Page 22 of Eight Embers

Delaney clings to me as we walk back out of the office, and I carry the bag of remedies we were given, hanging my head as we meet the others back in the waiting area that they’ve completely overtaken.

They jump up when they catch sight of Delaney. Their immediate impulses are to rush to her and grab her, but she flinches because…she doesn’t remember mating any of them.

I turn to her and grab her hands, knowing I have no right to ask what I’m about to. “Do you trust me?”

She opens her mouth a few times and closes it before swallowing thickly and nodding her head.

I turn to her mates, most of whom I still can’t quite remember the names for. It’s not like I’ve been trying though; actually, I’ve been actively messing up my memory when it comes to this group because I’ve been convinced that I wasn’t going to be here much longer. I was sure a miracle would happen, and I’d get to go home. “I think I know how to help her, but it might seem weird to C.U.N.T.S. like yourselves.”

Adam, always so hot-headed, grabs me by the arm and gets in my face, somehow missing the way Delaney shrinks back from him. “What the fuck did you just call us?”

I pry his hand from my arm, one finger at a time. “C.U.N.T.S. Creatures unicorns never talk to or sauce.”

There, that will show him, acting all offended for nothing.

“Sauce?”

I mimic jacking myself off to completion, aiming right for his stupid face with my imaginary jizz. “Sauce. Unicorns don’t typically pair up outside of our race, but that could definitely have something to do with the fact we only have cupids in our realm.”

Adam chokes. “Please don’t tell me there are unicorns that fuck cupids.”

“They are completely consensual relationships, you judgy cloud bitch. Cupids aren’t actually children, I thought that was obvious.”

Then I walk past everyone else, feeling protective over Delaney. I definitely don’t make eye contact with anyone as I tow her out of the infirmary and towards her residence, playing with her fingers where she’s got them laced with mine.

“What do we need to do?”

I meet her eyes briefly before looking down again. “I’ll need to gather some supplies. Maybe…I could get one of your mates to drive me to a place where I could purchase them? And…I will need to borrow currency as I have nothing in this world that belongs to me.”

She stops in front of me, making me halt as she frames my face with her hands. “Why do you call them my mates like you’re not one of them?”

I gently pull her hands away from me. “Because I’m not, not really. We’re not together, Delaney. I’ve been pretty miserable to be around since I was brought here, but—”

“Were we friends, at least?”

I frown. “I think I’ve been avoiding everyone as much as possible. This world scares me. It’s too different from home, and I feel…lost.” I make myself meet her eyes finally, so she knows I mean what I’m about to say. “I want to do better. Will you permit me to court you in the ways of my people? I think it will also help with your current situation.”

One of her mates grabs my shoulder, separating me from Delaney so they can spin me to them for a confrontation. His anger makes me shut down, and I miss everything that is said until I feel a softer touch on my shoulder, breaking me out of it. Adam’s anger was more than my quota for the day.

“You need to speak gently. You won’t get answers from Saladriel with that harsh tone, he’s a unicorn. He needs rainbows and sparkles.”

I’m shooketh. I spin to her, immediately, in wonderment. “How did you know that?”

She gives me a soft smile and shrugs one of her shoulders. “Is it important?”

I shake my head no, and she reaches into her pocket for something, pulling out a tube of some sort of cosmetic. “I only have this right now, but maybe…this will set you on the right track? It’s for your lips, but you won’t be able to see it if I put it there. I can…spread it on your hand?”

I see the glitter within the tube, and I thrust my hand forward before I even have time to think about it.

She paints a swatch of sticky silver gloss on the back of my hand, and I immediately start turning it in the sunlight, bringing it up to my face to get a whiff of cherries while I do so. The sun hits the sparkles and tickles something deep within my soul, giving me my actual first smile since I arrived.

“He’s…smiling. Because of a little bit of lip gloss?” Somebody asks, clearly not understanding how wonderful it is.

Another one of them shrieks and jumps back, very disturbed by it. Somebody mutters ‘ridiculous demon’ under their breath, but I tune that all out, because I feel a little bit balanced.

“Thank you,” I tell the woman that just gave me the greatest gift I’ve had in weeks. She opens my hand and tucks the entire tube into it, making me gasp. “I couldn’t!”

She could be making fun of me, but I don’t think she is when she smiles and tucks her hands under her arms, hugging herself. “Consider it a courting present. I can court you right back, you know.”

---