Mahogany and Teakwood

Chapter 19: Carnation

here i stand and look at my life

barren, cold, and incomplete

Sound returned first: car doors slamming, a motor turning over, soft voices. Then sensation: the floor, vibrating beneath him, a warm body next to his, a pounding in his head like an army of goblin hammers.

Virgil opened his eyes to find himself stretched out in the back of Logan's blue Fit.

"Virgil!" Roman whipped around from the front passenger seat. "Thank the gods of Arcadia."

"Princey," Virgil croaked. "You look like shit."

Roman laughed, which turned into a hiss of pain. He sported a nasty scrape across his temple and forehead, blood-matted hair, and a slice across one cheek, but his dark eyes were clear and wide with concern.

Virgil pushed himself up to look out the back window. They were still in DeLand, somewhere on a back road, it looked like.

"Where are we going?"

Logan spoke up for the first time. "The hospital."

Placid tone, frostbitten words. Physically, he was an uncharacteristic mess: hair falling out of its tail, blue necktie hanging loose around his collar, glasses perched precariously at the end of his nose.

A soft whine drew Virgil's attention to the warmth next to him. Nic lay stretched across the back, wrapped in Virgil's hoodie, brown fur matted with blood, eyes closed...alive. The black plaid jacket hid the worst of what Deceit's nails had done, but Virgil could tell it was bad.

He rubbed his hoodie-less arms, and reached over...

"Don't touch him!" Logan ordered.

Virgil jerked away like he'd been slapped. The half-faery took a deep breath, his knuckles tightening on the wheel.

"We will not know the extent of his injuries until I can get him to a vet," he said in a calmer voice. "It is imperative that we disturb him as little as possible."

Virgil exhaled shakily, guilt welling up in his stomach like acid.

"Then let's go now." He met Logan's gray eyes in the rear-view mirror. "Forget the hospital. Nic needs help more than I do."

"Are you sure?" Roman turned to eye him again. "You were out—"

"Thrall's a bitch, but I'm fine," Virgil insisted.

Logan's fingers drummed on the wheel.

"We are less than five minutes from the emergency room," he said at last. "Are you both absolutely sure?"

They paused at a deserted neighborhood intersection.

"Virgil's right," Roman said softly. "He says he's fine, and I can wait. Nic can't."

"Very well."

Logan hit a button on the steering wheel and commanded the GPS to take them to the DeLand Animal Hospital.

"Thank you," the half-faery added as they turned around, and the relief in his voice told Virgil he was far more worried about Nic than he'd let on.

He loves that damned dog so much. And yet he would have absolutely driven Roman and I to the hospital first, no hesitation. We don't fucking deserve Logan Ursae.

Virgil felt a pang of pity for Roman, whose injuries probably did need medical attention. But on the other hand, that whole disaster with Deceit had been Roman's idea. They were lucky—ha! — to be alive.