“Sounds like we have nothing going on then. Come on over, Desi.” And then the fucker put his arm around her shoulders and tugged her towards the door.
I simmered behind them, staring at their backs. His hand didn’t lay flat on her shoulder, rather, it was balled in a loose fist. She didn’t rest her side into him, instead choosing to walk stiffly a few inches away. A sort of silent conversation was happening between them, their eyes trying to flick my way without me noticing, tension bleeding off them.
No, they didn’t want each other. Maybe they’d never been together at all. Even if they had, they absolutely didn’t want to be anymore.
Feeling confident, I wrapped my thick cloak around me, appreciating the way the violent and cold winds seemed to bring me a sense of awareness. I’d been so wrapped up in Azazel the last couple of days that I’d let everything else fall to the side. After a lifetime of having a one track mind, it felt shameful and embarrassing that I’d let a man divert me.
I was here for Celeste. She’d been a part of this very rebellion, and I hadn’t even tried to ask the commander about her today. I hadn’t bothered to find a new way to kill Talon for what he’d done. Did I even think about them as much anymore? They used to consume almost every one of my thoughts.
What was I becoming?
Azazel was suddenly in front of me, my vision coming back into focus. His hands covered nearly my entire face as they moved over my cheeks. Grey eyes stared at me, searching for something.
“Are you okay? What’s going on?”
“I’m fine, why?”
“Nova, you’re crying.”
“Really, I’m fine.” I tugged my face out of his grasp, stepping away from him. “Let’s just get home.”
A faint smile ghosted across his face, there and gone, replaced by a clenched jaw and stitched brows.
“Come on, Nova, the supplies are just over there.” Desi grabbed my hand, leading me towards the wooden crates. We readied them in silence, two sets of eyes on me the entire time. When we shadow walked back to the cottage, I still felt them watch as we unloaded everything.
On the bright side, the process was remarkably quick with three shaytan. Food flew around the kitchen, finding its home in various places. Death meowed and twirled between our legs, aiming to gain anyone’s attention.
Hoping to keep Desi with us for a while to avoid my mind spiraling back into Azazel, I tugged her to the side, trying my best to smile. Desi gave a pained grin in return, looking for the first time as if she was truly uncomfortable.
“So,youhealed me. Are you a medic or a healer?”
“I never went to Elite Academy. It wasn’t really an option. The entirety of my bloodline is made up of eadi. And, well, I’m not like you. You have more will and determination than anyone I’ve ever heard of.” Her smile brightened at the end, her eyes going momentarily distant. She spoke as if she knew me.
“Um, thanks. I really wasn’t trying to pry or anything, I just wanted to know because I’d love to teach you some eadi healing methods if you don’t already know them.” Now that I knew she was raised by eadi, it felt ridiculous to offer. Of course she knew how to stitch and forage.
“Actually, that’d be great! I never got the chance to learn much growing up.” Startled by the answer, I raised a brow. Desiwas hiding something. An of eadi who had a special interest—talent, even—in healing, but didn’t ever learn eadi methods?
“Were you ever able to find an apprentice?” I asked, too curious not to.
Waving her hand, she rolled her eyes. “Yes, I did, but she was a real stickler for rules and formalities. I never liked her much.”
An of eadi with an apprentice? Narrowing my eyes, I studied the tattoos that painted her skin. They were done in a deep black shade, dipping and diving across her cheeks and up her chin from where they peeked out of her pristine rebel uniform. I needed to figure out where those originated.
“Well, that’s great then. Let me show you a few things.”
We got to work at the kitchen table, where I used old leather to show Desi how to stitch wounds. She looked absolutely fascinated, even admitting she’d never seen something like it before. Not even here in the rebel camp. Growing even more suspicious, I gave her information on bandaging, which shedidhave previous knowledge on. When I tried to move to herbs and tonics, I found she understood quite a lot about those too. She had what she called a medbag, which contained various bandages, tonics, and herbs. Still, I was able to teach her about harvesting certain plants for times when healing wasn’t possible, and I even helped her learn how to use needles and glass bowls to relieve tension or pain from the body.
When Az told us dinner was ready—cheesy noodles with burnt chicken and broccoli he insisted on dipping into the cheese as well—we all ate together. I listened to her accent. To the formal way she sometimes accidentally spoke. I waited to see if she’d so much as let her elbows graze the table top or slouch just for a moment, but she never did.
Desi was absolutely hidingsomething.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Nova
“Dad is sick again. I’ve been reading him stories about a dragon who can heal with fire as he lays in bed. Maybe if I get magic I can learn how to heal him just like the dragon does, and everything will be okay again.”
-From the journal of Nova Tershetta, 9242 AS
