The Soul Collector

Ch. Forty-Eight

"When you're running out of time, it's hard to know how fast you're going."

- Unknown

                                                                            ***

Galloway stared abysmally at the mirror. Sirius, who seemed disinclined to get dressed until he absolutely had to, snickered from where he lounged on the bed. In disgust, she stepped out of the pants that were about four inches too short and three sizes too big.

Chucking the pants at his head, she said, "You're not helpful."

"I'm working in my own self interest." He tossed the pants to the side. His gaze wandered down the length of her legs and, with a wicked grin, he said, "That shirt's got blood all over it. Maybe you should lose that, too."

She flipped him off, going back to riffling through the extra closet in what she was pretty sure was a guest bedroom, feeling minor guilt over the imminent theft. With a sigh, he got off the bed and ambled over to where she was digging into the very back of the closet. His hand skimming along her thigh made her jump and he used that as a way to move her gently to the side.

At her irritated huff, he said, "This could take a while and we have demons chasing after us."

She made a sound of disbelief before throwing her hands into the air and flopping down on the bed. She draped an arm over her eyes, her leg aching. When she reached down to rub it, her fingers came away slick and she looked down to find the skin had split in several places. Apparently it hadn't been as healed as she'd thought when she woke up this afternoon.

Pulling at the sheet, she held it to the wound, gritting her teeth as the pressure sent a zing of pain up her spine. She watched as Sirius shuffled around through the clothes, biting her lip as the muscles in his back shifted tantalizingly beneath his scarred skin. 

Her mouth a little dry, she swallowed, fighting the urge to scramble over and taste the skin there. 

Sirius turned in triumph, then grinned when he caught her looking. Refusing to be embarrassed, she instead let her gaze trail over his chest and abdomen. Then, she gave him a little grin she knew would make him crazy. 

He made a small snarling sound and took a hasty step toward her, but his attention was caught by the blood on her leg. Hissing with frustration he sat beside her, handing her a lump of wadded up material. She shook it out to find a sleeveless sun dress with blue and indigo flowers splashed across a white field. 

His fingers hovered over the split flesh and she said, "I didn't give it enough time to really close up."

Sirius swiped at a small trickle of blood with his forefinger, then held it up to the light. After a moment, he looked at her. "Do I just wrap it again?"

"Yeah. It feels like it's mostly closed up, but..." She hesitated, afraid to remind him of what happened, then decided it would be better to just own it. "It's weird that it's taking so long to heal. I mean, I've had way worse, this should have closed up by now."

He shot her a foul look before sticking the bloody finger into his mouth. Galloway blinked, then scowled at him. "Do I have to tell you that was weird?" she asked, crossing her arms.

Sirius scoffed and started to shred the already destroyed sheet. With another foul look, he said, "The blood of sinners was everything a growing pup needed downstairs."

Her scowl softened and she watched as he tied the strips of cloth in a neat line up her leg. Biting her lip every time he lifted a red-stained finger to his mouth, she finally asked, "Do you still need it now?"