Hand fasting

I woke up tangled in the sheets of the bed in my guest room, wrapped in a damp towel, with my still damp hair in a tangled mess around my face. Heleos sat in an armchair in the corner of the room, his feet propped on an ottoman. He held a small tumbler of blood in one hand, and a book in his other. He glanced at me briefly, snorted, then went back to his book, occasionally sipping from his glass.

Wrapping the comforter around me, I dragged myself to the bathroom, showered properly, and emerged clad in a plus bath robe, with my hair wrapped in a towel.

"Not much of an improvement, but it's a start." Heleos nodded toward the closet, "I had the housekeeper order some things for you, they're hanging there. We will be meeting with a few of my trusted friends today, feeling out the extent of ground work we'll have to do in order to infiltrate the council and... cut out the infected members."

"Infected?" That sounded ominous, and a little shivver trailed down my spine. Heleos snapped his bo