Page 19 of Flame and Starlight

“Okay,” I said, wringing a new cloth in the clean water I had brought over. I laid it as gently as I could across his chest. He hissed through his teeth, and his eyes opened just long enough to make contact with mine. They closed, and he rolled away from me.

“Get out,” he mumbled.

“What did he say?” Mavka asked and quickly came back to where his head rested on a pillow. Her hands wiped his hair back off his sweaty forehead.

“I couldn’t understand him,” I lied. He was such an arrogant ass, even when he could be dying. “We need something to stop the bleeding. He’s going to bleed out.” I chewed on my lip. “Aren’t Fae supposed to have, like, super-amazing healing abilities or something?”

“We do, especially High Fae like him. But this wound was inflicted by one of the souls he was escorting into the After. They are different wounds, and we can’t heal from them as easily.”

I nodded and turned back to Asher. The cloth I had placed on his chest had already turned completely red. I took it off and replaced it with a clean one.

“Mav.” She looked at me. “Can you go get the tin the healer gave me for my face? I know it’s not going to be enough, but it may at least help the pain. Hopefully it will kick-start the healing process.” She nodded and was out of the room quickly.

“I thought you said you were good at what you do,” I said under my breath as I swapped out his cloth again. His chest rose and fell, slow and ragged. The tattoos I saw on him the night he took me extended down across his chest and covered his hard stomach, disappearing into his pants. My face warmed at where my eyes ended up, and I forced them back to the tattoos that swirled around his arms, stopping promptly at his wrists.

“See something…you like?” I jumped and found him looking at me. “I thought I told you to leave.” He closed his eyes, and I could see him struggling to keep his breathing calm.

“I’m helping. If you hadn’t noticed, you could use as much help as possible.” I shifted my knees and discovered they were sticky with his blood. I pushed the stray hairs out of my face with a shaky hand. Okay, this is really bad. “Mav has gone to get the salve the healer gave me for my face. If anything, it may help with the pain.” His arm fell off the couch as he passed out again, and his calloused fingers brushed my bare thigh. I looked at them for a second before lifting his arm back onto the couch. I was going to bury the feeling I got at that touch very, very deep.

“Got it,” Mavka said as a way of announcing her presence back in the room.

“Thank you,” I said, standing up and peeling away the cloth. “If he wakes up while I’m doing this, it won’t be good, Mav. It’s going to hurt. I need you to try and keep him calm.” She nodded grimly and placed her hands on his shoulders. The thought of her tiny self holding Asher down almost made me laugh. “Okay,” I said, pushing down the hysterical gurgle that threatened at my throat. “Let’s get this over with. I’m going to do it as quickly as possible.” She nodded again.

I opened the tin and swiped all the contents that were left onto my fingers. I hovered over the gash, taking a few deep breaths to steady myself before I had to run my hand over his torn skin and exposed bones. I counted down from three in my head.

And then so many things happened very quickly. I swiped my fingers over the length of the opening in his chest. His eyes flew open, arms flying up to push Mavka off. He was too fast; she didn’t stand a chance. She went soaring backwards at the force of his attack.

Then, in the time it took me to blink, he was on me. He had flown, literally flown, off the couch and threw me onto the ground. He roared in pain. One of his hands slammed down on the floor, and the other grabbed my throat as my head bounced against the floorboards with a sickening crack. Stars flew into my vision as I tried to blink them away. I swallowed against his hand at the vomit threatening to come up. The wind was knocked out of me, and I couldn’t breathe through his grip. I gasped and groaned. I choked, trying to take in as much air as possible. I could feel his blood, warm and syrupy, dripping onto my chest and pooling in the hollow of my neck.

“Ash-Asher,” I whispered through a hoarse throat. I blinked the stars away a few times, but I still couldn’t see anything. It was so dark. All I could make out was the outline of his head. His wings, I suddenly realized. His wings were spread out, cocooning us on the floor. “It’s Alys! It’s me, it’s Alys,” I whispered. “Get the fuck off me.”

“Shit,” he swore. “I told you to get out,” he said, releasing my throat and kneeling off me, his wings tucking themselves neatly behind his back.

“What the hell happened here?” Emric practically yelled as he stormed into the room. I heard Asher slump onto the floor, leaning against the couch. Emric knelt next to me, but remembering what happened last time he touched me, I held an arm out to him.

“Don’t,” I said through gritted teeth. “I’m fine.” I looked to the door and saw the healer standing there awkwardly, looking from me to Asher. “Help him!” I shouted and motioned towards Asher. I coughed, my throat feeling raw from Asher’s assault. The healer made his way over to him and helped him sit back on the couch.

Asher’s skin had gone deathly pale. The exertion from the sudden movement had caused him to lose a lot of blood. I was absolutely soaked in it, I realized as I looked down at myself. I was also indecent. My nightgown was all the way up to my hips, my underthings completely on display. I felt my cheeks burn as I quickly yanked it back down. Emric cleared his throat and stood up. Asher’s blood had completely covered my chest, shoulders, and arms. Emric held his hand out to me to help me stand, but I shook my head. Pain seared behind my eyes.

“I’m going to sit here for a minute. If I stand up too quickly, I’m going to pass out.”

Asher groaned, and Emric’s attention latched onto him. I tentatively brushed the back of my skull with my fingers. There was already a lump forming. If I remembered correctly, it was always better to have a lump because it meant it was pushing out and not in? Or was that some old wives’ tale I had heard?

Stupid, fragile human body.

“He’s lost a lot of blood,” Mavka was saying to the healer. I looked up at her, and she seemed unharmed. For a moment I wished my Fae blood had already kicked in. It didn’t seem safe to be so breakable around all these Fae. The healer dug through his bag, pulling out herbs and oils. He picked up one of the clean cloths I had left lying next to the couch. He layered and smoothed them out across it and then gently laid it across Asher’s wound.

“This poultice will help the healing process. The wound should be closed by the morning, but he’s going to be sore for a few days.”

“We’ve got a room nearby that you can stay in for the night.” The healer gathered his things and stood to follow Emric. He bent down to my level and gently checked the back of my head. He nodded and then handed me a small vial of clear liquid.

“This is going to help your headache and help you sleep. You seem to be going through a lot these past few days,” he said and smiled. The smile reached his bright green eyes, and I found myself smiling back. “How about you rest for a couple of days and let your body heal?” I nodded, and he followed Emric out of the room. I slowly stood, using the wall to keep my balance.

“I told you to fucking leave, Alyssandra,” Asher said, already sounding stronger. I turned my attention to him and saw Mavka’s eyes widen.

“I’ll take her back to her room and—”

“I’m not done, Mav,” he said, cutting her off. I stared into his eyes, black in the dim light of the room. “You—”

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