The Legend of the Eight: The Charmed (Book 4)

14: Pretty Shining People

FOURTEEN: PRETTY SHINING PEOPLE
SEPTEMBER 30
CHLOE LAWSON

HER HEAD WAS THROBBING AND beside her, Levi Heart held a cool compress to the side of it, hoping to alleviate some of the pain. After getting caught in the crosshairs of a fight between Drew Briggs and Prince Leo Diamond, she was left in a remarkable amount of pain. She wasn't sure what the fight was about—from what she could tell, it was over Phoebe—but the boys fought hard and would've kept fighting had they not been struck by Wil's spell.

Afterwards, Levi took her up to her room and there, he proceeded to care for her. Moments later, they were joined by Wil who was nursing Drew's wounds.

"Oh quit whining, you big baby," Wil said while she wiped the corner of Drew's mouth with a wet washcloth. He'd been struck hard enough to tear his lip and the side of his face sported a nasty bruise as well. "No wonder Fi's not here to take care of you. You fought like a little bitch."

"I was trying not to kill your brother, Diamond," Drew fired back with a casual roll of his olive green eyes. He winced shortly after. "And Fi's not here because..." He mumbled something incoherent. "Because Fi's not here. I don't know what's going on with her. She won't talk to me."

"Are you sure we shouldn't take you to the Infirmary? Your nose looks broken," Chloe said from her bed where she had her head in Levi's lap while he acted as her personal nurse. He had an ice pack pressed to her head and was massaging her scalp lightly with his fingers.

"He's fine," Wil said, maybe a little too carelessly. Turning to Drew, she started snickering. "Bet you wish you'd have triggered that curse of yours, huh?"

Drew stuck his tongue out at her and then put the cloth back on his lip. Chloe sat up and her ice pack fell to Levi's lap. She was confused.

"Curse? What curse?"

"Werewolf curse," Drew answered when he noticed her confusion. "Untriggered so I don't turn on full moons."

"But that means he doesn't heal at an accelerated rate," Wil added, wiping more blood from his chin.

"Small price to pay to avoid shifting into a beast once a month," Drew told her, smirking through his broken lip.

"Eh," Levi shrugged with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I've seen worse." Then he pulled Chloe back to him and put the ice pack on her head again. "What about you?" he asked more softly. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay," she answered, honestly. "A little headache but nothing some sleep can't fix."

"You shouldn't sleep," Levi instructed her and she remembered that as the Beast Tamer, he probably had his fair share of experience with head injuries. "You could have a concussion. You should stay awake all night just to be sure."

Chloe made a face.

"Don't worry," he said with a chuckle. "I'll stay here to keep you up."

Across the room, Wil pressed her lips together, fighting a smile. Chloe nestled herself comfortably in Levi's lap and he draped an arm over her side without giving it much thought.

They spent the night together—in her bed with their clothes on and eyes open. Levi tried a variety of different things to keep her awake—the only successful one being conversation. They talked about everything. Levi told her about losing his parents years ago and Chloe told him how she'd just learned about her absent Dark of a father, Jeremiah Stone. He asked her about going to school at Purum and told her stories about her brother from when they were at the Academy together. Before they knew it, morning had come and they hadn't gotten a wink of sleep, but she wasn't tired at all. In fact, she could stay up another whole day if it meant she'd spent it talking to him.