Leana slept like hell. Her poor wings were crumpled beyond feeling, they would take a while to regain their blood flow, her hair was a tangled mess of a mane around her face and her skin was still pale and dusky from the blood loss. Before she went anywhere near that university, she needed a shower desperately. Making the decision to glamour herself first, as to make her wings less of an obstacle in the shower. They weren't much of an issue in a bath where she could just prop them over the back and reaching between her shoulders weren't an issue as a faerie of her standing was nearly always bathed by someone else.
She peeled off her clothes that were still filthy with blood, sweat and dirt and slowly unwrapped the bandages. Thanks to fey magic, Leah was nearly fully healed up but she would still be tender for at least another day. Stepping into the shower, after discarding all of the clothes and bandages – there was no saving that shirt – she flicked on the water and began to rise all of the grime from her body.
The water running onto the floor of the shower turned from black to brown and eventually clear signifying that she was clean again. Her arms had mostly healed from her episode the other night meaning that she could get away with showing her arms in public but now she had bigger problems. Leah stepped out and wrapped herself in a towel before making her way to her drawers of human clothes. Looking outside, she decided that it would be a warm day, so she settled on a pair of jeans, a tank top and some converse trainers. She wasn't trying to hide her injuries from him anymore, after all, he was the one who impaled her. Not that she blamed him; he was only doing his job.
She decided to take the bus that day into the city as she didn't think she could muster the strength to walk all that way. If she sat right at the back away from everyone else, she was sure that she could manage.
As she plonked herself down onto the back seat of the bus, Leah winced and gasped, touching her waist gently. This was going to be a difficult day for her – especially if Kath exercises her usual lack of personal space. It seemed surreal to watch the humans flitter about the streets of Manchester like they didn't have a single of the world. Not twelve hours ago was Leah face to face with the deadliest warrior in the world besides herself, bleeding to death from a fatal wound to the abdomen… and crying herself to sleep over a boy like the average teenage girl. Mothers pushed their children around in dainty prams next to bustling roads, men dressed in snappy suits stormed past others who were walking at a normal pace as if they were always ten minutes late for something.
Stepping off the bus, Kath was waiting in her usual spot for Leah to arrive and beamed when she saw her getting off of the bus! She ran over causing Leah to flinch away; women touching her didn't have the same effect on her that men did but she couldn't stand to have someone grab her right now with her injuries but she was a fool to think that Kath wouldn't notice her strange behaviour. She furrowed her brow and cocked her head. "Leah? Are you alright?" She asked. Leah gulped and wrapped her arms tightly around her body, trying to make herself as small as possible wishing that the ground would just open and swallow her whole.
"Yeah, I'm fine," She smiled nervously but, in that moment, her eyes looked past Katherine where she saw him getting off another bus with Sam. Jonathan. He was searching for her, scanning every face in the crowd of students for her and ignoring every word that Sam was saying. It didn't take long before he saw her too. Somehow his human glamour seemed inadequate now that she had seen his true appearance. His eyes still shone a beautiful green, but nothing compared to the glistening emeralds that she saw last night. No matter how hard she squinted, she couldn't make out his face. Was he angry? Disappointed? Heartbroken also? His eyes were piercing her soul but she just could not make out how he was feeling. Her own face must have shown pain as she turned her head away and tried to walk past Katherine who began to put the pieces together. "We should go," She told her sadly. Turning to see Jonathan shoving his hands in his pocket and hiding under his hair. Katherine bit her bottom lip and turned back to Leah.
"I'm guessing that date he was talking about didn't go very well?" That was it! The perfect cover! They went on a date, they had a fight and now they hate each other.
"Yeah, something like that," After all, that wasn't exactly a lie. If she was totally honest with her feelings, the date was like nothing she could have ever expected. Jonathan was the first man who made her feel comfortable in years and now that was all gone. The girls made their way to the first class, little did they know, closely followed by the boys.
Jonathan stared daggers into her back. He wasn't even sure how he felt about her. On one hand, he loved her, she was smart and beautiful and kind but on the other, she was a sadistic fuck from the Unseelie court who served that fiend of a king. At the same time, he wanted to kiss and kill her. He sat in the same place as usual and never let his eyes leave her face.
Leah curled herself into a ball on her chair and tried her best not to look at Jonathan who was looking so intensely at her that she feared she may burst into flames. She knew that she had to face him at some point, but she just could not bring herself to look at him. He was sure as hell more confident than she was but then again, he won the fight. Around twenty minutes into the lesson, Katherine leaned over to whisper in Leah's ear.
"He's staring at you," She told her nervously, even she couldn't determine what happened between the two faeries. Leah looked up from under her hand to see his penetrating, beautiful jade eyes staring right into hers, poised and ready for eye contact. For a moment, she mustered the courage to look at him but the second she saw him, the butterflies came rushing through her body. Leah groaned and dropped her head into her arms on the table.
