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naturally careful?
    “It’s Tuesday, about three p.m.,” he continued. “You’ve been out since a little after ten last night.”
    “Better out than dead. I’m very grateful, but I should report back to the Collegium.”
    “What you need most is rest.” His voice came from farther above her now, and she had a vague, magical sense of a man’s standing shape. “When the light fades enough that it won’t hurt your eyes, we’ll put fresh salve on them.”
    “There’s no need for you to go to that trouble. Just give me a phone, and I’ll be out of your way.”
    “Your wounds,” he said with great patience, “were tended by an expert and will heal fully in a couple of days. Then I’ll take you into town and leave you where you can call anyone you like, but I won’t have the Collegium nosing into my life, Shire Reeve Banning.”
    “If you know who I am, you know the deputy reeves will be looking for me.” Not for a few days, though, not until she was due back from vacation. For now, she was on her own. Blind, hurt, and alone. Hellfire.
    “You won’t be here that long,” he said.
    Because he planned to drain her of her power when she recovered? Or sell her? Cold with fear, she forced her chin up. “Look—”
    “I saved your life, Sheriff.” His voice hardened. “Have a little gratitude.”
    “Of course I’m grateful.” Dread churned in her stomach, but Val could do steely tones, too. “But no honest mage would keep me here.”
    Of course, Griffin Dare wasn’t honest, and this guy had way too much in common with Dare for her to trust him. Collegium annals labeled Dare a ghoul ally, though his killing ghouls today supported her doubts about that. In the past, he’d killed mages without hesitation. Yet he’d saved her. Why?
    “I promise, you’re safe.” Still an edge in his voice.
    “Safe and prisoner aren’t partners in my universe. If you’re hoping for a reward, I can arrange it.”
    If he killed her, would anyone really miss having her around? Gene and Zara Blake, her former guardians, and Sybil, her friend and deputy would, but no one else. She’d lived for the job, pushed loneliness aside to deal with later, and now she might be out of chances.
    “I don’t need a reward.” Faint footsteps, as though from bare feet on wood, retreated.
    “There’s a bottle of water on the nightstand,” he said. “You bled a lot, so drink as much as you can. Bathroom’s in the back corner of the room. There’s also a tub of balm on the table for the talon wounds. You can use it as often as needed. I’d offer to help, but I assume you’d refuse.”
    She gave him a curt nod.
    The silence stretched. “I’ll bring dinner soon,” he finally said. “Try to rest.” A faint squeak like door hinges sounded, then the click of a latch.
    Val counted to ten before pushing back the covers. Although his kindness felt genuine, it didn’t fit with holding her here. With who he very likely was. Trusting that kindness could be a fatal mistake.
    A shiver of fear rippled through her, and she swallowed hard. She was damned if he decided to hold her prisoner. She wouldn’t risk her eyes by removing the bandages, so she had to use her power to sense objects in the room. Not the ideal situation but she’d cope.
    Every ward had a weakness. She would find the flaw in his.
      
    Slamming the bedroom door would let her know she’d gotten to him, so Griff closed it softly. A wave of his hand sealed the ward and locked her in.
    “How did it go?” Stefan Harper, the Collegium’s chief physician and Griff’s closest friend, nursed a beer at the beat-up oak bar.
    “She’s stubborn, as you said.”
    The image of her lingered in Griff’s head. The rolled sleeves of his shirt revealed her slender, strong wrists, and the open neck showed the long line of her throat, a line he could capture so easily on canvas, though he would omit the bandage on one side.
    The overall effect rivaled an ad in a kinky men’s magazine,