Chapter 17 Heidi
HEIDI
Jessica doesn't wait for me to finish waking up before the rant begins.
"Don't worry, she said. I'll be totally fine, she said. And then what did she do?" Jessica demands, drifting back and forth angrily in my living room in her ghostly attempt to pace.
"She went and got hit by a bus like a complete idiot," I groan, still groggy.
Adjusting on my cozy living room couch that I was too tired to move from after Silas and Everett transported me back from the hospital last night, I pull a fuzzy throw blanket over my face.
"Gods, could there be anything more embarrassing than running directly in front of a bus on live television?
That's going to stay on the internet forever and haunt the rest of my life. "
Not that I'll have much of a life after yesterday, of course.
I'm still bouncing back and forth between denial that my real identity is all over the news and deciding to pretend the outside world doesn't exist while I live out the rest of my days as a horny, hapless hermit in this cottage in the woods.
Jess throws her translucent hands in the air, facing me. "That's what you're focused on? El, this isn't the time for embarrassment. This is the time to get mad. You should sue the pants off those assholes who harassed you, and sue the bus driver and Chicago and the fae elders and—"
She continues to rage as I lift the blanket and my shirt to check the splotchy, dark purplish blue bruises covering my still-recovering body.
My head is so far the only part of me that's completely healed.
The worst of the damage healed a bit more as I slept—yay for shifter perks—but I'm still wildly sore, bruised head to toe, and so freaking tired.
Ever since I woke up in the emergency room to the sound of Everett's utter panic when he arrived after the accident, things have been a blur.
No matter how many times I insisted I was the dummy who bolted in front of a bus, he was badly rattled and kept promising me he'd "fix things.
" Silas laid more protective charms and concealment spells on my place so I could recover and lay low while they handle Marwood's tantrum.
They hope this whole thing will die out in a few weeks.
But even if it does, it's not like I can just go back to living the life I chose.
As much as I love Koasville and its small-town community, they don't always like legacies here, even with all the positive changes made after the Upheaval.
I haven't even glanced at my phone since the accident because my small town loves gossip.
I'm sure there will be about a million messages on it from dozens of friends, coworkers, old teachers, old classmates, and so on now that they know the truth about me.
Trying not to think about how tattered my life is feeling, I remember something and squint up at my furious best friend. "Hey, where's Athanis?"
She stops her rant to frown. "Who? Bitch, I don't know, and I don't care because you could've died yesterday and I'm still waiting for an apology!"
"Oh, right. Sorry for not joining you to check out men in the Beyond together," I joke, trying to lighten her mood.
Jessica's lips twitch. She scowls at me, collapsing her weightless body on the other couch. "Don't make me laugh right now. I mean it. You scared the hell out of me."
"I'm really sorry," I say, genuinely this time.
I attempt sitting up on the couch, but holy ouch, that's a bad idea, so I lie back again and yawn despite my sore jaw.
From the little peek I get of the outside world through a crack in the nearby window shades, I can see that I've slept to midday and the sky is gray, promising rain.
"There was another coherent, clear ghost here when I fell asleep.
His name is Athanis, and I found him in this ancient fae laboratory and then—"
Jessica is immediately leaning over me on the couch, her eyes wide. "Wait, is he hot? Please tell me he's hot."
"He's fairly good-looking. He's a priest, though—or he was, so he might not be your type."
"Are you kidding me? I've always wanted to corrupt a priest! Where'd he go? I'm dying to figure out how ghost sex works."
I laugh at her and then wince, because it turns out that laughing feels like taking a hammer to the ribs right now. "I don't know where Athanis went, but if he pops up again, you can't just climb him like a tree. He's from thousands of years ago and probably thinks ankles are scandalous."
"Don't you worry, El, I'll show him the true meaning of scandalous," she bounces her eyebrows deviously. Then she examines my face and sighs. "Seriously, though, how are you feeling?"
I pause, taking stock. "Physically, I'll be fine in a day or two. But I'm pretty sure my life's over," I confess, sniffing when my emotions well up in my eyes.
Jess's expression turns sympathetic. "You'll get through it. I'll make sure you do. You know I'm not going anywhere until you're all good, right? I'm here for you."
"I know," I sniff again, remembering what Athanis told me about guardian spirits.
My friend's ghostly hand brushes over my cheek like she's trying to wipe away a stray tear, but of course, all I feel is the briefest chill.
"You have to tell me everything that happened yesterday—and then tell me the address of the motherfucker who leaked your big secret to the media.
