“Money bags?” a sleepy voice said from behind me.
When I turned, Fin had pulled himself up to sitting.
“Okay, I think it’s time to see if we can get you on your feet. If you bleed out, you bleed out.”
He glared. “I don’t appreciate the humor regarding my imminent death. But thank you.”
I sat next to him on the bed, kicked off my shoes, and shifted my feet up to sit cross-legged. “Let’s combine our power, see if we can heal you, and then you can help me with this plan I’m hatching.”
He nodded and shifted closer so I could press my hands against his wounded side. I wasn’t one hundred percent sure I could do this, but with what the Captain and Fin had taught me about weaving my magic with Fin’s, I was hoping it would be enough.
He placed his hands over mine and we closed our eyes to focus. As usual, I felt more like a flopping fish trying to find the pool of my magic than anything else. I reached into myself and drew it out then sent it gently down the bond between us. A bond that likely meant way more than he’d originally told me.
As soon as the thought hit me, I dropped my hands.
But it didn’t matter, the healing was already done.
Fin dragged in a heavy gasp and opened his eyes too.
“That’s better.” He lifted his shirt and nudged the jagged line under his ribs. “I’ll have a scar, but it doesn’t hurt to breathe anymore. And I’m not bleeding out, as you say.”
My voice was rough when I answered. “Good, I didn’t want to have to clean blood out of this fancy carpet anyway.”
I put some distance between us, even as my fingers itched to trace the scar for myself, verify he’d be safe.
“Were you talking to the Chief?”
I nodded. “We need a few things to get settled here. Like you know, clothes and food. Oh, and weapons, of course.”
While I remembered, I texted the Chief what he’d asked for and then tossed the phone toward the other side of the bed. It would be a while until I’d need to meet anyone, and for now, I needed to keep the distraction out of reach. I
t would be too easy to try and search more about ‘mating,’ hoping to learn something. And then murder myself a fae when I did.
Once I got myself together, I risked a glance at him. He’d been watching me the entire time, leaning in, studying my every twitch.
“Are you all right?”
I swallowed a heavy lump and nodded. “Fine. We just have some work to do.”
“Talk to me, Zoey. I know all of this is happening right now but I’m still me and we’re still together.” He reached out for me, took my hand, and pulled me back to the place next to him.
When he leaned in further, his lips looked so inviting and plump. It took more discipline than I really possessed to shake my head.
“I can’t do this. Not while there are still secrets between us. We keep going round and round and I don’t want back on that ride.”
His forehead crumpled and then he dropped his eyes, conceding to my wishes, for now. I wasn’t stupid enough to think he’d keep his distance. The man always got what he wanted. Him being a spoiled fae prince, why wouldn’t he?
He cleared his throat. “What’s the plan then, boss? Anything I should know right now?
I waved at the phone. “Not yet. Just waiting on supplies. There are some things bouncing around in my head but I’m not sure I want to share them yet.”
Hurt flashed across his face and he didn’t bother to hide it. “You don’t trust me now?”
“It’s not that I don’t trust you, at least not when it comes to our mutual desire to rip Esteban apart. But the rest of it, us, I don’t know how I feel, or what to say. You’re hiding things and I hate it.”
I stood and returned to the window, needing the distance between us. “I’ve started a plan, besides getting the supplies we’ll need. But it’s not simple, and you’re really not going to like it.”
Which, if I was honest with myself, was maybe why I’d settled on the idea when it first hit me. A passive aggressive way to get payback against him for hurting me, again, while still serving myself.