I didn’t need to play anything up—that was the sad part—and traveling to the West Side… Well, hopefully that was up for negotiation. But I really appreciated her kindness, and she wasn’t looking at me like I was a piece of garbage, so I was counting it as a win.
When we stepped up to the new building, which carried the same black brick, golden painted trim, and floral vines, I scanned the plaque at the front of the double doors. Student-run clinicwas scrolled in metallic letters on a black sign. Then, written in silver paint was,Enter at your own risk.
I frowned, but Eden just grinned. “They are all really talented. Only the best of the best get into The Academy. Besides, if you take your dad to the West Side Clinic, he’ll be in line for hours and probably die outside before he’s even seen.”
My gut clenched at her assessment.
“How do you know so much about the West Side?” I asked.
Her face changed, going slack for a second, but she said nothing, simply reached forward to open the double doors and led me inside.
Two boys wearing silver silk tunics that hung to their calves sat behind a desk chatting. Their hands were clasped on top of the desk, and I tried to control my amazement at the tattooed silver markings that were carved into the backs of their hands. One had more markings than the other.
They looked up when we approached and smiled easily at Eden, then they both stood.
“Hey, E,” the one with dark hair and green eyes said. The other guy, a tall fae with chin-length hair the color of moonlight and steel-grey eyes, stared right at me and it was like I’d been socked in the gut. The breath whooshed out of me as his gaze locked on mine, awakening some awareness deep within my being. I couldn’t help but feel captivated by his presence.
His attention raked over me slowly, going from my black hair to my ratty elbow-length gloves and then down to my dirty, splitting shoes. He lingered over my face, resting on my lips, and my stomach tied into knots.
“Her father is in really bad shape. Needs a healer. She doesn’t have coin.” Eden spoke for me, which I appreciated because in that moment I was stuck, glued to the floor being examined by this steel-eyed god before me. I’d never felt so exposed in my entire life. The way he looked at me made me feel like I was naked. It was almost as if by merely glancing at me, he was touching me. I wondered if some sort of magic was afoot when the green-eyed dude smacked steel-grey eyes in the chest and the power over me was broken. “Ariyon, wake up,” he said, and grey eyes blinked, shaking his head a little and looking at Eden.
“Hey, E.”
Ariyon.Even hearing his name did weird things to my body, causing a heat to build up inside my core.
She nodded. “Can you help her? You’ll need to travel. Your father can’t move, right?” She looked at me, giving me wide eyes, as if telling me to embellish his condition. I swallowed hard and told them the truth. “He cut his stomach on a tree branch a few days ago. Then came the fever, then loss of consciousness, and now…there are angry, red streaks from the wound working their way to his heart.”
The entire room gasped, including Eden, and Ariyon surprised me by leaping over the counter and rushing towards me.
“This is my case, Hayes!” he shouted to green eyes.
“What thefae,man! I need a systemic infection case too!” Hayes complained.
“Let’s go,” Ariyon told me urgently and reached for my upper arm as if to guide me out. I bristled, even though I was protected by my cloak and gloves and nodded at the eagerness for him to heal my father. Never mind the fact that he’d basically just fought over the case not out of the kindness of his own heart but for a school project. I didn’t care. I just needed the help.
“Good luck!” Eden shouted to us as we stepped towards the door.
I spun and waved to her. “Thank you!”
“Wait, what’s your name?” she called after me.
“Fallon!” I yelled back and she waved again.
“See you around!”
No, she wouldn’t.
We wove our way through campus at a brisk pace and before I knew it, we were in front of some horse stables.
“We can get to the West Side quicker on my horse. Red streaks mean your father has hours to live at best.” He threw a saddle over a beautiful, black horse.
Horrible thoughts raced through my mind, a torrent of “what if” scenarios that all ended with my father dead. My heart thumped wildly, and I felt my palms get clammy inside of my gloves.
Keep it together, Fallon,I told myself, staring at the black mare.
We didn’t have horses in Isa. They were for rich people, so I didn’t know how to ride. We had two dairy cows that we used in an emergency to transport the sick, but otherwise we walked. If it didn’t supply milk or meat, it was a wasted mouth to feed. Other people passed through our town on horses, and I’d even seen two people ride together, the woman hugging the man’s back and holding on tightly, but that wasn’t happening here. Even with my cloak and gloves there were too many points of contact to ignite my curse. My hair could brush his neck. My ankles could touch the horse, because yes, animals counted, too. It was like whoever cursed me wanted to be sure I would never feel any type of physical love from a living being.Ever.
He grabbed a long, thick traveling cloak out of one of the saddlebags and put it over his exposed arms, and I started to feel a little better. Maybe this would work… If I was careful, if I held still, I could make it back to Isa with this healer without having a problem myself. He’d said my father only had hours to live…we couldn’t take three hours to walk back.
