“I didn’t know you were here.” I lean away from him.
“Annie brought us here with the refugees. It’s been an interesting time, but I quite like Morriganis City. I do miss Starlight, of course.” He grins. “Are you okay? Are you well?”
Howard. He is too sweet. “Me? I’m fine. Are you?”
“Yeah. Not mentally, but I never have been.” He laughs like it’s a joke. It isn’t, but I let it go. He looks over at Rhodes and smiles warmly. “Hello, Rhodes. Good to see you again.”
I look between them, confused. Rhodes tried to kill Howard, but now it seems like he trusts him. “How are you two friends?”
Howard moves nervously. “Rhodes has been coming here and giving us massive donations of food and helping out a lot. He apologised.”
Rhodes dips his head. “I never meant to hurt Howard. I just needed him out of the way before we came to an understanding.”
While we are on the awkward subjects. “Howard…thank you for giving your power to Severi. That really meant a lot. It saved Onyx’s life, and in a way, it saved me too. I owe you enormously.”
“It’s okay, actually. My Nexus and I are genuinely happier without the power. We were never very good at it. It was always a lot of pressure hanging over me and putting a death warrant on my head for obvious reasons. My family always hid in the shadows—no one ever coming out, no one ever talking. But now I’m free. I can walk around the city knowing that, yes, someone could kill me, but they wouldn’t get my power. I wouldn’t doom the world or anything.” He smiles. “I’m glad Severi took it, and it wasn’t as painful as I thought it would be, so that’s a bonus.”
“It’s really good to see you, Howard. You’re exactly who I needed to see today.” I look at the back door. “Are there animals here?”
“Yes. We’re completely overrun, actually. There have been quite a lot of animals displaced from the cities, and no one was taking them in, so we’ve been taking in as many as possible. But now we’re quite overwhelmed, and I’m still trying to get more volunteers to help. I don’t know if you’re busy—I’m sure you are?—”
“No, I’m not busy today. Volunteering is probably just what I need. Any chance I can start in the cat section?” I wink at Rhodes.
Rhodes groans, but his lips are tugged up. “If we bring a cat home, the others are going to get mad at me. They’re already not too happy about the dog.”
“Then we should get two cats.” I nod.
“I wouldn’t?—”
His laugh echoes as we follow Howard into the shelter, and for a moment, I begin to feel something like a normal person.
Chapter
Ten
ANNIE
“That’s better. You have soft hair, Feyre.” I finally finish brushing the last of the knots out of her hair. Between her nightmares and her tossing and turning all night for days, her hair was a mess. It took me all day to convince her to let me help her wash her, mostly because she doesn’t respond often. I always want to make sure she is okay with my help, because she needs that control. She stares at the mirror, not really looking at me, not focused on anything, and she is as pale as ever. She is still sick, still needing expensive medical treatment to live, but Gwen’s aunt is working on a long solution with the scientists in the city.
Between her treatments, her therapy, and the daily healers who work on her, she is rarely alone. I think we are all afraid to leave her alone for too long, and Finnegan has set up a day plan to make sure she has someone here. I take every other morning for five hours, like today, and the only one who doesn’t come in here is Gwen…because seeing Gwen brings back the memories we are trying to help her with. Today’s not a good day for Feyre, although I’m hoping things will get slightly better as the weeks go on.
I think getting out of this room will do Feyre some good, and meeting people who have been through things too. The city is full of humans who are struggling after losing their homes, their families and cities. They turn up here, rescued by the recovery teams sent by the alpha female, and they are never in a good way. On the days I’m not with Feyre, I spend my time in the camps set up, helping however I can. I lost my city too, my home, when Starlight City fell, and I can relate to them. I lost my parents too.
“Should we sit by the window and have a look over the city? It’s sunny today, which has been rare this week.” I babble on to her. I don’t know if she is even taking in anything I’m saying, but I figure it’s best to act normal and have conversations around her like I would anyone else. “Every day, it has rained and rained, and my hair goes frizzy in it. I end up looking like a scarecrow.”
She listens, I think, as I take her hand, and she stands. I move her over to the cosy chair by the window and cover her legs with a blanket before blowing out a long breath. I can’t do much to help with everything that’s going on, but she asked me to help look after her, and that, I am determined to do.
Feyre actually answers. “My father liked scarecrows. He would make them for the farmers in Starlight City and enchant them with runes so they would work well.”
Her voice shocks me, let alone her speaking of her father so warmly. The only time she has talked to me has always been about trivial things and those small conversations last all of a second before she shuts down. “You can tell me more about him,” I encourage. “He sounds like a smart and kind man. It doesn’t surprise me he had two strong children.”
“He was not strong in the end. He screamed and begged me to help him as he died. I couldn’t.” Her voice is so emotionless, so empty. “I knew in my heart that my father would never wantme to tell them anything that could hurt Finnegan. Telling them wouldn’t have changed his fate…he was already dead. I stared at his dead body for three days until they burnt him in front of me. I wish?—”
The door opens and Healer Dorothy walks in. She pauses, likely hearing Feyre’s voice. Feyre goes silent, and I touch her hand. “You did the right thing, and you are not to blame, Feyre. You and Finnegan are safe, and he would have wanted that above all.”
She doesn’t respond to me, and I know she isn’t going to. My shoulders drop and I walk to meet Healer Dorothy at the door. She winces. “Did I interrupt her, Annie? I’m here to take over for the next couple of hours, and you can take a break if you want. I didn’t hear her talking from the other side of the door, I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright, I don’t think she would say much more. Today was good, a new step forward because she spoke of her father a few times. I also helped her shower, did her hair, and got her dressed in something other than pyjamas.”