Daybreak

XI

We took a taxi back to the penthouse.

Whatever magic Sylvian was using to get us through without somebody calling the police on us took a much larger toll on him this time around than before, his eyelids barely staying open the time we left the elevator and almost collapsing before we reached the couches, just narrowly avoiding dropping the still unconscious Thalias straight to the floor, the blood from his nose still streaked down the bottom half of his face.

The fireplace was unlit this time around, nothing but ashes sitting at the bottom and for some odd reason, it felt colder in here without it blazing.

"Here." I turned around in surprise to see Sylvian attempting to get back on his feet, glamour no longer in place and thin arms attempting to grab Thalias again.

"Whoa, hey no," I said, smacking his hands away and he looked up at me, exasperated.

"Do you want him waking up out of a locked room or not?"

I threw my head back, sighing, "Fine, okay, but I'll drag him alright?"

The elf gave a weak smile, "Sounds good with me."

Worry flashed through me at how out of it he looked, though he looked considerably less pale than before which I counted as a good sign at least- "Where am I taking him?" I asked, feeling ridiculous grabbing one of the dark elf's arms to drag him across the floor.

"You can just- here," he got to shaky feet, attempting to grab Thalias to hoist him over his shoulder and I practically screeched at him to stop, which he did, with a very hurt expression on his face, "You are going to hurt yourself even more," I hissed, maintaining my hold on one of Thalias's arms.

"Then let me take his other arm at least," he hissed back, "You don't even know where you're going."

"Fine, but you're letting me take care of your shoulder after."

"Deal."

I huffed, letting him teeter back to his feet and loosely grip the other wrist, pulling backward as we slowly dragged the unconscious dark elf towards the back hall.

"Sorry about your floor," I muttered, unable to tear my eyes away from the watery scarlet streaks we were leaving on the tile.

The elf attempted a thin-lipped grin, the expression coming out more like a grimace before muttering a tight, "It's fine."

Following Sylvian's strained instruction, we dragged Thalias right to a spare bedroom, propping him up against the bed frame before turning around and locking the door behind us, Noah looking back to being ready to faint again and I hurriedly shoved him back to sitting on the couch.

The first aid supplies hadn't been moved from their spot on a nearby coffee table from the night before and I was quick to grab the roll of bandages and a fresh damp washcloth from the bathroom before coming to a seat beside him. "I should apologize in advance; I don't know how much this is going to hurt."

His shoulder twitched and Sylvian grimaced, eyes looking ahead, "It's fine."

For a split second, I found my hands hovering over the thick gashes dug into his skin, most of the wound still glistening from a mix of fresh blood and rain and my stomach dropped to see just how much crimson was soaked into his shirt already. "I'm sorry, I think I need you to take off your shirt."

With a strained grunt, he lifted his uninjured arm, looping his hand under the fabric before gingerly raising it over his head and ducking through, and I was quick to help stretch the bloodied sleeve over his injured arm to avoid causing more discomfort, dropping the fabric on the floor.

Turning back to the task at hand I froze, catching sight of taut pale skin and speckled feathers. How he was sitting he had his back to me, the wound covering mainly the backside of his shoulder and upper arm, some of the feathers closest to the gash stained a dark crimson-

It was-

Out the corner of my eye, I caught sight again of the open wound still staring red and angry in his skin.

Bandages, right.

I bit my lip, raising the dampened cloth and attempting to dab up the excess blood, white fabric quickly going red and it took a few trips to the sink to rinse out the rust-colored stain enough to begin wrapping, all the while Sylvian sitting rigid straight on the cushion beside me, occasionally rolling his injured shoulder with a loud sigh or asking to tighten the bandage snugger over the wound, voice still strained but closer to his usual tone than before.

"How are you this- awake right now? You were about ready to pass out the second we got here." I frowned, looping the roll of bandages under his arm again.

"It's an elf thing," he shrugged sheepishly, wincing as I tightened the bandages more snugly over the wound and I was quick to mutter a rushed apology.

"And the keeping secrets? Is that an elf thing too?" I asked in a low tone, raising a brow.

He ducked his head at the clear prod, "Humans aren't the only ones capable of hiding secrets. But, for all it's worth- I'm sorry I've never told you what you've had to hear from Thalias and I first."

The dark elf's mocking taunt of princess, and brother echoed through my thoughts at his attempt of an apology and I forced a thin smile to my lips, making another wrap of the bandage, "It's fine," I lied, an inch from speaking the phrase through my teeth.

"I promise I'll tell you-"

"Do you have any painkillers?" I interrupted, itching to change the topic for the time being, my chest tight.

He shook his head as I was finishing up the wrapping, tucking the ending piece through another to keep it securely in place and I found my eyes trailing back to the mass of feathers dotting the skin of his back, curiosity lighting over.

Confirming my earlier guess, the plumage dotting his face and neck didn't merely stop at his upper back, instead fanning out midway over the tops of his shoulders and tracing a thin line down the length of his spine, growing smaller in size further down-

"You can touch them if you want."

I snapped out of it, startled and mumbling a flustered, "What?" cheeks growing warm, fingers digging into the damp rust-colored cloth of the washrag.

Noah chuckled under his breath, the muscles of his back visibly straining as he twisted to look at me, green eyes meeting my face, "you can touch the feathers if you want, I don't mind."

"Wha- I didn't-"

"I don't mind," he repeated, giving me a comforting smile and shutting my stuttering mouth, "I can see you're curious."

Meeting his eyes and looking back down to his back, hesitantly I reached a hand up from the empty bandage roll to the plumage dotting the back of his neck, tentatively brushing my fingertips against the soft feathers, surprised at how pillowy they felt under my fingertips.

He shivered faintly under the touch and I pulled my hand back with a quick jerk.

Sylvian chuckled, apparently sensing my growing embarrassment he stood to his feet, rolling his injured shoulder again, face still tight with pain, but the wound apparently more bearable now that it was taken care of. "Now," he started, looking down at me with narrowed green eyes.

"I think I owe you some answers."