Page 38 of A Soul's Curse
“I would love that!” Ivy answered, her grin stretching from ear to ear. “My apartment isn’t in the best part of town, the rent keeps going up, and well, I’ve never lived with such … nice things. It’ll be fun.”
“Great. Speaking of Ren, do either of you know where he is? I have to check on his burns.”
“Last I saw he was sitting at the kitchen table, pouting while he read through that grimoire.” Stella attempted to mimic Ren’s sour face by frowning and pressing her lips together.
I thanked both Ivy and Stella again for what they did, and on my way to the kitchen, grabbed Nick to tell him and the two other people who stopped by how much I appreciated their help. I couldn’t believe all this was happening. Last night I was dumped and lost my home. This morning I now had a nice, affordable place to live with two new roommates who were my friends, all my stuff survived the night, and if it wasn’t for the looming fact that I still had a deal with the Syndicate to fulfill, things would have seemed to be going well for me.
“Morning!” I found Ren sitting at the kitchen table as Stella predicted. There was a half-eaten bowl of fruit and yogurt pushed aside as he stared intently at the grimoire. Since he was facing the window, the buttery glow of the morning sun brightened his reddish skin and glinted against the piercings on his face. He hadn’t bothered putting on a shirt, the white bandages still wrapped around most of his torso, but he had changed into a pair of jeans. His damp hair looked recently washed, but it looked like was smart enough not to get the bandages wet when he cleaned himself up.
Ren grunted his greeting, acknowledging me for a moment before returning his attention back to the grimoire.
“I was hoping to look at your back. I need to re-bandage it.”
“Fine.” Ren shifted in his chair, exposing his back toward me while his gaze read something on a yellowed page in the book. “Are you doing okay?”
I scratched my chest, a reminder of my own burns suffered from when I released Thomas from that urn. “Oh me? Dr. Brooks helped heal the burns on my stomach. They’re nothing more an irritating itch now. And thanks to you, I made it out of last night with minimal injuries. So I’m fine.”
I stood beside Ren as I delicately unwrapped the white rolls of gauze to examine how well the healing was coming along. I froze, my hands shaking while unraveling the front around his chest when I saw another glint of metal from a different piercing—two silver loops, one on each of his nipples.
“Something wrong?” Ren turned his gaze toward me. A warm flush crept over my cheeks, prickling with awkwardness.
“Nope.” I hurried to finish removing all the bandages. Magic was amazing, and most times a talented healer could speed up the process by two or three times what it would normally have been, but it wasn’t a miracle cure. Serious injuries, like Ren’s second-degree burns, couldn’t be healed instantaneously even by the best of healers. What would have likely taken several months without magic could be condensed into maybe a few weeks, but Ren still had to be mindful of making sure it didn’t get infected or re-injured.
“Wow. This looks fantastic. The raw flesh has already healed over, and it looks like it’s forming some thick, raised scars. I don’t see any signs of infection. But I’m sorry about your tattoo. It’s kinda … ruined.” I tried to picture what it might have once looked like. I knew it was an octopus, with its eight arms coiling down his back, arms, and chest. It was mostly black with some hints of various shades of blue mixed throughout.
“Oh, the tattoo will grow back over the scars.”
“What?” I blinked.
“I paid good money for the magical ink. It’s never supposed to fade or become damaged by injuries, and over time as I age, it’ll adapt to fit my changing body.”
“Wow. That’s … interesting. I’ve been wanting to ask you though … why an octopus?” I couldn’t help my curiosity, and I wanted to keep the conversation going because I knew the ointment Dr. Brooks had left would sting a bit when I applied it. Sure enough, Ren winced the second I touched him.
Ren let out a sigh. “Dragons and snakes are overrated. Besides, octopuses are badass. They’re strong, venomous, and enjoy toying with their prey.”
I snorted. “Seems fitting for you.” After applying the medication, I placed my fingertips onto his back and released my magic. There was more effort involved than I was used to, with Ren having depleted my energy reserves last night.
Ren jerked in his chair, turning around to face me. “What do you think you’re doing?”
I held up my hands and stepped back. “Sorry. Did I hurt you? I just thought I could do another round of cleansing with my magic, remove some more dead tissue to help it regenerate faster.”
“No.” His reply was stern and didn’t leave room for argument.
“No?” I asked, utterly confused and admittedly somewhat hurt. “Why not?”
“I don’t need it. I have more magic coursing through me than I know what to do with, which meansyouare probably struggling just to stay upright right now. If you absolutely need to do this, do it later when you’ve fully recovered.”
A soft, fizzy sensation bubbled in my core. He had said something similar to me back at Emberheart Place when I tried to heal his bruising. “It’s not a problem—”
“It is for me,” Ren cut me off. “Now finish up whatever you need to do here so I can keep working. If you’re hungry, you’rewelcome to what’s in the fridge but there isn’t much. Maybe Ivy can bring some things home with her after her shift.”
Ren was in a mood this morning, but he had my best interest at heart so I didn’t argue. I finished up, re-wrapped the injury to protect it from infection. He winced several times at my slightest touch, so I offered him some of the heavier pain medication to help deal with the discomfort. When I was finished, I found a yogurt cup in the fridge and sat across from Ren, watching silently as he pored over every page of that grimoire.
“What are you looking for?” I finally asked. “You know, Caspian wanted that book, too. He’s going to call me at some point and expect me to give it to him.”
“I’m searching for something to get rid of Leon for good. He irritates me.”
“Woah, wait a minute.” I inhaled a deep breath, trying to simmer the rage beginning to boil inside me. If I’ve learned anything about Ren in the past two days, it was that he was methodical and always did things for a reason. Instead of berating him like I did last time, I asked, “Why? What happens to Ellie if we do that? What happens to me?”
