#audrine

“Saffron. Maeve.”

Zia looked up from her book, where she had been carefully studying an incantation for healing burns. 

It was Audrine who had spoken. She looked more vexed than usual as she entered the healing ward with three unfamiliar fairies in tow. They didn’t appear to be injured, but they had the wide eyes of new arrivals who were no strangers to suffering. Saffron and Maeve, the leaders of the ward, assigned nearby healers to their patients and hurried to Audrine. Zia tried to focus back on her spellbook, but she couldn’t help but overhear

“I’m sure by now you’ve heard about the human,” Audrine said, skipping the pleasantries. “Well, we have a bit of a situation. Which is to say, we have a clusterfuck of a situation. The human brought these three with him, claiming he wanted to get them somewhere safe.”

“It’s true,” murmured one of the new arrivals, whose face flushed when he was ignored.

“Naturally, we can’t let him leave. He knows where and how to find us.” Audrine cast a sour look at the three fairies, who must have led the human through the glamour barrier—their most reliable line of defense. “He put up no resistance to being taken to one of the south wing dormitories. We have our best guards—excluding myself, at the moment—watching him.”

Saffron, normally a picture of gentle composure, pushed himself in front of Maeve protectively. “What does this have to do with us?”

Audrine sighed. “He’s injured. And our new friends say he is worth being healed.”

“He saved us!” the same arrival blurted.

“He… he and his other human friend broke in to save some girl with a traitor mark,” said another, a young woman. “His friend was killed. The girl became unstable. She was an ice affinity. She froze the whole room and killed all the humans in it—all except for him. She told him to save us. S-she… she didn’t make it. Her own magic consumed her.”

By then, Zia was openly staring, along with everyone else in earshot.

“Please,” said the third arrival, who couldn’t have been older than seventeen. She looked to the lead healers, voice hitching. “You have to help him! He’s hurt so bad. All he did was wrap up his wounds. The blood’s showing. He doesn’t even seem to care that he’ll die.”

That finally seemed to make Saffron waver. He shared a look with Maeve, who bit her lip and said, “His injuries are that serious?”

“I’ll do it,” Zia said, the words flying out before she could stop them. When all eyes turned to her, she squared her shoulders. “Take me to him.”

Saffron shook his head. “Zia, we don’t know the danger this man poses.”

“All the more reason I should go,” she said. “You won’t let Maeve go alone, and she won’t let you go alone. And… if he is dangerous, the safe house can’t afford to lose both of you. I’ll go.”

“Excellent, glad it’s settled.” Audrine beckoned Zia to follow before there could be any protest. Nodding curtly at the lead healers, Audrine left behind the new arrivals and all but pushed Zia out of the healing ward. “She will be guarded. If the brute dares to lay a finger on her, that finger will be incinerated.”

Glowing orbs hung all around the safe house, pushing back the night’s darkness. Zia and Audrine flew through the foyer, past the enormous staircases, and crossed into a part of the building that had not been structured with fairy accommodations yet. It made sense to keep the human in the south wing, where fairies rarely wandered. However, Audrine did need to shoo off a group of teenagers who were trying to peek into the corridor to catch a glimpse of the human.

Most of the doors in the expansive hall were open. A group of five fairies hovered at attention in front of the last dormitory.

“Any issues?” Audrine questioned Emiko, one of the guards.

“He’s hardly budged,” he said.

“That’s as good a sign as any.” Audrine turned to Zia. “Are you ready?”

Zia squinted past the doorway. Something fearful fluttered in her stomach. There were hardly any lights in the room, but she could see a massive form sitting at the edge of a human-sized bed. She had the peculiar and frightening feeling of looking into a monster’s den. 

Humans had always been a threat, but the past months had proven they were more than that. They were apocalyptic. And she was about to put herself within reach of one.

He’s hurt.

“I’m ready,” Zia said in a small voice.

She entered the room flanked by Audrine and Emiko. The human raised his head as they approached. As her eyes adjusted, she saw that he was hunched forward, arms folded on his lap. A tingle ran along Zia’s skin as she sensed the injuries upon his body—puncture wounds that could have only been made with human weapons. Even a non-healer could have smelled the blood. It was a wonder he was still conscious.

The three of them came to a stop in front of the human. Dark as it was, he seemed to cast an even deeper shadow over them.

“What do you want?” His voice rumbled like thunder when he spoke, but Zia had a feeling he was barely muttering.

Audrine made a noise of contempt. “I want nothing more than to have you bleed out somewhere outside. The mess would be easier to clean up.”

“Fine by me.” The human grunted and started to rise.

Zia cried out involuntarily, covering her mouth too late to stop the noise. He was even bigger than she could have imagined. Audrine and Emiko immediately shouted incantations and ignited spells to their hands. The human looked between them with narrowed eyes before lowering himself back to the bed.

“Careful,” Audrine said. “If you frighten away your sweet little volunteer, I doubt you’ll be getting another.”

The human's overwhelmingly sharp green gaze settled on Zia. “Volunteer? Don’t tell me this is some kinda creepy sacrifice thing, ‘cause I’m not in the mood.”

“I’m a healer,” Zia said, wincing at how her voice cracked. She tried to compose herself and face him the way she would any other patient. “I’m here to help you. Can you point out what’s hurting the most—”

“No healers,” the human growled, leaning away from her like she was poison.

