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Doctor Prince tips her head to the side like Darwin might have a point.
“Can I trust you two to get Teddy to the healers without further incident?” she asks them.
Darwin nods. “I think our study session is over.”
“No way. I only have two stairs left to read.”
“They can wait until tomorrow,” Darwin says soothingly.
“They can definitely wait until tomorrow,” Doctor Prince says. “If you’d be so good as to undo the StoneSkin spell, I’ll put the Acta away. But I must caution you. As a Fate, Klotho is likely to have foreknowledge as to when portals near the four of you are likely to open. She’ll be able to position herself to take advantage of that prescience. That puts you in danger. I’ll speak to The Mr. Black about re-warding the campus, but since there are whole classes of juniors and seniors who are working on portaling, this won’t be Klotho’s last opportunity. You need to be on your guard.”
I trade glances with my boys before we nod.
Chapter51
False Faces
At the rate we’re going, we’ll be on a first name basis with the three healers before Yule.
All of them worked to restore Darwin. Even with Princely sitting beside me, I only rate one healer, a matronly woman who tells us to call her Chaucer. She clucks like a right hen over me, but within a minute of her doing whatever she’s doing, the pain behind my eyes ebbs and the faint, red halo I was seeing around everything fades to normal.
The pain goes, but the sense that everything is out of place doesn’t.
“Thank you,” I say, when she seems to be finished, ‘cause I can be polite when the situation calls for it, no matter what everyone thinks about me.
“You’re welcome, dear. No activities that will raise your blood pressure for twelve hours.” She slides her eyes to my bookends. “That includes activities with young men. A warm bath and then bed. Sleep is the best healer the Mother ever created.”
“Do I have to wake up every two hours?” Because that will suck.
“No, I’ve healed the damage. The twelve hours is just to let everything settle. If you feel any pain or nausea, come straight back to me.”
“Can I use magic?” I ask hopefully. I want to Earth-Walk home to reconnect with my element and then cocoon with my boys, in our bed, where I know we’re safe.
“If you feel up to it. If it tires you, stop. Otherwise, it’s generally beneficial to draw on your Element after an injury.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” She doesn’t seem inclined to keep me overnight, for which I’m grateful.
Finding The Mr. Black sitting at our dining table when we return from the Infirmary puts a serious damper on my cocooning plans.
“Oh look, the Teddyclysm returns,” Lords says as we step out of the Earth into the kitchen.
I give him the vees.
I glance around to find Charlie hovering anxiously at the kitchen island, messing about with tea fixings. Charlie and I have been making tea since we were old enough to lift a kettle. He doesn’t need to measure the water the way he’s doing.
As soon as Charlie sees me, he tosses the kettle into the sink and strides towards me with his arms open.
I shuffle to him. Let him wrap me in that infinitely comforting embrace.
“You okay?” he asks. “And what the fuck, bean? Why were you reading that damn book by yourself?”
I lift my face to him. “No harm ever came from reading a book.”
Charlie chuckles at myMummyreference. “Seriously, you okay?”
I nod, but my chin quivers and my eyes prickle.
Charlie’s hand slides up into my hair, tucking my face into his neck. “You’re not okay,” he whispers against my temple. “This is all getting to be too fucking much.”
