“Gem! Wait up,” Niko called from behind. When he caught up, he matched her pace. “Where are you hurt?”
“It’s nothing. Really.”
He ran his hand alongside the doors until he found his room. “Come with me. I see spots in your light. Allow me to look.”
Gem reluctantly entered his bedroom. His bed and desk were on the left, so she felt around in the dark until she located the chair. After taking a seat, she listened to him opening the fireplace flue and then striking a match. Niko didn’t have windows, making it even darker. Once he got the kindling going, he put a log on the grate. Niko was incredibly thoughtful. He had no use for lanterns or candles, but he kept them in his room for the benefit of others. As he walked around and lit them all, Gem steered her gaze about the room.
She adored Niko’s sense of taste. From wood flooring and furry blankets to glass knobs on the dresser, he surrounded himself with tactile possessions. It even smelled nice in here because of the sachets of dried lavender he kept in the drawers. His shoes were neatly lined up on the wooden bench on the right wall, several katanas mounted above it. Gem had bedazzled her armoire because it looked pretty, but Niko kept his plain. His concept of beauty had nothing to do with sight.
He walked into the bathroom opposite the door and then returned with a towel in hand. Though she didn’t speak, Niko knew she had taken a seat in the chair. He offered her the towel, one half wet and the other dry.
“You have the softest towels,” she said, petting it with her hand.
He knelt beside her. “I brought it for your cuts.”
“I’m not ruining your white towels.”
He took it from her. “Then I’ll ruin them. Where are you hurt?”
“It’s silly, Niko. Really. I can heal up in the morning when the sun comes up.”
“Unless the sun is hidden behind clouds.” He ran his hand across her leg until he found her left hand. “Please, little flower. Let me heal you. Let me take away your pain.”
Gem looked down at her bloodstained blouse. She offered him the injured hand, a jagged mark along the back. “A cut from when he fell on top of me.”
Niko’s expression tightened, and his lips thinned as he put his hand over hers and electricity snapped at her skin.
“That’s amazing,” she said, awestruck at how her skin sealed together from his touch. “I’ll never get over how amazing you are. I mean… your gift.”
“I’m surprised this works on you since you’re a Blocker.”
“Alas, it doesn’t block all Mage gifts. There are so many out there that I haven’t even begun to explore my limitations. Thankfully Charmers have no influence over me. Some of them are jerks, and I can’t imagine having no control over my feelings toward someone I despise. Sorry, I don’t mean to bore you.”
Niko never met her gaze, yet he smiled with his eyes all the same. “On the contrary, nothing you say bores me. You’re the most fascinating person I’ve ever met. Forgive me if this comes across the wrong way, but I admire how much innocence and wonder you have for a woman of fifty. I hope you never lose that quality.”
She studied his blue eyes. “You know all about my past. I was sheltered, and I lost so much, including myself. I think some people grow unnecessarily cold as they age. Even if an immortal is five thousand years old, how can he not marvel at new discoveries? New foods? New advances in science and medicine? Sometimes I find ancients unnecessarily apathetic.” Her cheeks heated, and she clutched his hand. “I don’t mean you.”
“It’s okay. Unfortunately, time shapes us in ways we cannot control. What humans value most weakens immortals. Either it makes us vulnerable or takes a toll on our spirit. If I’m cold, just think of me as a shield.”
Gem quite liked that description. A shield was protection, and she understood that caring for others opened you up to pain. You could lose them, and losing people you loved over thousands or tens of thousands of years was traumatizing. She could barely function after the death of her beloved Creator.
“Where else?”
She reached up and felt the knot on the back of her head. “I don’t know if you can heal everything.” Gem bent forward and let him trace his fingers over her scalp.
A flash of light pulsed, followed by a strange sensation in her head. It didn’t hurt, but the energy had a life to it that was oddly comforting. Perhaps it had more to do with it being an extension of Niko.
“Anything else?” he inquired.
“I think that’s all.”
His eyebrows gathered. “Your light has a mark on your back. I noticed it in the hall.”
“Does it?”
He shifted to the other side of her chair. “If you don’t mind, raise your blouse.”
Gem shyly pulled her white button-up from where it was tucked inside her black pencil skirt. She kept her chest covered even though Niko couldn’t see.
