bloodlust

13: Rhysand's POV

Rhysand saw a healer. He saw a fucking healer. Never in his 536 years had he ever seen a healer apart from occasions where he was battle-wounded and on death's doorstep. Never for something like this. 

No, this was something he thought he was immune to. This sensation in his chest. It made him uneasy. There had to be some logical explanation for it, so he called Madja over for a visit. She came with unneeded urgency despite his insistence that she come at a leisurely pace. 

Her physical exam showed what he already knew deep down. He was as healthy as could be. Nothing was physically wrong with him, which meant this feeling, these thoughts...

"Perhaps what you need is good sleep, my dear," Madja said, scribbling on her notepad. She told him to take a sleeping draught, patted his shoulder with a soft smile and sauntered out the door into the foyer. 

But just as she was walking out, she nearly bumped shoulders with Cassian. 

"Sorry, Madja!" He said quickly, ducking out of her way and holding the door open for her. She gave him a loving pat on the cheek as she passed by and disappeared. 

Cassian looked him over slowly, assessing him after realizing he had been seeing their healer. 

"Uhhh, did something happen?" Cass asked him, brow furrowed. 

"I'm fine," Rhysand snapped. 

"Is this about the other night at dinner?" Cassian laughed. "When you acted like-"

"No."

A slow, sly smirk crept its way across Cassian's face. He knew. Rhysand knew the moment he registered the truth by the sudden clarity in his eyes. And Rhys felt sick. 

"This is about Feyre, isn't it? That little human has gotten into your head, hasn't she?" Cassian was borderline jovial. Rhys wanted to shove him. 

"Nothing is about Feyre." He flexed his jaw muscle. "She's just a distraction."

"A distraction," Cassian repeated, amused. "Is that what they're calling it these days?" He tilted his head to the side, flashing his white teeth in a smirk. 

"I will kick your ass," Rhysand said flatly, with no vitriol behind it, just exasperation. 

Cassian snorted a laugh. "You grumpy old lovesick puppy."

"Do you want to stand guard in the Steppes for the next month?" Rhysand snapped out quickly, looking at Cassian with sharp eyes. 

"No," Cassian said, holding his hands up in surrender. "I do not."

"Then shut the fuck up."

Cassian's mouth snapped shut obediently. Rhysand was not in the fucking mood right now. He wanted to see a healer in peace and now the entire Inner Circle will have heard about his impromptu doctor's visit by lunch, he was sure. Cassian couldn't keep a secret to save his own fucking life. 

"Listen, I just came to deliver a message from Morrigan," Cassian surrendered. 

"What message?" Rhys asked, looking down as he stood, straightening his trousers and sweater, picking a small bit of lint from the cashmere. 

"Tamlin has joined the human Queens," Cassian said reluctantly, chewing the inside of his cheeks. He shifted on his feet as Rhysand slowly glared him down. 

"And you saw fit to tease me about my medical needs rather than deliver that message quickly?" Rhys bit out. He even noticed himself that he was much more irritable than normal. Something was severely off with him, and he would get to the bottom of it. He refused to allow himself to behave this way.