Shadow Kin (23 page)
Authors: M.J. Scott
“See what you can find,” Simon said, pointing me toward one of the racks. He turned to the one against the opposite wall and started examining what hung there.
The rack he’d directed me to held shirts. Lots of shirts, both male and female styles. Mostly white. Not unexpected. Not many humans wore black linen like me. Only Nightseekers or those mourning the dead.
Most humans didn’t need to blend into the darkness. At least, I thought as I regarded the choices, Simon hadn’t directed me to the dresses hung on another of the racks. They ranged from gaudy to serviceable, and while one or two of them shimmered prettily, proclaiming silk or finer fabrics and colors like flowers, they were nothing I had any need for.
I wore black and white like any good member of the Blood Court. I never wore red. It was the one color I hated.
Behind me, Simon’s small movements made the clothes rustle and the racks creak softly. The spice of his scent rose around me in the room, warming the air. Just like in the hackney. The room was too small, too intimate. He was too close.
The need raised itself from slumber, sending coils of heat through my limbs. My hands tightened into the fabric of the shirt I held. I would not reach out and touch this man.
I made myself loosen my grip. “Why did you need a healer?” I asked, casting around for a topic of conversation. Conversation and information, I told myself. Know thy enemy. But don’t look at him. It was hard to think of him as the enemy when I looked at him.
“I can’t heal myself.” His reply came after a moment’s delay, sounding surprised.
I blinked and turned, somewhat surprised myself. “Why not?”
“No one’s entirely sure. No healer can. One theory is that it’s because you’re trying to use your own energy and put it back into yourself at the same time. Cancels itself out, so to speak.”
“The Fae can heal themselves,” I protested. So could the Blood. And the Beasts. Though they didn’t work magic to do so.
“The Fae are near enough to immortal. Their bodies don’t work in exactly the same way as ours, nor does their magic.”
“Can you work other magic on yourself?”
“External things—shields or the odd bad glamour, yes. Otherwise, no.”
So he’d gone into a Blood Assembly with really little more protection than his dagger? And approached a Beast today with the same lack of defense? He had the self-preservation instincts of a . . . well, a berserk Templar knight, I realized. Guy had taught him to fight. Obviously it had left an impression.
From what I knew, most Templars weren’t mages. They didn’t rely on anything other than their skill with weapons and combat techniques and their faith in their God and any protection they might be granted.
Crazy humans. Survival was what mattered. Which meant using every resource you had, and every weapon you could get your hands on.
“Do you treat Fae, then?”
He nodded. “Sometimes. They keep somewhat to themselves, even those who live outside Summerdale. They don’t often need a healer, but we treat anyone who asks here.”
“Your Lady Bryony would seem to disagree on that point.”
His expression clouded, making me wonder what exactly had happened after I had left. Nothing that boded well for me if the sudden anger in his eyes was any indication.
My mouth felt suddenly dry as I waited for him to say something. But then he surprised me by shaking his head, anger gone from his face as quickly as a summer storm. He seemed perfectly at ease once again. Which only made me feel more wary.
This man wasn’t as simple as he seemed. I needed to remember that.
“Ignore Bryony.” He turned back to the rack and pulled out a pair of trousers made from heavy black cloth. They looked small enough to fit me even though they were obviously meant for a man. “Here, try these.”
I looked around the small room. It offered no privacy and I wasn’t about to climb out of my clothes in front of Simon. “Perhaps you could wait outside?”
His cheeks went faintly pink then. “Of course. I wasn’t thinking.” He moved past me to the door, angling his body to avoid mine.
But in the small space, he was still far too close and the need flared, making me ache. I pressed backward against the rack of clothes, hoping he wouldn’t notice anything untoward.
When the door closed, I hurriedly scrambled out of my clothes, tugging at them roughly to distract myself from the hum of want in my veins. Peeling off leather trousers is never that easy a process, but I managed eventually and pulled on a shirt and the black trousers. Both were slightly too big but would do. I could move easily enough in them anyway.
I put my vest back on. The leather had three neat slits where the Beast had caught me, but lacking any proper undergarments, I wasn’t going to walk around with just a shirt.
Unlike most females, I didn’t wear corsets and frills beneath my clothes. You can’t fight in a corset, nor are they designed to work with trousers. And, built as I am, along Fae lines and therefore not running much to curves, my close-fitted leather vests provided more than enough support along with their protection.
I felt better with it in place. I wrapped my belt around my waist, made sure my weapons were in place and secure; then, with all my flesh safely covered again, I opened the door to join Simon.
His expression was indecipherable but he merely nodded and said, “That looks better. Let’s find you some food.”
We resumed our progress through the hospital, Simon starting again on his “history of St. Giles.” We had reached the wards, it seemed now, and he paused at each to look through the door and say a word or two to a patient or one of the healers. Inspecting his domain?
Most of the beds were full and most of the patients I saw were human. Which seemed slightly strange. I hadn’t heard of any outbreaks of illness in the human boroughs, nothing to cause patient numbers to be unusually high. Normally one would expect those in the Night World to suffer more of the sorts of injuries that would require a healer than humans.
Curiosity got the better of me.