I'll go find Carolina Reaper, pass through her a couple of times for some of her mojo, and then rain down hell on the ungrateful fae asshole," she decides.
I yawn, wondering if I can go back to sleep for a while to let my body finish recovering. “Maven is in Halfton, so good luck drifting all the way there and back again.”
"Damn," she sighs. "I really wanted to be an avenging angel today."
"It's the thought that counts."
"Then just tell me everything about yesterday, and I'll figure out how to avenge you later."
My attention moves to the coffee table where my cell phone sits, now with a slightly cracked screen. I'm tempted to check it and see if Everett has said anything about the two recovered sleepers. Noah might have told him if the fae have tried to wake them up again.
If they do, will they start experimenting on Athanis’s gorgeous warrior friend right away? Is he in danger? The idea of him getting hurt makes my gut clench painfully.
I have no idea how I could possibly get him out of the fae research facility, but I did agree to help Athanis. The thought of that beautiful dragon shifter being turned into something terrible by Marwood is enough to make me sick.
My anxious thoughts are interrupted when someone knocks firmly on my front door.
Since Silas spelled this place to be covered in protective charms and camouflaged so no one can easily find it, it must be either him or Everett back to check on me.
I wouldn't be surprised if my brother's been texting me all day and is now showing up to make sure I'm still alive since my phone is on "Do Not Disturb. "
Biting back a whimper at the soreness in every muscle, I drag myself off the couch, leaving my blanket behind.
Out of habit, I check my reflection quickly in the little mirror above where I hang my keys.
My hair is in a slept-in messy bun, but my attention goes to the pink birthmark over my left cheekbone, covering parts of my ear and splashing all the way down to my upper lip.
I was so bone-tired and drugged on some pain elixir the hospital gave me when they dropped me off yesterday, all I did was shower and change into a comfy tank top and leggings to crash.
I'm not wearing the full-coverage foundation I usually use—the waterproof kind that even conceals tattoos flawlessly—but you know what?
Everett's seen my birthmark plenty of times, and Silas is too pragmatic to stare, so I'll get over myself just this once.
Already putting on a bright smile to convince them I'm fine and not secretly still exhausted, I open the door.
"Good morn—"
I freeze in the doorway, my voice dying off.
Oh, my gods.
This isn't Everett or Silas. It's a stranger. A very tall, buff, tattooed, gorgeous stranger with red hair and brilliant green eyes that widen on me, his mouth dropping open slightly.
Jessica appears on the porch beside him and looks at me. "Oh, hell yes! This guy again? Smash."
My brain is preoccupied with trying to figure out why this ripped-as-a-movie-star man is on my magically concealed house's porch and why I'm not sensing any emotions from him, but my mouth functions on autopilot.
"Um…hi, there. Do you need something?"
His eyes rake over me before he smirks, leaning forward and resting a forearm at the top of the door in a way that highlights his muscles.
"Well, now I do."
This absolute stud just checked me out.
I repeat, he checked me out.
Which would normally be fantastic for my self-esteem, but…
My neck and face are abruptly on fire as I remember the mess I just saw in the mirror. It takes every bit of my control not to lift a hand to cover my birthmark. Thanks to my upbringing, it's pretty hard not to experience some serious panic and embarrassment whenever anyone sees me bare-faced.
The handsome stranger takes in my flushed appearance with satisfaction before glancing behind me into my house.
"I'm going to need your name, number, and a list of all your favorite things, but first, I should probably check on your roommate. Everett Frost hired me to be her bodyguard."
I blink up at him. "My brother sent you?"
His eyes snap back to my face, and it's like his brain is recalibrating. After a long moment, he straightens, still staring at me.
"You're Heidi?"
"Yeah? Actually, I prefer to go by Elise, but—"
"You," he gestures at me, up and down, like he really needs to clarify this point for both of us. Like maybe I'm the one confused here. "You are Everett Frost's sister?"
Jessica busts up laughing. I can't sense this guy's emotions—he must be wearing mytherun somewhere—but he's in such comedic disbelief that I'm suddenly fighting my own giggle before I get a hold of myself.
"Yeah, I know. Not a lot of family resemblance." How could there be when my brother became a supermodel and I became a baker? "If you need proof, my face is kind of all over the news right now," I add, wrinkling my nose at that thought.
He's still staring, his eyes tracing my features. His voice lowers as if he's talking to himself.
"Shit."