
" Philip is in Sisa District. He won't be back for a few weeks," He grunts in pain, and takes a few laboured breaths.
He will bleed out before I even get a chance to have a look at the wound.
My feet gain a mind of their own, I rush into the bathroom and yank the bathrobe from the hook.
I stumble, and land in the pool of blood. There is much blood on the floor. Bracing myself to stand, I slip and land on Mason. We both flop on the bed, and he grunts again.
" I'm all for that, " He smirks at me. I'm horrified at the thought that his death looms over me once more.
" But perhaps, when I'm not bleeding to death, " He quips and I push myself off the bed, leaving bloody prints all over the sheets.
Dazedly, somehow I find my footing, yank the cord out of the bathrobe and wrap it around his thigh. We each pull at one end of the cord to staunch the bleeding.
" How good are you with a needle?" He asks rummaging through the medical bag, and finally fishes out what appears to be a bottle of painkillers.
" Decent," I reply curtly. I am in no state of mind to formulate anything eloquent.
I know the steps of how to treat a wound. My mother had done it to me countless times, with a side of gentle admonition to be more careful.
Pulling the disinfectant out of the bag, I look up at Mason who nods and draws a deep breath while I pour the disinfectant over his leg. He grinds his teeth and grunts, fisting the edges of the bed, and squirms until the sting fades.
He pops the container open and swallows three in one go. If the loss of blood won't kill him, that will finish the job for certain.
Threading the string through the needle, I glance up at him one last time before I begin poking at him. He nods, and I begin.
Mason flinches when the needles pierces through the skin, and hisses a breath. The bleeding has slowed but I know that I need to move fast.
" Some bourbon would be nice," He mutters under his breath while I poke him again with the needle.
" There is some in the kitchen," I poke him again and he lets out a string of curses that lasts until I pull the thread all the way through.
" After," He grunts, and punches the bed. He is in pain and he will be until I finish stitching his leg back up.
" What happened?" It's an attempt to distract him. I can't think of anything else.
" V'asay. I went hunting," My hand freezes mid-air, while he takes a shuddering breath.
" Why?" I carry on. It's a win-win. I get to find out about this mess and distract him.
" Micah has focused most of his forces on finding you. So they are turning Morston upside-down," He grunts again. I'm not entirely sure what that entails but it can't be anything good.
" V'asay, " I say quietly, " What are they?" I thread the needle through his skin, but he doesn't seem to notice.
" They are like hunting dogs," He hisses when I pull the thread to his skin," Just ten times more vicious. They look just like us, but they are something else. I hope you never get to find out what they can do," The words are suffused with pain and I can't afford the luxury to feel sorry for him.
" I met Eagan," I carry on quietly and he takes a deep breath in.
" He is the Head of the V'asay, " Mason shakily replies, and lets out a breath of relief.
" You're right. He appeared to be just like a normal human being," My fingers are cramping, and I stop to shake off the feeling.
" They can jump from one body to another," He says in a breath and I stop to look at him.
" Like a ghost," I know the tales of ghost possession, but that's just it, a tale.
" Something like that. But the difference is when they take possession of the body it kills the host instantly," Oh, fuck.
My breath stalls. I look at Mason and I find him staring back at me with the heat of a supernova. I don't know whether to be angry or grateful to him.