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Quietly, Fenn explained everything to Rajan. From encountering a woman who survived his touch and Cassian’s advice to investigate up through Maya’s assault and Piper’s probable abduction. He kept the story succinct, for expediency as much as modesty, and registered something like nerves flickering in his gut when he finished. He did his best to ignore them. “I could handle this,” he said after a beat, “but that only ends one way.” And there was nothing he could do for Maya.
“You’re right,” Rajan said after a long minute, “that doesn’t sound very like Cassian. Unless he’s had some sort of break.” He let out a breath. “Well, I know how to figure that out and give you what you’re asking for, but you have to promise to play nice.”
Fenn felt his eye twitch. “Just assure me this doesn’t endanger Sienna.” The words were past his lips before he could stop them.
This time he heard a smile in Rajan’s voice. “She doesn’t sound like she’s easily intimidated,” he said, “so she should be fine. I certainly have no inclination at this stage to do anything other than meet her.”
The aggravation left him in a sigh. “You’re coming, then.”
“It sounds like that’s the only way to assure you don’t trigger the apocalypse.” Something rustled, faintly, in the background. “Considering the circumstance, I’ll make it an order. We should be there within the hour.”
Fenn’s eyes flew wide. “We?” But the question was met with silence, because Rajan had already disconnected. He was their leader only if they were pressed to say they had one, after all, so his idea of an official order was still likely to meet with resistance. Especially since Fenn had gone and deliberately pissed off Cassian that very morning.
Guilt gnawed at his stomach and Fenn tucked away his phone. If the man with FlorencewasCassian, was it possible Sienna’s sisters’ current situations were his fault? A result of Fenn’s choice of tactic? His hands curled into fists at his sides. He didn’t see any other explanation in that circumstance, and it only fueled his anger. At himself, for being so sloppy, and at Cassian for being so heartless.
Fenn pushed away from the wall and headed for the sitting room. He wanted to give the sisters some semblance of privacy since they’d migrated to the bathroom. He’d done what he could to clean up the kitchen, to spare Sienna from feeling obligated to do it herself later, and now he was left with waiting. Probably he should consider that Maya would ask him to leave in light of this development, and though he disliked the idea, he couldn’t say he wouldn’t understand. It looked very much like he’d brought danger to their home, however unwittingly. Which made him wonder … how long would it be until Sienna blamed him, too?
“Hey, Fenn,” Sienna said, stepping into the room. She had blood on her hands, smeared across her cheeks, and staining her clothes. She’d thrown her beautiful, colored hair up into a messy ponytail and her eyes were red and puffy. She swallowed and glanced down the hall. “Can you help me … get Maya upstairs? She needs to rest, and she refuses to let me take her for actual help.”
Fenn did his best to offer her a reassuring smile. “Of course. But she’ll feel better if you’re with us, I imagine.” He would tell her about their self-invited guests once Maya was tucked into bed.
Sienna nodded and led him down the hall to the powder room where she’d finished cleaning up and attempting to bandage her sister’s wounds. Many of them would be fine with ordinary band-aids, it was true, but some were deep enough to benefit from stitches. Which, of course, they didn’t keep in the house.
Maya herself held a large bath towel up over her chest and was leaning into the wall from her seat on the counter. Her eyelids were heavy with exhaustion and she was paler than she was supposed to be. But they’d done a good job of stopping the bleeding for the time being.
“Okay, sis,” Sienna said gently, “Fenn’s gonna help with this next part, all right? Just to make it easier.”
Maya hummed, her eyes shifting toward him. “’kay.”
Fenn rematerialized his long coat and carefully draped it around her, enabling himself to lift the injured and minimally dressed woman without touching her directly. She tensed at first, showing some awareness, but didn’t fight.
Sienna stepped closer and adjusted the towel a little, making sure it covered everything it could for her sister’s sake. “Don’t freak out,” she said quietly.
Fenn took that as his cue and called up his magic, transporting the three of them up to the second floor. He wasn’t especially familiar with the second floor, but he didn’t need to be. His void magic enabled him to slide them into what he was sure was the appropriate room before fully settling them into the space. It wasn’t often he used the technique to transport another living being, let alone two, but it was efficient.
“Whoa,” Maya mumbled.
“Yeah, it’s freaky the first time,” Sienna said. She had plastered a grin onto her face that didn’t match her voice.
Fenn carried Maya up to the perfectly made bed and Sienna rushed up to pull the comforter down. Then she squeezed in front of him, tugging it up and over her sister’s chest, tucking her into bed with the coat and the towel still covering her. Although he could technically just dissolve the coat if he chose.
“Hopefully those pain pills will kick in real soon,” Sienna said. “I’ll run out to the car and grab your purse, so you can have your phone, and just text or call me with anything you need. But you should sleep. You’re completely safe in the house, so you have nothing to worry about.”
Fenn laid a hand on Sienna’s shoulder. “I’ll get the purse. Wait here.” He could do it faster, and safer. He didn’t wait for a response before taking himself out to the car.
The blood was still plainly visible, but blood itself didn’t bother him. He let himself into the car, grabbed up the purse on the passenger seat, and frowned. The inside of the car was, of course, much worse. He would have to be sure not to let Sienna see that. But it had to wait. He made sure to lock up before returning to the house and the room where he’d left the women.
“Okay, here you go,” Sienna said, extracting the phone and setting it on the nightstand. She set the purse on the floor in front of the small dresser-like piece of furniture. “You’re sure you don’t want any water or soup or something?”
Maya gave a small shake of her head. “Tired,” she said. “I’ll try to eat … later.”
Sienna nodded and allowed Fenn to guide her from the room. They left the door ajar and Fenn hauled Sienna upstairs without a word. She was visibly startled to reappear in the bathroom and turned to say something to him, but no articulate words escaped her. Instead, her shoulders sagged and she tugged her phone from her pocket, setting it on the counter. “Do I wanna look in the mirror right now?”
A strange kind of sadness gripped him. “Probably not.” Fenn set his own phone beside hers and moved forward to turn on the shower. “Just trust me. Let me help you.”
Her breath hitched as the water poured free, filling the room with background noise. “I-it’s my fault,” she said on a whisper. Her arms curled around herself. “My sisters … they’re hurting because of my choices … aren’t they?”
Fenn pulled her into him, sliding his hands beneath the hem of her shirt and simultaneously dismissing his gloves. “No, Sienna. What happened to Maya, and whatever’s happening to Piper, is because someone else can’t accept reality.” He dragged his hands up, managing to get her to adjust her arms and allow him to lift the shirt over her head. It landed on the floor, and he made sure to aim the bra for the counter to keep it separate from the bloodied pile.
