Page 104 of Shadows and Flames
The levelheadedness I’d come to associate with Whitley asserted itself. Enough, at the very least, for them to pull away and clear their throat. “Well, we will just be—let’s get you inside, my love.” Francie didn’t resist Whitley pulling her to her feet, but the little shifts of her body as she remained pressed to her mate suggested that she was unable to clear the haze of their passionate reunion as Whitley.
A faint redness was now creeping up Whitley’s neck, as well as darkening their cheeks. “Thank you both. Will you be staying for supper? I was just…” They trailed off, looking down at the apron of a meal they’d certainly long forgotten about.
I chuckled, already beginning to angle my and Tana’s bodies back up the street. “Perhaps another time. You both deserve any time alone you can manage. We will talk soon?”
Francie nodded emphatically, muttering more words of thanks to join the others she’d given over the weeks since rescuing her from the Folk. Whitley’s response was calmer but no less sincere. “Yes. Thank you both again. I am forever in your debt.”
Tana and I waved off the assertion, not wanting or needing thanks, let alone a debt from the kind caregiver. “Consider us even,” I hollered over my shoulder, but they were already across the grounds and opening the door.
The tension while walking down Tulip Street was all but erased as my cousin and I walked back up toward the city proper. A months-long adventure to save Francie was just… over.
And we were back in Nethras. Where we’d both lived for years before everything went to shit. “So…” I attempted, but the rest of my question wouldn’t come. Aside from finding Francie, the conflict with murderous humans, Folk, and Tomás’s sickness had occupied most of our conversations. But the impending change of course, on the path both of our lives had tread together for so long, was now in the air.
Was that why our steps became loaded again? Unbalanced? Normally, as different as we were, I’d felt in synchronized step with my cousin. We had shared turmoil and trained so much that a step from her brought forth a coordinating one from me. A goading, good-natured taunt from her would elicit a snipe from me, then a melodic laugh from her throat in return. The annihilation of my sense of self after fleeing Versillia, then slow, wobbly growth after realizing I was with child was met with extensive, unflinching care from my cousin.
I owed her everything.
As I opened my mouth again, though, I took in the tightness of her jaw. The hard edge to her jade eyes.
She’d never looked more like me.
“I was going to inquire with my old coven. See if anyone is available to help with Tomás’s healing. There were a handful of proficient healers, but I’ve not spoken to them since I left.”
Her tone was… flat. Without the fluttery lightness I’d associated with her since she was able to speak at all. Even after her mother’s passing and the murder of Uncle Hendrik, I’d not…
“Do you need any help? Want me to see who I can find as well?” Never mind the fact I knew no one she wouldn’t already be familiar with.
She shook her head as we looked up and down the street before crossing. I had to listen past the commotion around us to focus on her response. “No, I’ll check on him now then go alone. I’m sure you’ll want some time with Elián.”
While that was true, I—did I detect a bite in her tone, along with her assumption? Dark heat unfurled in my chest, but I breathed through it. To be defensive and strike against my cousin was not what I wanted. Not what she deserved. “I would, but we have agreed to…be with each other. We have time, and his brother’s recovery is our priority right now. Neither of us are healers such as you, but—” a Nethran with fair violet skin and heavy perfume nearly clipped us as they hurried past “—it’s not fair for this to all be on you.”
Tana chuckled sardonically as we crossed the informal barrier into the arts district. The buildings sported more colorful facades here, with intricately painted murals instead of blank walls, performers on nearly every corner, and more daring ensembles. Our woolen trousers and tunics in dull colors, functional and clean but drab, suddenly made our presence amongst the crowd as noticeable as it’d been in the human-ruled cities across the continent.
“Did I do something to you?” Try as I did to keep peace, my question was definitely an accusation.
Tana certainly took it that way. “What would you have done to me?”
“I don’tknow.” I tried to breathe calmly, to draw a clearing inhale instead of the attention of the gossip hounds Icertainlyknew populated this area of the city. “But I’m sensing that something is amiss, and I—I don’t like arguing with you.”
She whirled around to glare at me, crossing her arms and planting her boots. A group of Lylithans nearly ran into us, seeing as we were standing very much in the way of foot traffic,but they simply scoffed and kept walking, muttering about being late and missing something.
“I wasn’t arguing. I was just pointing out that—that you and your male will want time together, just as Francie and Whitley need time together. I don’t need placating statements about helping me.”
I couldn’t hide the incredulous irritation from my words anymore. This was like when we’d left Morova, where she’d criticized the way I’d been hiding behind her, using her as an excuse. Yes, there was some merit to it, but I also detected that it was only a facet of the truth.
“I—I’m notplacating. With more help, the faster we may be able to find a remedy for whatever ails Tomás. And then?—”
“Then what?” she snapped. Her arms crossed tightly at her chest, and the activity around us had thinned enough for me to hear the whistle of her breaths through her nose. “You or whomever help me heal Tomás, and then…” she curled a hand in the air, flippantly judging any response I deigned to give.
My lip curled back from my fangs instinctually, and hers made an appearance in kind. “Then we decide what we want to do afterward!”
“Whatyouwant to do!” I jerked, mouth gaping. “Iheal Tomás, the brother of your lover, and then you decide what happens next.”
My stomach dipped into something sour. Another fear realized, maybe? “N-No, but I?—”
Tana cut her gaze away, glancing further down the road, where the rumble of a crowd grew loud enough to add pressure to what swelled between my cousin and me. Something so big it threatened to erupt. How long had this been churning—growing—between us? “I will heal him because it is the way, my duty. And then we will go out on our own paths.”
She might as well have struck me with the staff secured to her belt. It would have bruised my heart less.
