Page 37 of A Blaze of Fire
The guard quickly took charge and picked the fae up by himself. The injured fae groaned from the seeping wounds on his back and I shushed him to quiet him down and avoid drawing attention. I motioned for Rook to follow me back to the Town Hall building and we quietly snuck back inside. Thankfully the building was empty – all other fae were steering clear of the town center, terrified to catch the eye of Kazimir and his enforcers. Rook laid the fae on his stomach on an empty table.
I looked up at my bodyguard, suddenly at a loss for what to do next. “What do we do?”
He gave me a quizzical look. “That depends on what you’re trying to do, Lady Violet.”
I looked at the bloodied fae on the table and shrugged. “I don’t know,” I whispered. “I guess save him.”
“Then we need to clean his wounds,” Rook said, all business. “We’ll need water for that.”
“There should be water in the building, right?”
Rook shook his head. “You’ll have to go to the well.”
I jerked my head back in surprise. “Are you serious? It’s the twenty-first century!”
Rook twisted his mouth to the side, clearly annoyed by my ignorance of his world. “You’re not in the human realm anymore, Lady Violet.”
I snorted and rolled my eyes. “I can tell.”
He sighed. “There might be some water beads around, but …”
“Water beads?” I frowned. “What are those?”
“Water beads are orbs that water elementals carry around to use water magic when there’s no water around … but you still don’t know how to use your water elemental magic, so I don’t think that would help us much anyway,” he pointed out.
“Well … can’t we just crack them open?” I suggested stupidly.
Rook shook his head. “That’s not how it works. Only an elemental can open them.”
Of course, and I still hadn’t mastered water. I hadn’t even attempted it. I barely had fire figured out, and well … I lucked out once with air. I didn’t think that would happen again.
“Rook, go to the nearest well and bring me water,” I ordered. “We’ll do this the old-fashioned way.”
* * *
Finding clean cloths,I dabbed the fae’s back as softly as possible as I waited for Rook to come back. Thirty minutes later, he returned with a wooden bucket with water filled to the rim and sloshing over the edge as he walked back inside the building.
“You better hurry, Lady Violet,” he urged. “They’re finishing up outside.”
I nodded and hurriedly grabbed a fresh cloth, dipping it in the water before cleaning the Unseelie’s back. Rook and I worked silently to clean the dried blood and dirt from his back, stopping when the open wounds were revealed.
“Now what, Lady Violet?” Rook asked.
“Now you need ointment, which doesn’t exist in a town like this,” Alec said. Rook and I whirled around to see him leaning against the door. “What do you two think you’re doing?”
I placed myself in front of Rook and flung my arm in front of him protectively. “He was only following my orders. He did nothing wrong.”
Alec frowned as he watched me. “I didn’t say that he did.” He tilted his head and stared at me. “You, on the other hand, are in a boat load of trouble.” He turned to Rook. “Return that Unseelie to his home. Quietly. We’ll be at the inn.”
“Yes.” Rook bowed slightly and started to pick up the fae.
I glanced between Rook and Alec with disbelieving eyes, finally resting on Alec. “He needs to be treated first!”
Alec sighed. “He’ll be fine, Vi. We heal fast. He just needs a day’s rest. He’ll be as good as new by tomorrow … with a few added scars.” He shrugged.
As soon as the guard left, Alec snatched the bloody rags from my hands and lit them on fire, eliminating any proof of what had transpired.
“How can you be so crass?” I asked quietly.
