Fear Her Wrath II: Crucible of Glass

Chapter 33

When I awoke, I found myself on Dr. Edwyn Lily's operating table. The first thing I noticed was that I wasn't wearing my mask or costume. The second was that Gabriel Langston was leaning against the wall of the surgery, a knowing smile on his face.

"I'm glad I guessed right," he said in his low, raspy voice.

It took a moment for me to register that he was wearing the Whippowil's costume. I tried to sit up and immediately regretted it.

"Ow. @$#%. That really hurts. Wait, so are you—?"

He replied by making the Whippowil's trademark call with his lips. I couldn't believe it. Not only was Gabriel Langston the Whippowil, and not only had he just saved me from being tortured to death, but he knew who I was—worse, he'd guessed who I was before he even took off my mask.

I really couldn't process any of that right now. I passed off my confusion by taking stock of my injuries. All the lacerations and cuts were cleaned and dressed, and a slight wooziness told me I was on strong pain medicine. There was an ice pack taped over my cracked ribs, and the cigarette burns on my wrist had been delicately bandaged. There wasn't much Dr. Lily could do about the bruises—at least, that's what dad would have said—but whatever unconventional treatment he'd used had obviously helped. I was sore, but that was to be expected.

Sore was better than dead.

"Is my stuff okay?"

Gabriel eyes directed me to my satchel, which was leaning against the wall in a corner of the room. My electro-staff was folded neatly beside it, and my backpack—which I'd left behind the dumpster on Vice Mile—was there too. So, not only had Gabriel rescued me from being tortured to death, he'd even saved all my gear. I owed him. Big time. Nobody else had ever pulled my butt out of the fire like that. Well, except for...

"Oh my god," I said suddenly. "Does Ellie—I mean, does my friend—wait, you wouldn't know, right? So, um..."

Gabriel was amused by my obvious confusion.

"Your friend knows you're safe. She put out a call for help on your Twitter account. Lucky for all of us, I was in the neighborhood."

"Following me?" I asked suspiciously.

"I thought you might be on Vice Mile," he said. "After what happened at the party, it made sense that you'd go looking for more trouble."

My face turned red. Over the course of a single night, Gabriel Langston had learned almost all of my dark secrets and seen me make a fool of myself twice with disastrous consequences. I felt embarrassed for coming onto him so strongly, and even more embarrassed for needing to be saved by him after making things so ridiculously awkward.

"How'd you know it was me? At the party, I mean."

"Your body language," he said simply. "If it makes you feel better, I didn't know you would be there. But I have a good memory for the way people move. You're strong and quick on your feet, but a little too tense for your own good."

I frowned at his somewhat unflattering description of me, but then my mind went back to the way I'd been dancing with Gabriel just a few hours earlier. Having written him off as someone who would never come near me again, it was really, really weird to meet him again. I wasn't sure if that meant there was a future for this relationship or not. Maybe he was never into me in the first place—he was just trying to get close because he knew I was Nighwrath. Then again...

There was the sudden sound of running water. I turned my head and saw Dr. Lily washing his hands in the basin in the corner.

I should mention that even though this was obviously Dr. Lily's office, it wasn't the same office as on Chemist's Lane. Maybe he moved around, following business wherever it went. Or maybe he had more than one practice. Either way, I wasn't quite sure where I was. I reached for my phone and pulled up the GPS. Runyon Street, or somewhere near it. That meant I wasn't too far from home. I also saw that it was almost midnight, which was way past the curfew dad and I had agreed.

I had a lot of explaining to do when I got home.

"Am I free to go?" I asked.

Dr. Lily finished drying his hands and put on his white silk gloves. Instead of respond to me, he looked at Gabriel as he said:

"Miss Hunt should make a complete recovery—provided she avoids risking life and limb for a while."

"Yeah, don't count on that," I said, wincing as I sat up and got gingerly to my feet.

"I'll look after her," said Gabriel. "Will this cover expenses?"

He held out what to me looked suspiciously like a thick stack of hundred dollar bills. Dr. Lily took the money, counted it out discreetly, and smiled.

"Admirably. It's been a pleasure, Mr. Langston. Miss Hunt."

Tactful as ever, he left the operating room and closed the door behind him to give us both a chance to put on our costumes. I guess this is the part where I should mention that Dr. Lily had stripped me down to my underwear so he could operate, which means all of the above was me talking to an attractive boy while practically naked. I tried not to look at Gabriel as I struggled to put on my costume, cursing under my breath each time I accidentally nudged a bruise or cracked bone. After he put his bird mask on, it was hard to tell if he was looking, but I couldn't shake the feeling that Gabriel was sizing me up.

Hopefully, he was thinking about how great my butt looked, not judging me for being too muscular.

We left Dr. Lily's office by the fire escape and headed for the rooftops. Despite how close it was, I was glad the Whippowil decided to escort me home. The painkillers were still working, and I knew a wrong step could end with me re-fracturing all those bones Dr. Lily had just repaired. We stopped about a block from my apartment in Joplin Heights for an awkward goodnight.

"Sorry about... everything," I said. "And thanks. I can't pay you back, but..."

"Don't worry about it. I got all that money pawning Albert Rosinski's jewelry. It's just as much yours as mine."

I frowned at the reminder of our last not-so-fateful encounter.

"I think being a thief makes you one of the bad guys."

"Not in this town, doll," he said, and I could tell he was smirking under his mask. "The bad guys are the people I steal from. You should come along some time. See how the other half lives."

"No thanks," I said. "But... really. I'm grateful. I screwed up a lot tonight. Thanks for cleaning up my mess."

"Any time. I don't mind watching your back, but I'd rather not see you get hurt. Get some rest. You'll see me around."

With that, he made an acrobatic somersault off the roof and vanished from sight. I turned towards home, trying to think of a plausible lie that could explain away all the scrapes, burns, and bruises. No matter what I said, I'd be in for one of the sternest lectures I'd ever had in my life.

And I was definitely grounded.