Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Luke had underestimated how quickly Gomez could turn being kidnapped into a social event.
Within minutes, Cosmo had been questioned about his horns, his hooves, his marriage to the King, and whether the vines growing across the chamber walls were sentient.
Cosmo answered everything with obvious delight, occasionally pausing long enough to correct one of Gomez’s increasingly creative assumptions.
The healer endured the conversation with less enthusiasm.
Gomez remained propped against the pillows on Connal’s bed while she examined the casts encasing his legs. Cosmo sat nearby, with Avaneel perched on the back of his chair. Several more pixies had gathered in the doorway, apparently drawn by Gomez’s enthusiastic admiration of Avaneel’s wings.
Connal occupied one of the oversized chairs across the chamber, where he could follow the King’s order to rest while still watching Luke. Asterius and Keir had settled near the wall. Zer remained at the foot of the bed, close enough to help if the healer needed Gomez moved.
Luke sat on the arm of Connal’s chair, trying to divide his attention between his injured friend and the strange warmth surrounding the hand Connal held.
“So you’re a faun,” Gomez said to Cosmo.
“Yes.”
“And you’re married to the King.”
“Mated,” Cosmo corrected. “But also married.”
“Does that make you a king too?”
“Consort.”
“What’s the difference?”
“At the moment, it means Silenus gets to deal with the people trying to murder our warriors while I answer your questions.”
The reminder stripped away some of Luke’s amusement. Somewhere in the human world, the people who had prepared the warehouse were still free. They knew where Hale had redirected him, and the drive hidden at Luke’s waistband was important enough to make them attack anyone who came near it.
He could not afford to forget that simply because Gomez was safe for the moment.
The healer tapped one of the casts. “I need to remove these.”
Gomez stopped questioning Cosmo. “Absolutely not.”
“They prevent me from examining the injuries.”
“They also prevent my legs from moving, which the human medical professionals assured me was important.”
Luke left Connal’s side and crossed to the bed. “What happens if you remove them?”
The healer looked up at him. “I determine where the bones were broken and whether they have begun healing correctly.”
“And then?”
“If the damage is within my ability to repair, I mend it.”
Gomez stared at her. “You’re going to mend two broken legs.”
“If I can.”
“With magic.”
“Yes.”
“See, you say that like it’s a normal medical option.”
“For her, it is,” Cosmo said.
Luke studied the healer. He had watched magic restrain Connal, block his ability to escape, and remain attached to him after they left the warehouse. He had also watched these healers remove those bindings and steady Connal’s pulse when Luke could do nothing more than hold on.
Magic was not inherently safe or dangerous.
The person controlling it mattered.
“What are the risks?” Luke asked.
“The repair will exhaust him,” the healer said. “His body may require several days to adjust, and the strength lost while his legs were immobilized will not return immediately. If his body reacts poorly to the magic, I will stop.”
“Have you healed humans before?”
“Our healers understand human bodies,” Cosmo answered. His humor had faded, leaving something steadier beneath it. “The process requires more care because humans have no magic of their own to support the repair, but this is not an experiment.”
Luke looked at Gomez. “It’s your decision.”
Gomez’s attention moved from Luke to the healer and then to the pixies hovering hopefully near the doorway.
“If I tell you to stop, you stop?”
The healer met his gaze. “Immediately.”
“And no one turns me into anything?”
“No.”
“Or adds anything?”
Her brow furrowed. “What would I add?”
“I don’t know. A tail. Wings. Extra toes. This is all very new.”
Cosmo covered a laugh with one hand.
The healer remained solemn. “You will possess the same number of limbs when I finish.”
“That is a weirdly specific promise, but I’ll take it.” Gomez reached for Luke’s hand. “What do you think?”
Luke closed his fingers around his. “I think she can help. But you don’t have to do this until you’re ready.”
Gomez drew a slow breath and looked at the healer again. “Okay. Let’s magic me.”
“That is not what we are doing.”
“Close enough.”
The healer glanced toward Luke.
He shook his head. “Don’t look at me. He gave you permission.”
The healer touched two fingers to the cast around Gomez’s left leg. The plaster cracked beneath them.
Luke tightened his hold on Gomez’s hand.
Instead of reaching for a saw, the healer traced the split with one fingertip. White dust spilled across the blanket before dissolving into the air. The padding beneath the plaster followed, peeling away without disturbing the leg.
Gomez stared. “Okay. That was both horrifying and extremely efficient.”
The healer repeated the process on his other leg.