Zia stared, speechless. Considering the lengths humans had gone to abuse fairies for their magic, she hadn’t even considered that he would turn down the opportunity to be healed.

“Are you an idiot?” Audrine flitted closer in response to his retreat. “You’re lucky you weren’t killed the moment you stepped through the barrier! She’s offering to save you from a slow and painful death. Be grateful. That is, if humans have the capacity for it.”

The human tensed, and Zia’s eyes darted to his hands, certain that he would snatch Audrine out of the air to crush the life out of her. But he merely heaved a sigh and pressed his fingertips to his brows. 

“No healers,” he said with a note of pleading. “Just leave me the fuck alone.”

Audrine hissed, clenching her fists at her sides. “You do not tell me what to do, you overgrown, thankless—”

Zia cleared her throat. “Audrine?”

She rounded on Zia with a glare. “What?”

Fiddling with her fingers, Zia was somehow more nervous than when the human was looking at her. “You’re very good at a lot of things,” she said delicately. “But I don’t think this approach is working. Do you think… I could have some space with him? And more light?”

Emiko looked at Zia like she'd gone mad. “Leave you alone with him?”

“I’m not helpless. You can watch from the door if you like. Just some space, please.”

Crossing her arms, Audrine reluctantly pulled away from the human. “Stay sharp, Zia. He could lash out at any moment.”

“I won’t,” the human muttered.

“And if he continues to refuse your generosity, don’t bother with him.”

Zia nodded, though she had no intention of leaving the room until the human’s wounds were healed. Audrine and Emiko sent out more orbs to fill the room with light. As her view of the human was cleared of shadows, Zia felt the spike of intimidation drive deeper. She tried to see past his size and found her heart breaking for him. He looked positively wrung out. He had a handsome face, no doubt about it, but his expression was cold and empty.

As Audrine and Emiko gave her the space she requested, she couldn’t stop thinking about what the new arrivals had said about the human. When his eyes slid to her, however, she blanked for a few seconds.

“I’m Zia,” she managed, folding her hands in front of her.

“Cliff.” The response alone seemed to exhaust him. “Look, sweetheart, I appreciate it, but I already said no—”

“No healers. I know. But what about some company instead?”

“You don’t want to be here. I’m scaring the daylights outta you.”

“Says who?”

He looked her up and down, heaving a sigh like a gust of wind. “You think you’re fooling anyone? You’re shaking like a leaf. Just go.”

“I’ve never been this close to a human,” she said. “I can’t help but be a little… nervous.”

“You should be more than nervous. Healers have it especially rough out there.” His fists clenched on his lap. “You stay the fuck away from other humans, you hear me?”

Her breath caught. It was distressing to process that level of anguish on such a large face. “I heard what the new arrivals said,” she murmured. “I’m sorry about your friend. And… and the ice affinity girl.”

“They were my family,” he snapped, making her flinch. Her fright eased when he looked a little sorry for startling her. He blinked hard and swiped tears from his eyes before they could fall. “Sylv,” he rasped. “And J—” His voice choked off, mouth pulling into a tortured grimace as he doubled over on the bed and heaved a sob.

“Cliff?” She was surprised to feel tears pricking at the back of her eyes. Flying in tentatively, she reached out a shaking hand to touch his knuckle. She looked up and tried to catch his gaze. “I’m so sorry,” was all she could say.

He shuddered. “It should’ve been me.”

“It shouldn’t have been any of you!” Her own tears finally began to fall. Her voice wobbled, and she pressed on nonetheless. “But you’re here. And I want to help. Please, Cliff… Let me heal you.”

“Don’t you know what’s happening out there?” His voice rose, and he practically shook her off. “Fairies are being caged in iron until their magic is needed for study or whatever sick shit the researchers decide it should be used for. Healers like you are being forced to use their magic. If they don’t comply, they’re tortured. Hell, they’re tortured anyway. I’m not taking anything from you. Not one fucking drop of magic. Don't waste your generosity on a human.”

“You’re not taking,” she insisted, flying up closer to his face and persisting when he tried to turn away. “I’m giving. You saved some of our own, and we’re grateful. Please. Let me do this, and we’ll be even. The ice girl… Sylv. She used her magic to save you, didn’t she?”

His gaze snapped to her, and for a moment, she worried she had crossed a line that would awaken his true human nature. But sorrow flooded in.

He swallowed hard. “She told me… to save as many as I can.”

In that moment, she knew that she was not looking at an enemy, monster, prisoner, or whatever else Audrine and the others wanted to think he was. Maybe even he needed to be convinced that he was none of those things. Pursing her lips, she tried to look at his face and not at the bloodied bandages she so desperately wanted to pull away and heal. 

“We’re trying to save as many as we can, too,” she murmured. “Do you want to help?”

Their eyes met, and she did not flinch away as he studied her. Something shifted in his gaze. He gave a nod that was barely perceptible even at his size.

Zia inched toward a soaked red bandage on his upper arm. “Well, you can’t help us if you’re dead.” She started to tug, but it was wrapped too tightly for her to make any progress.

With a sigh, he unwrapped the wound and allowed himself to be healed.