Page 14 of White Little Lies

The look he gave me could have turned even a vampire to stone. “What do you intend to do with her? Bring her to your home? Further endanger your roommate?”

I knew he didn’t care about Braxton, but he made a good point. “We’ll take her to her family.”

“No!” she gasped. “They cannot know I was here. Just leave me. I’ll make it back on my own.”

“We’re not leaving you,” I said patiently. “We’ll take you to a hospital.” I still hadn’t even seen her injuries, and couldn’t quite tell what was wrong with her. But she was definitely in pain.

“A human doctor would not know how to treat a nymph,” Sebastian said caustically.

He was probably right. Most of the more magical creatures tended to take care of their own. Their anatomy was just too different from that of a human. Even werewolves usually had their own doctors.

Kneeling next to the nymph, I continued looking at Sebastian, waiting for him to make a helpful suggestion. Nymphs didn’t have elven or goblin blood, so Emerald Heights and the Bogs were both out of the question, unless we wanted to wake King Francis in the middle of the night and ask him for a pass.

I doubted that that would go over well.

Sebastian looked like he tasted something sour. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

“You’re speaking to the girl who now has a goblin companion just because trolls were trying to eat him.”

He scowled at the blue creature in question. “Fine, but next time you’re being stubborn about something,don’t.”

I lifted one hand in a salute. “I will be the most agreeable little celestial you ever did meet.”

With an irritated huff, Sebastian knelt down, then lifted the nymph into his arms like she weighed nothing.

She hissed in pain, but I still didn’t see any wounds. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because you’re hurt and you need help,” I said simply.

“Can we get on with this?” Sebastian didn’t so much as glance at the woman in his arms.

I gestured toward the distant city lights. “Lead the way.”

He did. And with the nymph in his arms, he couldn’t dart around in his ominous shadows. He couldn’t travel that way with another person, though he had only admitted it once during an emergency. He wasn’t as all powerful as he seemed.

Well, he was still pretty scary, he just couldn’t dart around with another person, and he couldn’t return to the hells. Eventually that secret information would actually do me some good.

Even if that good was just the opportunity to piss him off precisely the right time.

It would totally be worth it.

6

We had learnedthat the nymph’s name was Aaliyah, just before she lost consciousness. I walked slightly ahead of Sebastian, following his directions, keeping lookout for anyone who might ask questions about the unconscious woman in his arms. We had taken a maze of back alleys where any denizens knew to mind their own business, but occasionally we had to step out into the light.

Where we were going was anyone’s guess, but I knew Sebastian had connections. He was far more capable of finding help for Aaliyah than I was.

I noticed out the corner of my eye as he stopped abruptly.

I glanced around, wondering if we had reached our destination, but all I could see was a dirty alleyway and a few dimly lit windows high above us. “You better not be planning on tossing her in a dumpster,” I whispered.

He lowered his chin, his annoyance clear, then he tipped his head back, gesturing toward the stretch of alley behind us.

“What? I asked, flinging out my hands, feeling tired and annoyed myself.

He sighed heavily, gesturing once more with his eyes that there was something behind us.

With a huff, I marched past him back down the alley. I wasn’t really looking for anything, so I nearly screamed when I walked past a woman crouching behind a pile of discarded boxes.

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