Page 44 of For the Strange and Surprising

“Do you have a name?” Pavelo asks Ada.

She peers over her shoulder. “Yes.”

He waits for her to say more, cutting his eyes to me when she doesn’t. I give him a small smile as I shrug. If she doesn’t want to tell him who she is, I won’t overstep her privacy. She’s just started opening up to me, so I want to continue building her trust.

Pavelo runs his fingers along the edges of his wound, checking to see how deep the cut is now that it’s clean.

“No stitches? Are you sure?” He makes eye contact with me for a brief second; then he looks away with a shrug. “This is the first time I’ve been attacked and not needed them.”

Ada moves to stand behind me as she passes the glass bottle of crab berry milk over my shoulder. Pavelo watches her, his eyes glimmering with something I can’t quite name. And now that he has to face me head on to see her, I can’t shake the off feeling I get from him.

The way he gazes at her bothers me, but it also shows me that he isn’t honest.

I pour a few drops of the stinging, healing liquid onto the end of the clean bandage. “Are you lying to me?”

“I’m not,” he insists.

Pavelo sucks air through his teeth as I touch the shallow cut.

“I’ve seen enough attacks to know this isn’t one,” I murmur to him. “It looks like you nicked your leg while you were sharpening a sword, and that’s okay. Accidents happen.”

His bashful eyes land on Ada before he grimaces at me. “You caught me, Doc. I stumbled when I saw such a beautiful woman in the room and thought the truth might make me sound like a clumsy fool.”

“A beautiful woman is no excuse.” I shake my head, still sensing his half-truth. “Thankfully, this wasn’t dire, but not every situation is the same. Being honest with me could have been the difference between life and death.”

Ada sighs as if she’s disappointed. “Wouldn’t you rather have a pretty woman think of you as clumsy instead of deceiving?”

“Intelligent and gorgeous,” Pavelo praises as he climbs off the table.

He shakes my hand, smirking and smug. “Thanks, Dr. Stoneheart. I hope you don’t plan on keeping her hidden in the clinic.”

Pavelo offers Ada the same, but as she reluctantly grabs his hand to shake, he raises it to his lips. When his mouth brushes her skin, her expression blanks so quickly that I stand to push him away. He winks as I glare, sauntering out of the exam room without a care.

Once the main door to the clinic closes, Ada’s whole body shivers in disgust. She stares at her hand with revulsion, like she’d happily cut it off to get rid of the feeling that lingers.

“Soap, Imryll?” she inquires with a frown. “Any kind of disinfectant? Boiling water will work too.”

I usher her to the sink, passing a bar of soap as I turn the faucet on. She stares at the water, lost in a trance before she snaps out of it.

“He made you uncomfortable?”

I know the answer. I want to hear it, though. To be assured that my reaction wasn’t overstepping. The need to protect her has apparently infected me as much as Talodus and Connak. It isn’t irrational, though. She needs guidance until she gets her feet back underneath her.

“Yes.”

“Then why were you so polite to him?”

She scrubs at the top of her hand while I watch on in confusion. I’ve seen several sides to her, but this one doesn’t immediately make sense to me.

Ada regards me, her brows raised slightly as she asks, “Why wouldn’t I be?”

I tilt my head, shaking it as I try to work through her thought process. “I watched you cuss the prince out a week ago.”

“And he deserved it. He was unnecessarily rough with me and just as rude.”

The water stops running from the faucet as soon as she’s done. I pass her a towel to dry her hands. I didn’t turn it off, but Ada doesn’t seem to notice. I lean behind her to twist the knob, though it’s still in the on position.

“Avoid him,” I state. I mean for it to be a suggestion, but that’s not the way it sounds.