When the doors closed, the healer quietly removed my vitals stickers and cleared me.
“Your ribs have healed,” she read off her tablet. “No more internal bleeding. Your concussion and fractured skull left no scarring. Your ankle is healed, and your oxygen and heart rate are steady for human standards.”
I decided to let “for human standards” lie.
“Goddamn.” My heart rate picked up as she listed off all my injuries, and how I definitely would have been in one of thoserefrigerator cubbies at a morgue in the human realm if this one didn’t exist. “And you healed all of that with just your hands?”
“The halfl—Audrey—kept you stable until they brought you to me. But I’ve also been doing this for a very long time,” the healer smiled as she asked me one last question. “Are you in need of any pain management? Would you like a tea?”
Audrey giggled. “It’s strong stuff. Only take it if you’re in genuine pain, or you’ll be stoned.”
I shook my head in the negative at the healer. “I’m not in any pain at all—” Then I held up a finger in thought. “Do you have anything if I’m sensing a panic attack coming on, though?”
Audrey frowned at me, but the healer gave me a rueful smile and replied, “Unfortunately, nothing that we have has been tested enough on humans. I can’t guarantee it’s safe for you to take.”
“Oh, for sure.” I waved her off. “I probably won’t need that, anyway.” Audrey’s shoulders dropped in relief.
The healer started packing up her things as she said, “It was a pleasure to meet you. I haven’t met a full-blooded human until today.”
“Um, I’m honored to be your first.” If that was true, what the hell was Audrey? The healer just chuckled at me and let herself out of the suite.
I didn’t even hesitate as soon as the click of the latch echoed in the room.
“Why do people call you ‘the halfling’?”
Audrey bit her lip with a shy smile because she always hated having attention on herself.
“I’m half fae.” She lifted a shoulder and shoved her hands in the pockets of her linen pants. They were tighter on her legs, but when her fists went into them, I realized the linen stretched. I wondered how that worked with linen. Was this another detail of being in something called a “magical realm”?
Liam grumbled, and the two of us turned to see what caused his mood to drop.
The red-haired man was on the TV again, this time wearing a black leather outfit that looked a lot like some type of spy or military wear. It was very similar to the outfit that the men—I’m sorry,sirens—who attacked me wore, and I found myself frowning at the screen.
He was walking down a cobbled-stone street, with other tall men walking behind him, wearing face masks. He didn’t wear his, though. The hood that seemed to come with his military uniform was down. Instead, he strutted down the street with a relaxed, casual air of indifference.
The red-haired man nodded politely at pedestrians he passed, even though his lips stayed in a firm line; a couple of teenage-looking girls with gold eyes and more pointed ears giggled at his attention. Apparently, even the teenagers in this realm were capable of fangirling.
“Everyone in that shot has gold eyes,” I murmured, mostly to myself, but loud enough for them to hear.
“All sirens have gold eyes,” Audrey quickly explained before she sighed to Liam. “Just turn it off.”
“I hate that the sirens are still pretending that it’s okay forhimto be on their streets like this,” Liam muttered.
Liam and this guy clearly had beef, and while I was curious what it was, I was more concerned with Audrey and how the fucking hell she discovered a whole ass magical realm in the first place.
As if she read my mind, Audrey strolled over to the desk in the corner of the room, near the large window, and unplugged a laptop from it before walking back to me.
“I was writing you a letter the night of, well—” She vaguely waved her arm toward me, and I took that to mean,The night you were attacked by seven foot tall men you mistook forLARPers but were actually evil sirens, before she continued. “And I didn’t expect you to read it so soon, but it might provide some answers to questions you’re having right now.”
I gently grabbed the laptop from her, setting it on my lap. I was healed, I didn’t need to stay in bed, but I also didn’t know what else to do while I waited for my grant from Queen Ada.
Plus, this bed was cozy as hell.
“Do you want me to read it out loud?” I asked her.
Audrey’s hazel eyes widened in horror. “Oh dear god, no.” She laughed to herself, and settled in next to me on the bed. She pulled her cellphone out—an oval one from the realm we were in—and started checking through various apps.
I opened the laptop, and sure enough, a document that was clearly a letter from Audrey was left open. I scrolled back to the top and started to read.
