Blue
2
“Astra.”
One word. Declared like gospel. That was it. That was all the silver-haired woman said, as if it explained everything: the sudden drop in temperature and the fact that lissa was now staring down two won who looked like they’d stepped straight out of an overfunded fantasy epic… assuming, of course, one overlooked the anachronistic choice of clothing.
lissa glanced at Eydis.
She was smiling. Pleased. Like Astra had just rewritten the laws of nature for her personal amusent.
lissa shivered.
Internally.
Mostly.
These two…
Eydis stepped closer. “Astra’s simply introducing herself, Doctor. She’s my…”
The sentence trailed off, unfinished. Eydis turned slightly toward Astra. Sothing passed between them. Eydis’s lashes fluttered. Astra’s shoulders tensed.
lissa squinted. Not nothing.
“Roommate,” Astra finished. “From St. Kevin’s.”
“Right. Well. Enjoy your reunion.” lissa turned slightly. “I’ll just—”
“We’d rather you ca with us,” Eydis interrupted smoothly.
“And why exactly would I do that?” lissa asked.
Eydis smirked. “Because, Doctor, we’re terribly persuasive.”
lissa crossed her arms. “So what, you expect to tag along with no explanation? If you’re trying to recruit for sothing shady, at least put in the effort. So robes, sunglasses, maybe a villainous monologue. Not just ‘Astra.’”
Eydis exhaled in sothing close to delight. “Oh, Doctor, you’re making this very hard to resist.”
Astra shot Eydis a look. “Resist it.”
Eydis shrugged. “If we were recruiting you, you’d be wearing sothing much more dramatic by now.”
Then, she tilted her head. “And you’d love it.”
Astra’s lips twitched, maybe, lissa thought.
Or maybe it was an optical illusion.
lissa wanted to squint again.
“Just a simple request, Doctor,” Astra said. “A friend of ours is in danger.”
Eydis finished effortlessly. “And you happen to be the most qualified person we can think of.”
lissa scoffed. “Drop the ‘happen to be,’ and I might’ve mistaken that for flattery.”
Astra arched an eyebrow, expectant.
lissa sighed, checking an invisible planner. “Would you believe I’m fully booked until spring?”
“You don't have ti for jokes.” Astra’s voice dropped. “Neither do we.”
“Who said I was jok—”
lissa stopped as she sensed the shift. The air throbbed with sothing so thick with power that made the hair on her arms stand on end. She t Astra’s gaze and felt it, the scorching heat beneath all that ice. It was a threat, and her own magic reacted instinctively, her fingers twitching as moisture condensed at the tips.
Drip.
Astra’s eyes flickered perceptibly to lissa’s fingers.
Before it could escalate, Eydis reached out, fingers brushing Astra’s shoulder with a touch so soft it could have been unintentional.
Astra stilled. Paused. And then, just like that, the tension lted from her fra.
“Astra.” Eydis’s voice was softer than lissa had ever heard it. A na spoken like it ant sothing. Her thumb traced an idle pattern against Astra’s leather jacket, fingertips skimming the curve of her neck.
The touch wasn’t obvious nor overt, but it was too intimate in a way that made lissa blink twice.
Just who the hell are they?
The only thing more unreadable than Eydis and Astra was Eydis around Astra.
“Astra ant no threat, Doctor.”
lissa cleared her throat. “Sure. And I suppose you also ‘co in peace’?”
Eydis sighed. “I find peace to be such a fleeting concept.”
“Of course you do,” the doctor muttered.
”That aside, you might want to head ho before the—” Eydis glanced at Astra.
Astra picked up without missing a beat. “Before the police arrive and ask for your statent.”
lissa shot them both a look. She hated how effortlessly they did that. They spoke in sync, moved in sync. Too smooth. Too confident. Like a synchronised cri duo who had personally selected her as their favourite victim.
They made Dubai Lightning Bro look like a mild technical glitch. lissa knew Eydis wasn’t Gifted, but that didn’t an she was innocent. There was sothing about the way Eydis carried herself, sothing just off-center enough to set her apart. She wasn’t normal.
But, damn it, she had a point. Again.
lissa was actually glad she had listened to Eydis and skipped that absolute train wreck of a masquerade gala. If she hadn’t, she’d be drowning in paperwork and police questions about Thomas Blackwood right now.
“Fine,” lissa turned sharply and walked.
And of course, they followed her. Damn it. Not that she heard them (she couldn’t), the slow-motion head turns from passersby, once they stepped onto the busy street, was plenty confirmation.
