Lover Avenged(181)
Wrath nodded, then flinched when the soft contact came, and for a moment, he had hope as he heard the click of a penlight. Out of habit, he tensed, preparing for the light to hit whatever retina Havers was going after first. God, ever since he had memories, he could remember squinting at light, and after his transition, it had gotten much worse. As the years had gone by-
“Doc, can you get on with the exam?”
“I’ve…my lord, I’ve finished.” There was a click, presumably Havers turning off his light. “At least with this part.”
Silence. Then Beth’s hand gripping his harder.
“What’s next?” Wrath demanded. “What can you do next.”
More silence, which somehow made the darkness even blacker.
Right. Not a lot of options. Although why he was surprised he hadn’t a clue. Vishous…was never wrong.
FIFTY-FOUR
As night fell, Ehlena crushed her father’s pills into the bottom of his mug, and, when the powder was fine and consistent enough, she went to the refrigerator, got the CranRas, and poured. For once, she was grateful for the order that her father required, because her mind was not on what she was doing.
In her current state, she was lucky to know what state she was in. New York, right?
She checked the clock. Not much time. Lusie would be arriving in about twenty minutes, and so would Rehv’s car.
Rehv’s car. Not him.
About an hour after she had called and left her message about his ex, a voice mail had come back from him. Not a phone call. He’d dialed directly into the system, put her number in, and left the recording.
His voice had been low and serious: “Ehlena, I’m sorry that you were approached like that, and I’ll make sure it never happens again. I’d like to see you at nightfall, if you’re free. I’ll send my car for you at nine unless I hear back from you that it doesn’t work.” Pause. “I’m so sorry.”
She knew the message by heart because she’d listened to it about a hundred times. He sounded so different. Like he was speaking in another language.
Naturally she hadn’t slept during the day, and in the end she figured there were two ways to take it: Either he was horrified she’d had to deal with the female at all, or he’d had a really shitty meeting.
Maybe it was a combination of both.
She refused to believe that nut with the crazy eyes had any credibility. Hell, the female reminded Ehlena too much of her father when he was in one of his delusional episodes: fixated, obsessive, in another reality. She had wanted to do damage and had calibrated her words accordingly.
Still, it would have been good to talk to Rehv. She could have used the reassurance, but at least she didn’t have to wait any longer to see him.
After she was certain the kitchen was left in exactly the same arrangement as it had been when she’d come up, she took the stairs to the basement and went to her father’s room.
She found him in bed with his eyes closed, his body still. “Father?” He didn’t move. “Father?”
CranRas splashed as she all but threw the mug onto the table. “Father!”
Those eyes opened and he yawned. “Verily, daughter mine, how fare thee?”
“Are you all right?” She looked him over even though he was mostly covered by the velvet duvet. He was pale and his hair was all Chia Pet, but he seemed to be breathing easily. “Is there anything-”
“English is rather coarse on the ear, is it not?”
Ehlena paused. “Forgive me. I just…Are you well?”
“Indeed I am. I was up well into the day thinking of another project, which is why I dallied longer than usual upon this bed. I do believe I shall let the voices in my head wander onto the page. I believe I would benefit from giving them an outlet other than myself.”
Ehlena allowed her knees to loosen and she sat without grace on the bed. “Your juice, Father. Would you care for it now?”
“Ah, lovely. The maid is so thoughtful to prepare it for you.”
“Yes, she is very thoughtful.” Ehlena handed him his meds and watched him drink, her heart rate slowing.
Lately, life had been nothing but a series of Batman BANG!s, POW!s, and CRACK!s, with her pinballing around her comic-book page until she was dizzy. Guess it was going to take some time before every little thing stopped getting blown up in her mind into mad drama.
When her father was finished, she kissed his cheek, told him she was going out for a bit, and took the mug back upstairs. By the time Lusie knocked about ten minutes later, most of Ehlena’s brain was back where it needed to be. She was going to see Rehv, enjoy his company, then resume her job search when she got home. Everything was going to be okay.