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Nora asked permission before placing Grace's hand on her forearm. And as the pair walked inside and up the stairs, Everett turned toward Vale. The male still had healing scars on his face and neck, as well as tattoos—something he usually only saw on sailors—and had the gaunt look of someone who'd been starved for a wee while. "Are you sure you're strong enough to examine and try to help my sister?"
Vale raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you want my help? Because so far, all you've done is fucking criticize me."
Not many had the bollocks to speak so plainly to him. However, Everett rather liked it. Although he wouldn't completely let it pass. So he slapped River on the back—hard—and the male stumbled a bit. Good. He'd know who was the stronger of the pair of them. "Grace is my only sibling, and she went through hell as a child with one half-mad doctor after another torturing her whilst claiming to try and cure her. So, aye, I'm going to be tough on you. Hurt her, and I'll find a way to hurt you, no matter how you're related to Leo Yates now."
Vale crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not a quack. Trust me, medicine is a lot more codified and regulated in my time than here. So just give me a chance to help your sister before you judge me, asshole."
Everett couldn't help but laugh. "You remind me of your sister, Vale. You and Yesenia both speak your minds. For the most part, I don't mind. Although if you cross a line, especially in public…"
He rolled his eyes. "I know, I know, I'll pay somehow. Leo threatens the same thing."
"Well, you're either fucking or will fuck his sister, after all. He's probably looking for a reason to hit you." Vale glared and Everett gestured inside. "I could use a drink. I'm sure Yates's whiskey is shite, but it's better than tea. We can chat more about Grace as we unwind."
The other male nodded. "Fine. Although I'll have coffee. I need my wits about me if I'm to help your sister at all."
"Aye, well, do as you like. But once we're settled, I want you to explain everything you intend to do."
And as the pair sat in a sitting room, sipping their respective drinks, Everett was soon impressed by the fae witch doctor. Aye, he cursed more than any person he'd ever met, but he also knew his shite. Or, at least seemed to, from what Everett could tell about the detailed lecture of the eye and how it worked, and some of the possible causes of Grace's blindness.
Everett might not be a doctor, but he'd learned as much as possible related to sight and blindness, not wanting his sister to suffer unnecessarily ever again due to incompetence. And most of what Vale said matched up to it; the other bits he suspected were discoveries that hadn't yet been made in 1890.
Thank fuck Khan had given permission for Vale to use his future knowledge in Grace's case.
All that was left to do was allow Vale to use his magic and learn the most he could about Grace's condition. Either way—whether she regained some sight or not—his sister was the dearest thing to him. And after this visit, Everett could better prepare security for his sister and devise the best way to keep her out of the bloody French vampires' hands.
ChapterTwenty-Three
River didn't like how the wolf shifter casually threatened him whenever he could. But Everett—he'd said to call him that since there were two Blacks in the house now and Dark Lording was tiresome in private—seemed to know at least a little about his sister's condition. And when the wolf was actually serious, he impressed River with his knowledge.
He did warn Everett not to get his hopes up, and the Dark Lord seemed to understand that. Still, chitchatting through dinner with both him and Grace had been fucking tedious. Especially since he hadn't a moment alone with Nora since the pair had arrived.
It was strange how quickly merely being in her presence improved his mood.
But once dinner was finished, River stood and turned toward Grace. "I don't know about you, Grace, but I'm more than ready to get this over with. How about we go to my temporary examination room and let me see what's going on?"
Grace moved her head in the general direction of where Everett stood behind his chair. "I'm going alone, Everett."
Her brother grunted. "You heard me stand up, didn't you?" Grace nodded and Everett sighed. "Fine, but I'm sitting outside the room. All you need to do is shout and I'll break down the bloody door, if need be."
She put out her hand and River took it to help her stand. She replied to her brother, "I'm sure I'll be fine, aye? But don't worry, I'll call if I need you."
River looked at Nora. "Stay with him, baby. Depending on how long this takes, he might need some more whiskey."
Nora smiled and went to Everett's side. "Of course. Besides, I'm eager to hear a few things about the shifters. I've never visited the territory in London, not even as a child."
As Everett reassured her he could do that, River shared a smile with his fiancée a beat before saying to Grace, "Follow my lead."
They walked in silence. River had done his best to be friendly during dinner, and Grace at least didn't tense or try to walk as far away from him as possible. So he must've built some rapport.
Although doing it with a nineteenth-century female wolf shifter who'd spent most of her life in isolation hadn't been easy. Especially since he'd tried his damnedest not to swear so much; he didn't want to frighten her.
Arriving at the study he'd claimed as his temporarily, River escorted Grace inside and helped her into a chair near the fireplace. He sat in the one opposite her and decided to cut the shit and get straight to the point. "I have no real idea if I can do anything to help you or not, Grace. But I promise to be completely honest and won't suggest any sort of half-assed, hocus-pocus cure just because. I won't try to beat around the bush either. I'll tell you straight. Does that work for you?"
She bit her lip a second and then bobbed her head. "Aye. I was fed a lot of lies as a child and honesty from a doctor would be refreshing."
River made a mental note to find the charlatan doctor assholes in London and create a list for the Dark Lords, of whom to stay away from.
"Good." He scooted forward. "Now, I need to hold both of your hands. Once I do, you may feel a little warmth or tingling as I use my magic. That's completely normal. I'm only going to look at first, and then we'll talk about the next steps if there are any. So if you're ready, put out your hands, palms up."