Leah was used to broken sleep, but three hours was a new low for her, so much so that she had fallen asleep in her own arms! Jumping up from the rustling of papers, the class was leaving. Her eyes went straight to where Jonathan was sat but he was already gone. Why was she forlorn to see his chair empty? After recovering from the disappointment, she turned to Katherine and tucked her wild hair behind her ear. "I think I want to be alone for a while," Katherine's eyes filled with pity, but she didn't care for it. Eventually, her friend nodded and left her alone in the room to collect her books.
Leah felt as though she could hear her own heartbeat. This time alone in the classroom was the first time since that night where she could truly process the events. Collecting her books were pointless as she just dropped them back onto the desk and began to cry, holding her hands to her face and sniffling quietly. Just when her life was starting to have some kind of enjoyment, it all fell to shit.
"Don't cry," Leah looked up and her heart stopped in her chest. Jonathan was standing in the doorway but he wouldn't look at her. He simply crossed his arms and looked away. "Please," He asked. For some reason, that helped. Her breathing slowed and the tears failed to fall. Once she had calmed, he looked up at her – was that regret? "How's your wounds?" He asked with genuine concern. Leah turned to face him and ducked her head into her shoulders, wiping her face with the back of her hand.
"I'm fine," She said as Jonathan approached, dumping his bag on the floor beside the door. She shook when he walked towards her but not exactly the way she expected. Normally, this scenario would make her shake with fear but something about his face made her calm even if the anticipation were killing her.
"Can I see?" He asked. No! Don't touch me! Was what she expected to come out but when she opened her mouth to talk, nothing came out, she just nodded. Slowly, Jonathan extended his hand and carefully took the hem of her top, his eyes never leaving her own, assuring her that she could stop him at any moment. Jonathan was still astounded that she was even letting him get this close to her, but he had to know she was alright. Slowly, he lifted the shirt revealing the almost healed stab wound over her kidney. As he did, his fingers grazed her skin which sent shivers up her spine. Jonathan winced and released the shirt, stepping back as to not push his luck. "You must have a good alchemist," He said, trying to divert her attention from the fact that it was him who tried to kill her in the first place.
Leah smoothed her shirt and sat back on her chair trying to avoid eye contact with him as she began, once again, to collect her books. For a moment, Jonathan watched her before bending down, picking up a piece of paper that had fallen to the floor when she had dropped her books back on the table. "I do," She said. "She's my closest friend," Leah revealed as she took the paper from Jonathan who leaned on the table beside her.
"I take it you've reported back?" He asked as he began mulling ideas over in his mind about what he would do.
"No," From under his hair where he didn't know he had been hiding, Jonathan looked up to see Leah's blank face before she looked away again, the prolonged eye contact simply too much for her. "He doesn't even know I've been back," For a moment, Jonathan's heart skipped a beat – he was sure that there was a medical name for that, heart palpitations? For a split second, he entertained the idea that she hadn't told on him because she felt the same way about him that he did about her.
"Why?" He asked casually trying to mask the hopeful tone in his voice.
"Don't play stupid," Leah cursed shaking her head. "You know what the king is," With sorrow in her eyes as she remembered every painful memory between herself and Deploma, she looked up catching his fearful eyes which confirmed what she said was true. "Every rumour, every story, it's all true. He's that and more," Jonathan sighed. He knew all the stories that there was to know but he had always assumed that no man could truly be so terrible. "If I came back defeated, I don't want to think about what he would have done to me," Torture was what Jonathan had in mind but Leah's idea of torture was less the rack and whipping but more sexual assault.
"I'm sorry," Jonathan said. He wasn't sure what he was apologising for. That he impaled her? That he put her in such a dangerous situation? For all the assumptions that he made about her? Or perhaps it was on behalf of the universe for putting her within that awful man's reach. Either way, he truly meant it no matter what it was for.
"Thank you," Leah said with a smile. There was something about her smile that made him feel warmer, a little safer given the situation. Jonathan smiled back. In that moment of mutual content, the room suddenly became too much for Leah, she inhaled deeply and raised her hand to her chest.
"We should go," She said. With that, Jonathan stood, holding out his hand to pave the way for Leah. She stood and headed for the door with her bag over her shoulder and her books clutched to her chest. On his way out behind her, Jonathan picked his bag up from the ground and closed the door behind him.
The summer air was much better for Leah, she felt like she could breath there was something about Jonathan's presence that sent her light headed every time he looked at her. They stopped, just before the archway out of the university museum and stood silently, unsure who should speak first. Eventually, Leah bit the bullet. "What are we going to do about this?" She asked wondering truly what his answer would be. He didn't want to kill her surely or he would have done it by now and she knew that she could never hurt him so what were they to do? Jonathan pondered the question for a while, unsure of what to say.
"What's your name?" He asked looking down into her eyes.
"What?" Leah stammered.
"Your name, what is it?"
"Leana," She gulped. Jonathan smiled as he repeated it in his mind over and over fondly. "Yours?"
