Page 25 of A Court of Hearts and Hunger
Down the steps we go—but instead of taking me to the same room where he placed the glamour, the Rabbit pulls me along to the end of the hall and turns left.
We enter a huge room with two broad silver tables, both big enough for people to lie down. A few narrower tables are covered with papers and books, clusters of dried herbs and bottles of liquid in various colors. More books and rolls of parchment fill the shelves along the wall.
The Rabbit detaches the gold leash from my collar and lays it aside. “Remove your clothing and lie down there.” He points to one of the tables. Then he unfolds a leather case and begins laying out various silver implements in a neat row.
I hesitate near the door, tempted to run.
“Don’t flee,” says the Rabbit, looking my way. “I’m faster. I’ll catch you, and then you’ll regret it.”
“What are you going to do to me?” My voice trembles.
“I’m going to conduct a health examination. I’m an expert in human anatomy and endurance. In my line of work, it’s essential to know how far you can push your subject without killing them before you’re ready. I know how to extract the precise amount of spinal fluid, blood, and other materials from a body without ending the subject’s life prematurely.”
He says it casually, with a faint hint of pride.
When I still don’t move, he cocks his masked head, his shoulders stiff with purpose.
“The examination is harmless. I need to ascertain your current physical state so I know how far I can push you. Without enough information about your health, I may move too quickly during my research and cause irreparable damage. This exam is in your best interest, unless you want a painful and unexpected death.”
My only experience under a doctor’s care was during a fever season, and I never had to remove my clothes.
This faerie plans to kill me eventually. But the longer I can survive, the more chances I’ll have to make an escape—or possibly worm my way into his good graces so he won’twantto kill me.
To buy myself that time, I need to comply. So I’d better undress.
Reaching to the back of my waist, I tug the knot of my apron free, slide it off my arms, and let the weight of the book in its pocket drag it to the floor.
“Could you please undo the buttons?” I sweep my hair over one shoulder and turn my back to the Rabbit.
Though I’m not looking at him, I feel his approach—a looming force at my back. His gloved fingers unfasten the top button of my dress, then three more—and then he pauses, sniffing.
“You,” he says firmly. “Out.”
I frown, glancing over my shoulder at him, convinced he’s gone mad, because we’re the only two people in the room.
But then the air shivers. Strips of the Cat’s body begin to appear, spaced apart like bars of sunlight between corn stalks. The space between fills in, and there he is, whole and pouting. “I want to watch.”
“This is not a sexual activity,” says the Rabbit sternly. “This is about establishing a baseline for my research. Determining the health of the subject. Go, before I have to force you out.”
Grumbling, the Cat stalks from the room, slamming the door behind him.
So the Cat can turn himself invisible, including his clothes. Curiouser and curiouser.
“Is he your—” I hesitate, at a loss to define their connection.
The Rabbit sighs, continuing to undo my buttons. “He’s my friend. Rival. Companion. Brother. Roommate. Needle in my fucking eyeball. He’s a mess, that’s what. He’s never sure whether he wants to fuck, cuddle, or kill someone.”
“And you’re always sure of what you want?”
“Quite sure, when it comes to humans. They are my subjects for magical study, and nothing more.”
“Why? Humans don’t have magic.”
“Ah, that’s where you’re wrong.” He pushes the blue dress off my shoulders, and it drops to the floor, leaving me in my corset and petticoats. “The mortal world and the Faerie world are but reflective realms, mirroring each other in many ways. Where our magic is overt and accessible, yours is suppressed, buried in your bones and fused into your flesh where you cannot access it. The magic of humans is dormant, and can only be awakened once the parts are separated from the whole. I could use your whole self in a spell and get no results, but if I cut off your ear, the mortal magic within it becomes active, usable.”
He's unlacing my corset as he speaks, and when it’s loose enough I raise my arms and he lifts it over my head. There’s only the thin chemise beneath. My skin is alive and on fire, and my thighs tremble, because I will soon be naked in front of a male for the first time in my adult life.
“The Fae can express and use our magic,” says the Rabbit. “It purges and fuels us, a symbiotic process that allows us to live for hundreds of years. But the dead magic in your human bodies eats away at you. It begins to corrode you from the day you are born. You are dying things—already dead, in many ways. So it isn’t murder to kill you, because you will die so soon anyway. Why not harvest what can be gotten from your dying bodies before the decay is complete? You should be happy that you can benefit others through this process. You see, my work gives purpose to the otherwise meaningless existence of human beings.”
