Demon Heart

Chapter 16.2

AZA      

When Aza returned to her bedroom, Lucis's wing was already wrapped against his side with a splint holding it steady.  She hadn't heard a sound from this side of the mirror.  It was pretty trippy to the whole Alice and Wonderland magic stuff.  Evabelle had told her about it when she had visited Kayne and how Averno used it to talk to Evabelle without being there.  But actually being ghostly transported was so much better than hearing about it.  Granted, Calandra had been pissed since apparently her home was filled with too many people she didn't like, but it was still awesome.

Matt stood arched over Lucis holding a measuring tape above his wings, measuring the distance between them. Aza cleared her throat, and the rumpled man straightened up, quickly retracting the ruler.

"Aza, you're back!" Matt spun around, trying for an innocent smile.

Aza rolled her eyes and approached them. She glanced down and saw more tightly casted bandages around Lucis's upper arm. "Did you give him the stitches?" Aza asked, walking over to him.

Matt shook his head, looking back down at Lucis. "No, you called for another Anahalian to come, right? Well, they'll be able to do more than I will. Those ones weren't as serious as the wing. Not even what I did will be enough. It's just temporary."

Aza nodded, feeling a strange mixture of emotions. She tentatively put a hand on her uncle's arm. "Thank you," She whispered.

His body stiffened under her touch, and he turned his head, his eyes, normally a vacant fog obscuring an already dark tunnel, had a faint light shining at the end. "Aza, I—"

"The cab driver!" Aza remembered.

Matt blinked, the soft glimmer, withdrawing. "What?"

Aza briefly explained how they'd gotten a ride and their meter was still running.

Matt slowly nodded. "Right," He pushed himself to his feet and left the room.

After she heard the door shut, Aza pulled over a chair from the corner of the room and sat next to Lucis, who's eyes were now closed. The small blonde let out a sigh and pushed her grimy hair out of her face, tensing as she rubbed the other bump she'd gotten from running into the streetlamp. She was always in for the high-class adventure, but... Aza glanced up at Lucis's form, which to her relief seemed to be breathing easier. He didn't look quite as pale. If one could just take out the whole injury part, that'd be great. However, taking away that would remove the danger, which was ninety percent of the fun.

Aza actually chuckled, and for a moment she understood why Del constantly referred to her as an idiot.

"Looks like you're feeling better,"

Aza jumped and stared at Lucis, who had opened an eye and was giving a wan smile. "What the heck?!" Aza put a hand over her heart. "I thought you were asleep. You should be asleep."

Lucis took a few deep breaths before speaking. "The head injury says otherwise. Once Del gets here and heals me, then I can sleep."

Aza peered over Lucis's scalp and saw that a lot of the blood had been cleaned out, but there was still another pool rising to the surface of the abrasion. Glancing down, Aza saw the bucket of cool water by the bed. There were a few rags around it that had gone from a normal cream color to stark crimson. There were two that had yet to be touched, and Aza grabbed one and dipped it in the water before dabbing at the source of the bleed.

"I must confess, I never saw you as motherly," Lucis murmured.

"I'm not." Aza smirked. "I'm the totally awesome five-year-old, constantly getting in trouble and being reprimanded by the mother, which I see more as Calandra. You should have heard her going off at me through the mirror call a few minutes ago."