Page 66 of Compass Points
“What do we do? I can’t heal poison!” She tried to keep her voice down, but panic was rising within her, flooding her body as she thought about losing Luc.
Losing Luc before she ever really had him.
She couldn’t believe she’d wasted so much time worrying about what the fae courts and other Compass Points would think about a relationship between them. Since when did she care at all about that kind of thing? Her parents had taught her better. Her parents had taught her that mixed fae lines didn’t matter. Yet, their insistence on the secrecy of hers had stuck with her.
Her mind returned to the present as Arie hopped onto Luc’s stomach where he lay on the desk. His efforts at breathing became more and more labored.
“What are you doing, Arie?”
He kneaded his front paws into Luc’s chest.“I’m trying to see how much time we have, or if we’re too late.”
“We are not too late, Arie.” She meant to reassure herself, but her words came out with far more emotion than she was prepared for.
“Don’t worry, Rose,” Luc said, reaching for her hand. She moved close enough to him to let him take it. His hand was hot, like some internal battle waged within his body, though his grip was weak. “I wouldn’t have this any other way.”
“I would!” she raged. “I would have it another way! That poison was meant for me. You shouldn’t have stepped in. I can’t…” She choked on her words. She couldn’t lose anyone else. She’d already lost so much.
She’d lost her family, Tara, to this terrible mist, and she was about to lose the first man she could see herself being with. Someone who challenged her but also understood her. A man who comprehended her strengths and power and was unafraid of them. A man she could…
She shook her head. She couldn’t think about that now.
This was not going to happen without a fight.
“Arie.” She held back the impotent tears as she tried to figure out what to do next. “Arie, I have Aurora’s dagger.” She dropped Luc’s hand momentarily and reached under her dress to pull it out. “Do you think this will help? I can’t remember if it has any healing properties, but the goddess surely had healing powers.”
The cat shook his head.
Rose was ready to start yelling, to run back into the ballroom, appearances be damned, and scream for a physician. But before she could move, she began to smell a scent she hadn’t encountered in a long time—ten years, to be precise.
The scent of the forest floor, of trees and grass, hit her nose as she looked at the black cat continuing to knead Luc’s chest with his paws.
“Arie, what are you…”
The cat shook its head again and swished its tail, indicating it was not to be disturbed.
Slowly, Luc’s breathing leveled back out as the forest smell permeated the room. She remembered it from the first time she’d met Arie. When he’d first spoken to her mind. When he’d first caught up with her in the forest. She’d just associated it with his voice, not taking the time to register the scent of his magic.
What kind of magic did he have? Would it heal Luc? He must be if Luc’s breathing was any indication. The labored breaths retreated, leaving behind a slow, even cadence, as if he were asleep.
Arie’s tail twitched again as he hopped off Luc’s stomach and onto one of the other, smaller desks in the classroom.
“He’ll be alright, Rose.”
She took a choked breath, feeling so much tension leave her body at these words. She didn’t know what Arie had done, where he got his magic from, or what it meant, but she knew he’d never harm her.
“Arie…what did you…?”
“Another time. He should wake shortly. Thankfully, he had his own natural defenses to that attack, or not even I could have helped him. It should speed his recovery. You two should be seen at the fireworks and get out of here. Don’t give Aiden another opportunity to strike tonight.”
“Okay.”
“I have to go.”
His words caught up with her, along with the questions that had been building in her mind. Questions about the mist, questions about the being that inhabited Aiden.
“Do you know the thing inside of Aiden?”
“I do,”Arie replied.“Your words this evening about how the attack was delivered confirmed it. That wasn’t poison.”