So she wasn’t losing it. This was real.
By the ti she reached her building, patience had officially left the chat. She stopped, faced them, and scowled.
“Is this your idea of persuasion? Stalking?”
“Oh, we’re not stalking you, Doctor,” Eydis said, the police siren’s red-and-blue lights played across her face like sothing out of a cri thriller. “We simply parked our ride up top.”
lissa was tempted to hail one of those police cars. “And ‘up top’ ans…?”
Eydis just smiled, tilting her head toward Astra.
“Wait,” lissa snapped.
Astra, perfectly monotone: “There it is.”
“The helipad,” lissa ground out. “As in my helipad. The one where my very expensive, very registered helicopter is supposed to be?”
Eydis’s grin turned wicked in a way that made lissa want to check if her pockets were still full. “Indeed. Blue really does suit you, Doc.”
How did they know the colour of her helicopter?
Unless… they weren’t bluffing!
lissa pinched the bridge of her nose, and counted to five. “I swear, if you’ve stolen my helicopter—”
Eydis shook her head. “Stolen is such a strong word.”
Astra added, “Think of it as an indefinite lease.”
“And let guess,” lissa said, “you’re here to negotiate the return policy.”
She instinctively looked away from Eydis’s grin, only to land at Astra, whose lips twitched like she was fighting back sothing close to amusent.
Worse. So much worse.
lissa groaned. Blinked once. Twice. Then muttered, mostly to herself, “I hope you know, I charge extra for emotional distress.”
Seriously, are they teenagers, or just devils wearing human’s face?
They stepped into the building, Eydis still sporting that expectant, almost smug smile, while Astra stood still and unreadable.
lissa’s patience was on life support. She stepped forward when they reached the elevator and swiped her card, selecting the helipad.
“So, are we skipping the part where you explain how you got down here without a passcode? Did you hack my system? Please tell you just fly down like normal people.”
Eydis’s grin widened, and lissa regretted asking imdiately.
“Astra,” Eydis said, as if that explained everything.
Déjà freaking vu.
Astra’s shrug was so imperceptible it was legally stillness. She wasn't unreadable, it seed. She was just actively, aggressively committed to refusing to explain anything. Ever.
lissa groaned, leaning back against the lift wall. “Right. You two have also mastered Being Suspicious as Hell. Let guess… your helicopter is also ‘borrowed’?”
Astra stared straight ahead. “It’s not.”
The lift dinged—finally—and the doors slid open to the top floor.
Instead of her usual sleek, blue helicopter, a white one sat waiting. The helicopter was regal, almost pristine. A wolf crest and two crossed swords were emblazoned on its body.
lissa knew that symbol. Her gaze snapped to Astra.
Silver hair.
Oh. Oh.
“House of Silverkeep?” she muttered.
Astra didn’t blink.
lissa narrowed her eyes. “Are you from—?”
“No,” Astra cut in quickly. “I stole it.”
lissa sucked in a breath and exhaled slowly through her teeth.
“If you two ever get caught stealing a European royal’s helicopter, leave. my. na. out of it. I have enough paperwork in my life already.”
Eydis, beaming, clapped Astra on the shoulder. “Oh, we’ll be fine. It’s only stealing if you get caught, right?”
Astra’s lips curled—an almost-smile. Which, in Astra-speak, was hysterical laughter.
lissa could tell by now.
“I swear, you do that on purpose. Whatever. Let’s just get this over with.” She scowled, pulling her beige trench coat tight as the wind slamd aggressively into her, like it, too, wanted answers.
She stomped forward, preparing for whatever fresh bullshit awaited—only to stop dead.
Her helicopter was still there. Just… not where she’d left it.
It was neatly repositioned in the corner, as if soone had just… gently scooted a two-ton aircraft out of the way.
lissa stared. That wasn’t possible. Not logically. No one had enough space to land a second helicopter. The skill level required was either terrifyingly precise or outright supernatural.
“It’s both,” Eydis murmured, sounding way too entertained. Only then did lissa realise she must have looked visibly stunned.
She rolled her eyes so hard she nearly sprained sothing. Then she spotted Astra, already in the cockpit, popping open the back door.
lissa barely had ti to glare at the audacity of it all before—
She saw the body.
Pale skin flushed red. Shallow, rattling breaths. Red hair spilling across the seat. Older now, but still the sa little girl who had once clung to her.