“Is it always this busy here?” I asked after Simon finished speaking to yet another of the healers. She was another Fae, with dark hair and silvery green eyes, who kept her expression scrupulously polite in Simon’s presence. She didn’t meet my eyes, though, and I added her name—Endine—to my list of Fae to avoid.
“Yes. The City is a dangerous place lately. We’re close to the border boroughs, so we have plenty of custom.”
There was an edge to his voice, the anger he’d swallowed earlier swimming up in his eyes again. “Of course,” he continued, “there are always those beyond our help.” His tone seemed suddenly almost disgusted.
Did he mean the dead or those lost to the Night World? The blood-locked? Did he despise them for their weakness? And if so, what might he think of me once he learned the truth?
Something deep inside me rebelled at the thought of hearing that same disgust aimed at me.
I looked away, back into the ward. How could he feel anything but disgust? Here they fought to heal. How many times had he tried to save someone only to lose someone who embraced their destruction by drinking vampire blood?
As I did. No matter how unwilling, I still did it. As I killed. Simon would never understand that either.
At least, I had never left someone maimed and mangled. I killed fast and clean. Mercy of a kind. The only kind I had to offer.
I looked back at Simon, who would no doubt find out just how costly I was in time. I needed to make him realize I was another of those lost causes if I wanted to spare him that. The thought made me lose my appetite, but I knew I needed food, so I forced the sick feeling away.
“I thought we were going to eat,” I said.
Chapter Ten
“There’s something you’re not telling me,” Lily said.
I looked up from my plate. She sat opposite me, across my desk. We’d returned to my office with our meals. I’d thought she would appreciate the privacy. If her appetite was any indication, she did. Several plates lay empty in front of her—she’d put away a surprising amount of food. So had I.
But between bites, I’d also tried to keep her talking. I wanted her to feel comfortable with me. I’d aimed the conversation toward safe waters but was aware of time ticking away. Bryony’s deadline was looming as every hour passed and the sun grew lower in the sky.
“There are lots of things I’m not telling you,” I said, stalling for time.
I had to ask Lily if she would help us, but I knew it was too soon. I needed time to let her grow to trust me. Time for her to see that she could make a difference to the City. I had taken her around the hospital, shown her the people hurt by the Night World’s encroachments, but a few hours wasn’t enough time to undo the effects of a lifetime lived with Lucius. I knew there was good in her, that she could change, but Bryony was asking too much.
“I imagine that’s true but I meant something specific,” she said. “You’ve been giving me chapter and verse on the history of St. Giles for several hours now. It’s an interesting place but not that interesting. So, what aren’t you saying?” She sounded relaxed but her posture gave her away. She was on alert, ready to respond. Her right hand rested, as it often did, on the hilt of her dagger.
My pistol was in the top drawer of my desk. I refused to wear a weapon within hospital walls. It was against everything I’d chosen to become when I’d set my feet on the healer’s path. My fingers itched, though, wishing I had it to hand. I didn’t know how Lily would react. I thought I was fast enough to beat her if I had to, but the fact was she was armed and I wasn’t.
“Bryony isn’t happy about you being here.” That much, I supposed, she had already realized.
“That’s not exactly new information,” she said.
“No. But she does have power over this hospital.”
“I thought you were a Master Healer.”
“I am. But Bryony runs St. Giles. Final decisions are hers.”
“Are you saying I can’t stay here?” Her hand flexed over the dagger.
“I’m saying there are conditions.”
Her expression turned intent. “Such as?”
I hesitated. Too soon. Wrong timing, wrong place, wrong message. Lily was going to be furious as soon as I spoke, any fledgling bond between us shattering.
“There’s—” My door banged open and Bryony came storming in, Guy close on her heels. Lily sprang to her feet and I rose as well.
“There are Beasts outside,” Bryony snarled.
Gods and fucking suns, this was all I needed. More ammunition for Bryony to use against Lily. “On Haven grounds?”
“No. But I can feel them testing the wards.”
“How do you know they’re not just passing by?” I extended my own senses to the wards, hoping like hell that Bryony was overreacting. But she wasn’t. There were too many Beasts registering around the hospital boundaries. This was human territory. The Beast packs didn’t venture here often.
“They’re after her,” Bryony said, ignoring my question. She jerked her head in Lily’s direction. “If they try something, we’re putting everyone here at risk by allowing her to stay.”
“Lucius isn’t going to risk attacking a Haven. You said I had until sunset to ask.”
“Ask me what?” Lily demanded.
“How about we talk about that part later?” Guy said. “We can solve this by taking Lily to the Brother House.”
Lily took a step back. “I don’t think so.”
“Guy,” I said warningly.
Guy, in true pigheaded, I-know-best, Templar fashion ignored me. “It’s the safest place for you,” he said to Lily.
“Easiest place for you to lock me up, you mean,” Lily retorted.
“Don’t be paranoid. How exactly are we supposed to keep you locked up?” Guy said.
“You would if you could,” Lily snapped.
“Of course we would.” Bryony joined the argument. Exactly what we didn’t need.
Gods and suns. “No one’s locking anyone up.” I tried to look calm and sensible. Not that any of the three of them appeared to be in the mood to listen to calm and sensible.
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