Luke winced at the bruising and swelling revealed beneath the casts. Gomez had spent the past two weeks complaining about boredom, itching, and his inability to reach snacks without assistance. He had rarely mentioned the pain unless Luke caught him trying to hide it.
The healer passed her hands slowly over both legs. Pale light gathered beneath her palms, tracing two separate breaks.
“The bones were aligned properly,” she said. “The human healers served him well.”
“You sound surprised,” Gomez said.
“I am pleased.”
“That is not the same thing.”
Cosmo leaned closer. “You’ll learn that fae compliments require interpretation.”
“You’re going to be my translator.”
“I would be honored.”
The healer looked toward the pixies gathered near the doorway. “I require space.”
They retreated several feet as a group, their disappointment obvious.
“May Avaneel stay?” Gomez asked.
The healer studied him, then the tiny pixie hovering beside Cosmo. “If she does not interfere.”
Avaneel darted to the bed and settled near Gomez’s hip. “I will help.”
“You will remain still,” the healer corrected.
“I will help by remaining still.”
“Acceptable.”
Luke glanced toward Connal. He remained where Silenus had ordered him to sit, one hand curled around the arm of the chair. Their gazes met. Connal gave a single nod.
Steady.
Present.
Luke looked back at Gomez.
The healer placed one hand above each fracture. Light spread beneath her palms, sinking into Gomez’s skin instead of resting across its surface.
Gomez sucked in a sharp breath.
“What do you feel?” Luke asked.
“Heat. Pressure.” His fingers tightened painfully around Luke’s. “And possibly ants crawling inside my bones.”
The healer frowned. “There are no ants.”
“Good. One less thing to worry about.”
The light brightened. Gomez’s joking expression vanished as a tremor moved through his legs. Luke’s pulse accelerated, but he kept his grip steady.
“You can tell her to stop,” he reminded Gomez.
“I know.” Gomez breathed slowly through his nose. “I’m okay.”
The magic followed the lines of the fractures. Luke could see where the breaks had been now, not because the bones were visible but because the light narrowed around them, drawing the damaged pieces together.
Gomez’s body tensed.
A soft crack came from beneath the healer’s hands.
Luke started forward.
Connal’s voice stopped him. “The magic is repairing what was broken.”
Luke looked at him.
Connal had not risen or attempted to interfere. If he believed Gomez was in danger, nothing—not injury, royal command, or common sense—would have kept him in that chair.
Luke forced himself to remain still.
The healer shifted her hands. Another crack followed, quieter than the first. The lines of light smoothed and spread until they flowed evenly along both of Gomez’s legs.
His grip on Luke eased.
“Oh,” Gomez whispered.
“What?”
“The pain stopped.”
The last of the magic sank beneath his skin. The healer kept her hands in place for several breaths before lifting them away.
“It is done.”
Luke studied Gomez’s legs. The swelling had receded, and most of the bruising had faded, leaving only faint discoloration behind.
“Define done,” he said.
“The fractures have been repaired. His bones are whole.”
Gomez cautiously moved one foot. When nothing happened, he wiggled his toes.
“I have toes again.”
“You always had toes,” Luke said.
“I couldn’t see them. They were theoretical toes.”
Avaneel crawled closer to inspect them. “They are very small.”
“They’re proportional.”
She appeared unconvinced.
Luke turned to the healer. “Can he walk?”
“Not yet. The bones are whole, but his muscles have weakened, and his body has endured a large amount of unfamiliar magic. He will require rest before he attempts to stand.”
“How much rest?”
“That depends on how his body responds. Perhaps a day. Perhaps several.”
Gomez fell back against the pillows. “I vote for a day.”
“You do not control the speed of your recovery,” the healer said.
“You’d be surprised what I can accomplish through stubbornness.”
“No,” Luke said. “She wouldn’t.”
One of the pixies darted forward and pulled the blanket over Gomez’s bare legs. The others took that as permission to approach. Within seconds, they hovered around the bed in a sparkling cloud, asking whether he needed water, pillows, flowers, food, or someone to sing.
Gomez looked delighted.
“I would like snacks.”
Half the pixies vanished.
Luke stared after them. “What did you just do?”
“I have no idea, but I think I’m their king now.”
Cosmo laughed. “I strongly recommend that you never say that within Silenus’s hearing.”
“Consort, then.”
“That title is also occupied.”
“I’ll workshop it.”
The healer closed her case. “He may become tired without warning. Do not allow him to stand without assistance, and send for me if the pain returns.”
“I’ll make sure he behaves,” Luke said.
Gomez snorted. “Your optimism is adorable.”