Paloma placed the compress firmly on her temple.
“It’s not, you just have a concussion. Vertigo is a normal side effect. Well, not normal. Nothing about this is normal, Deryn. Nothing and I… I can’t…”
Deryn slowly turned her throbbing head and watched tears twitch and fall down Paloma’s cheeks. She reached out a shaky, unsteady hand and cupped the pale face.
“I’m okay. I mean, concussion aside. I’m all right. I promise.”
Paloma pressed the cloth tighter, painfully so, but Deryn held in her yelp.
“You’re not all right, you’re impaired, you almost bled out on my rug?—”
“I’ll pay for cleaning?” Deryn ventured, but Paloma gave her one of those “Oh my god, why are you speaking?” looks, and she just smiled as Paloma barreled on. She was so beautiful…
“Fuck the carpet, Deryn. There was so much blood, so much, I can’t… When I found you, and you were just lying in your own blood. Why were you even in my suite? Why were you there? Why didn’t you wait for me at the town hall?”
Paloma went on and on, and Deryn watched her, eyes glazing with tears.
“Oh no, you’re crying, why? Are you hurt? I’ll call Franz and your sister. Deryn, please, tell me?—”
“You’re so beautiful… So beautiful.” Deryn tried to lift her hand again to touch Paloma’s hair, but failed, completely spent. Paloma did it for her, her eyes going soft, warm, the amber molten, as she picked up Deryn’s hand and held it to her cheek, leaning fully into the touch.
“I guess you’re still high on painkillers.”
Deryn wanted to shake her head, remembered how painful it was, and stopped mid-gesture. Then, she slowly turned to watch Paloma’s face in her own hand. She brushed her thumb back and forth on soft skin.
“I’m high on you,” she mumbled, and Paloma’s eyes went even softer, almost impossibly so. Dark and tender. And so beautiful.
“You’ve already said that.”
“Can you hear my thoughts?” Deryn said dumbfoundedly. What kind of magic was this?
Paloma’s quiet laughter was the most beautiful sound ever. So beautiful. Really, really beautiful.
“This is how I know you are completely drugged out of your mind on the pain medication. I can’t hear your thoughts, Deryn, but I think you’re saying out loud everything you’re thinking.”
“Hmm, that’s weird. Well, I don’t know what I’m thinking or saying. You’re beautiful.”
“I believe we’ve established that fact already.”
“I hear she’s awake.” Ceridwen popped her head in the doorway.
“She’s awake and delirious,” Paloma whispered, but did not move Deryn’s hand, still holding it close to her face. Deryn grinned. She must look like a fool, but she didn’t care. Paloma was holding her hand.
“Ah, I see the predicament. I think the combination of medication and herbs deprived her of her filter.” Ceridwen drew closer and touched Deryn’s temple. It throbbed, but in a second the pain diminished, turning into a manageable dull ache.
Magic… Ceridwen must’ve been healing…
Deryn saw her sister and Paloma exchange looks and suddenly realized that she had indeed said that out loud. She gripped the sheets tighter, panic clawing at her chest.
Fuck, fuck, what have I done?
“No, no, you’re okay, Deryn, lie still.” Ceridwen laid both hands on her chest to hold her down. “Your fake girlfriend here apparently was fully in the loop from the get-go about…the gift.”
“Huh?”
Paloma smirked and finally let go of Deryn’s hand, gently placing it on the bed.
“You’ve said that already. And yes, I was the first person at the site of the arson in October. I don’t think any one of you actually realized that, but I arrived just as you were closing the circle and Rhiannon finished unleashing her…storm? I think that’s what I saw.”
