“Shouldn’t I be dancing?” Evelyn asked.
“You’ll hurt yourself.” He crossed his arms petulantly.
“I thought you liked dancing with me.”
“I’m glad you believed that.”
“Why are you so grumpy all of a sudden?”
“Maybe because I have to babysit a drunk princess while listening to Barbeau’s rendition of ‘The Loneliest Goat in the Valley.’”
Evelyn started giggling, feeling like the wine was bubbling over inside her. A hint of a smile appeared on Damien’s face as he beheld her descent into madness.
When Evelyn managed to calm herself down, her mood swung in the opposite direction.
“Damien?” she whispered.
“Yes, Princess?”
“Do you have nightmares?”
“About what?”
That isn’t a no.
“I dream about the four soldiers we found,” Evelyn confessed. “I see the explosion when I close my eyes. I keep thinking about the people in the hospital.”
“Me too,” Damien admitted. He took her hand and held it under the table.
His skin is warm. Even this small touch feels like a hug.
“Leo was mad that I left my room and saw the patients,” Evelyn recalled. “Some of them didn’t have skin anymore.”
“The Healers’ magic is working,” Damien reassured. “The patients are getting better.”
“How do you know?”
“I was at the hospital earlier.”
“Why?”
“Almost all of the patients are soldiers I’ve worked with for decades. You and Leo aren’t my only friends, you know.”
Evelyn held back tears at his words. “I’m sorry.”
“I can take you to the hospital so you can see how much the Healers have done,” Damien offered.
Evelyn thought about it. “Can you take me back to the bar?”
Damien winced. “Why there?”
“So I can see that it’s empty. Something in my mind doesn’t believe that the fire and the people are gone.”
He nodded. “Yes. Not tonight, but I’ll take you.”
She squeezed his hand in a silentthank you.
“You look amazing tonight, Evelyn,” Damien murmured. “Leo is lucky to have you.”