"Jehovah," He told her, scratching the back of his neck. Leah stopped for a moment. He was named after a human god – of course that made sense she thought, he could certainly pull off for a god. Leah didn't realise just how long she had been silent for until he spoke again to break the awkward lack of conversation. "We have a lot to talk about," He said with a slight nervous laugh as Leah looked away.
"Yeah," She sighed. Even though the initial confrontation had been met, the most daunting part was actually talking about it.
"Let me take you out again," He said almost in a begging tone, this time taking her hands which took her by surprise. "Somewhere nice, like a restaurant where we can talk this over?" Leah didn't know what to say. He was asking her out again! Even after he knew what she was. Not only was she fey but she was also his sworn enemy and even asking the question could get him killed. Leah didn't notice just how long she'd been silent until Jonathan spoke again. "Please," He begged. "Say something," Hope in his eyes he tightened his grip on her fingers lightly.
"Yes," She told him but nothing more. Jonathan released a breath with a smile and raised her hand to his lips as if to kiss it thankfully.
"Jay?" Both Leah and Jonathan turned to see a large black man standing in the arch. He was very handsome, Leah noted but he wasn't human, that much was obvious to her now. He had long dreads that came to his waist, dull green eyes and pristine teeth. The man backed away fearfully as Leah snatched her hands from Jonathans, who had taken a cautious step towards him.
"Now, Dron," Wrong move, the man shot off down the street, pushing through the crowds forcefully. "Shit," Jonathan cursed before turning to Leah. "You should go home, I'll text you," Leah nodded knowing that she had to get off the streets with this man, whoever he was, running around. After Jonathan was sure that she had understood what he was saying, he darted around the corner following the man faster than she had ever seen a man move. Speed was definitely one of his skills as the White Knight; he would catch up to the man in no time.
She wasn't wrong. It only took a few minutes before Dronolas was in his sight. Even Dron himself wasn't sure where he was running but he knew that he had seen too much. Just as he was about to turn a corner, strong arms yanked his shoulders back and into an ally to his right. Pinning him to the wall, Jay regained his breath only to get punched in the face and knocked to the ground. "What the fuck!" Dronolas yelled, helping his friend off the ground and steadying him to stand.
"You saw," He sighed defeated as he stood and Dronolas dropped his arm violently.
"I saw enough," Dronolas spat as he looked around the side of the ally looking for any humans who might be eavesdropping before turning back to his friend who had leaned against a wall, still trying to feed his oxygen starved body. "What the hell are you doing, Jay? She's a monster!" He hissed.
"No she's not!"
"How do you know that?" he screamed. By this point, the men were at each other's throats. For the life of him, Dronolas could not see how his dear friend could go from having an undying desire to slaughter the Black Knight to then defending them in the space of a night. Of course, Dronolas knew the answer; love was a powerful thing. Jonathan retreated and sank to the floor, leaning against the wall in anguish. The world was just one big fucking mess.
"I don't know," he said so quietly that it was barely audible. "There's something about her Dron, it just doesn't add up," There was so much about Leana that didn't make sense to him. As a human, she was this cowering, nervous wreck, yet she was, in fact, the deadliest most ruthless warrior that Avalon had ever seen in their time. "She's so… afraid," He muttered. "All the time," It just didn't add up! He was sure that there were pieces of the puzzle missing but he just couldn't begin to imagine what. Perhaps it was all a façade? But then why had she continued it after he found out? No there was something that truly made her this way and he was determined to find out. However, Jonathan had bigger problems.
"Are you going to tell?" He asked, looking up to his friend who was honestly stuck between a rock and a hard place. Dronolas crossed his arms and looked away, unable to look his friend in the eyes when he said what he wanted to say.
"I don't know," He admitted as Jonathan sunk his head back down cursing himself for his own damn foolish emotions. "Not for her, Jay," He reasoned. "But for you!" The man cried. He crouched and looked his friend in the eyes. God, he had never seen Jonathan like this, so broken and unsure of what to do. "I'm worried about you. What if she hurts you?" Jonathan pondered the idea. What if she did hurt him? It's not entirely out of character for a mysterious, ravishing, Unseelie woman to trick the weakened Seelie man and torture him for her pleasure. Perhaps she would lure him to her bed and at the last second drive a dagger through his heart. Or maybe she wouldn't. Maybe she would reciprocate his emotions and fall deeply in love with him.
"I guess that's a risk I'm willing to take," He told Dronolas as he stood and looked right into his eyes solidifying how sure he was with his decision.
"Are you sure?" Dronolas asked.
"I think I love her, Dron," Well he couldn't argue with that. He had been tortured so long by that bitch of a queen that he would be a terrible friend to deny him this woman after so long. He raised a hand and touched his shoulder.
"I hope you're right about her, Jay," With a smile, Jay cocked his neck and they both exited the ally onto the street. "Because, if you're not – I'll kill you myself," The men laughed as they sauntered their way down the street back towards Jonathan's house.