Her stomach plumted. She blinked, as if that might change what she was seeing.
“Natalia?”
For once, Eydis sounded genuinely surprised. “You know her?”
lissa barely registered the question. She was already moving.
Kneeling beside Natalia, she pressed two fingers lightly against her sternum, the other hand grazing her wrist.
Pulse—weak, erratic.
Skin—clammy, burning.
Fever had set in hard.
lissa knew this body. She had mapped it before.
She rembered.
Focus! Her eyes flared blue.
Water. The foundation of all life. The silent regulator. It fuelled cells, stabilised temperature, flushed toxins.
Her magic was not healing in the mythical sense. She couldn’t nd broken bones with one touch. What she could do was far more technical, far more delicate. She could redirect, stabilise, guide the body’s natural processes back toward equilibrium.
A dical intervention, not a miracle.
Her fingers brushed Natalia’s temple, where the fever burned hottest. She layered control into the water, dispersing the heat, threading through lymph and blood, cerebrospinal fluid and interstitial pathways.
Then she reached the source. The arcane heart. And everything resisted her.
lissa’s breath caught. It had… never resisted her before.
The mont her magic touched Natalia’s churning mana, it recoiled violently, pushing back with a force that sent a sharp pulse up her arm.
lissa gritted her teeth. Her eyes flared brighter, casting a cold blue glow across Natalia’s fevered face.
Lionel has so explaining to do.
But first, stabilisation.
Instead of working against the resistance, she shifted around it, threading her magic along the natural lines of flow, adjusting pressure and temperature. Natalia’s body needed to recognise that this wasn’t an attack. It was assistance.
When she eased deeper, the resistance flared again. Natalia’s body jerked involuntarily, breath catching, muscles seizing.
lissa tightened her grip. “Okay, Red. You need to work with here.”
She didn’t listen. The fire inside pushed back.
lissa leaned closer, lowering her voice to a whisper only Natalia could hear. For a second, just a second, the tension in Natalia’s body lted, before snapping back again.
Why?
“She’s fighting you. Just like…” Astra’s voice trailed off.
lissa’s jaw clenched. “No kidding, she’s holding on to whatever’s poisoning her. She’s choosing this.”
Eydis, who had been silent and watchful, took a soft step forward. “May I?”
Kneeling beside Natalia, Eydis reached out, fingers brushing over Natalia’s hand. “It’s alright now, Natalia. We’re here.”
There was sothing in Eydis’s tone; not playful, not manipulation.
But honesty, regret.
“I… I should have seen it sooner.” Eydis hesitated, then whispered, “Co on, handmaiden. You don’t get to leave talking to myself.”
And Natalia responded. The resistance did not vanish, but it softened, just enough for lissa to feel the difference.
Good.
lissa adjusted the water as Natalia’s body was no longer fighting so violently. For the first ti, she wasn’t rejecting the help. She was guiding it.
Natalia eyelids fluttered, barely lifting.
“Eydis… I’m… sorry,” she whispered. Then, her fingers loosened, and her body went still.
lissa tensed, but when she caught the slow rise and fall of Natalia’s chest. She let out a sigh of relief.
Stabilised.
Natalia was out of imdiate danger.
Exhaling, lissa raked a hand through her damp azure waves, blinking away the exhaustion. Despite the winter chill, her own temperature spiked from the strain. She took a step back, then staggered.
She didn’t fall, as a pair of hands shot out, steadying her just enough to keep her upright. She turned, blue eyes eting crimson.
Astra.
Her gaze had softened, if only slightly. “You… overexerted. Do you know Natalia?”
lissa huffed, stepping aside. “Can’t it just be the Hippocratic Oath? Or the fact that I’m a damn good doctor?”
Astra arched a brow.
“Yeah, I know her,” lissa admitted. “And you know what would’ve been really helpful? Saying ‘save Natalia’ instead of whatever ominous garbage you and your… roommate?! led with.”
The ntion of said roommate made Astra’s gaze shift, landing on Eydis, whose hand remained firmly clasped around Natalia’s.
Sothing quiet passed in that glance, brushing against lissa’s senses. She exhaled deeply.
“You three. My penthouse. At least for tonight.” Then she tilted her chin up to et Astra’s eyes. “And this ti I want actual sentences. If I hear one more ‘Astra,’ I swear, you’re sleeping outside. With the possums.”
Astra stared at her, impassive. But lissa could have sworn she saw a smile playing at her lips.
Yup, Astra knew exactly what she was doing.
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