She means it this time; she’ll tell them everything. Malice doesn’t flinch.
“You heard the Witch—we need to stay close, we need to work together,” Aerin finds herself pleading.
Malice’s face contorts into a sneer and Aerin braces herself for what is coming.
“I am bound to you, Aerin Tolvare, and in exchange for keeping my secrets, I gave you my loyalty. That, I cannot change. But mark my words, if you wantmyforgiveness, you will have to earn it.”
56
REYNA
According to Khortland’s most recent message Reyna is supposed to meet him, Aerin, and the others at the apartment at nine p.m. to get the locket that will turn her Fae. Or at least make her appear Fae. She’s fuzzy on the details.
Only a few minutes off from nine o’clock now, Reyna wraps up her end-of-shift duties at the clinic. Just as she’s reaching for her bag the receptionist appears.
“We have one more. He walked in just before I could lock the doors, I’m sorry,” she tells her. Reyna sighs, setting down her bag.
“Of course, it’s no problem. What is his complaint? I’ll get the room set up.” Reyna grabs a fresh robe from the closet, hers already in the laundry.
“Looks like he needs stitches, pretty good gash on his leg,” the Shifter replies before leaving the room.
Reyna sets up the room closest to the front and the Shifter situates the patient inside of it before bringing Reyna the intake papers. As Reyna walks into the room she glances over the sparse information.
“Hello, I’m Healer Locke,” she greets the male before looking up. On the form he circledHuman, but Reyna pauses a moment upon seeing him. He is like no Human she’s ever seen. Closer to Fae in stature, he is tall and broad. His frame takes up a massive amount of space in the room. His legs almost touch the floor despite sitting feet off the ground on the operatory table.
The male doesn’t look up when Reyna walks in. He has a head of black hair that hangs just past his ears. The strands have a slight wave, the ones at the nape of his neck curling into ringlets.
“Thanks for seeing me,” he finally says to his knees, still not looking at her.
Reyna scans his body for any injuries, wondering if his hunching is due to abdominal pain. Her eyes snag on the rip in his black jeans and the way the fabric around the tear is saturated.
“It’s no problem. You have a cut on your leg?” Reyna asks, setting the clipboard down and pulling on gloves.
“Yeah, did it at work.” He straightens, making room for her to examine the wound.
“What do you do?” Reyna makes small talk as she moves the fabric away. The gash is long and ragged, but not too deep. She certainly can heal it.
There is a baited pause before he says, “construction,” in a terse way that makes Reyna almost certain he doesn’t work in construction.
Reyna stands. “I’ll step out for you to remove your pants. Pants only please, if you don’t have undergarments there are some in that drawer there,” she says, pointing. “Then I’ll get you patched up.”
The male finally looks up and Reyna holds back a flinch. His eyes arered. A deep shade, like the color of rich wine, or maybe, the color of the spilled blood on his leg.
No creature she’s ever seen has eyes like that. Especially not Humans, whose eyes vary only minimally from brown, green, and blue.
Reyna steps out, closing the door behind her and shaking off the eerie feeling.He’s just another patient.Reyna loiters in the hallway, ringing her hands for the appropriate amount of time before knocking on the door again.
When she enters, the male is sitting in the exact same position on the table, only this time the blood-stained pants sit in the chair next to him.
His eyes are still cast downward, though his hands are wrapped around the edge of the table, knuckles white. Reyna puts on fresh gloves and approaches, towing a cart of supplies behind her. He straightens to make room for her and once again Reyna catches his eyes. Red.
Reyna swallows and looks away, grabbing the numbing gel from the cart to apply a thin layer. His bare thighs are an expanse of lean muscle, and as that muscle relaxes, Reyna knows the gel has kicked in.
“I’ll disinfect, stitch you up, and apply a healing salve,” Reyna explains, grabbing the disinfectant and a sterile towel.
He only nods, and Reyna glances at his face again, braving the eyes that give her the creeps. Once she really looks at him, the male is handsome, if not a bit rugged. There is no way he’s Human. The planes of his face are too severe, even though he does have some of the characteristic roundness to his features. It’s almost like the two things are fighting to be seen. His cheekbones aren’t harsh like most Fae’s, but his jaw is sharp in a purely masculine way. His nose is narrow but rounded at the end. And then there are his eyes, slightly too round to be Fae.
He gives her a shy smile and Reyna nearly recoils in her chair, caught off guard by it. She hadn’t realized she’d been staring. His teeth are perfectly straight and white, and when hesmiles, a slight dimple forms in his cheeks, a purely Human trait.
