Chapter 238

Ava

I spent the entire day worrying about Chris. After he stormed out of Leonard’s cottage that morning with no explanation, I expected him to return within a few minutes, or maybe even a few hours. But as the day wore on, there was still no sign of him.

Around lunchtime, Leonard and Ophelia both passed out from exhaustion on Leonard’s bed, and so I made my way back to my cottage for some rest of my own. I expected to find Chris there, but I only found Patrick sitting at my kitchen table, devouring a bowl of cereal.

“Is Chris here?” I asked.

Patrick shook his head. “Nope,” he said around a mouthful of granola. “Haven’t seen him all day.”

“Oh.”

Figuring that he was busy, perhaps in his office in the Packhouse, I ate lunch and took a much-needed nap. But when I woke and the shadows were beginning to lengthen in my bedroom and the sun was beginning to set outside, and there was still no word from Chris, I began to grow worried.

I made my way to the Packhouse, but he wasn’t there. In fact, no one had seen him all day when I asked around.

As I walked back home, my mind began to race with possibilities. Was he okay? Had something happened? Or was he just caught up in some important task or another? He had looked so stony and determined when he left… Whatever it was, I hoped that he was alright.

Night fell, and there was still no word. I was getting ready for bed, exhausted from the events of the past day despite my nap, when my phone buzzed with a group text from Chris.

“Southern docks. Come at midnight. Dress in black. Make sure no one sees you.”

My heart leapt into my throat. “The hell…?” I muttered. What was going on?

I quickly changed into black clothes and slipped out of the cottage, sticking to the shadows as I made my way to the beach. The less-used southern area was eerily quiet compared to the bustling ferry port, the lapping of water against the sandy shore the only sound.

As I approached, I saw two figures emerge from the darkness. Leonard and Ophelia, also dressed in black, approached from the other side of the pathway.

“Any idea what this is about?” Leonard whispered. I let out a small sigh of relief when I saw him.

He looked a lot better now—some of the color had returned to his face, and he must have eaten, because he wasn’t trembling from low blood sugar. Perhaps that ‘medicine’ that Elise had been giving him truly had been weakening him after all. Maybe now we were in the clear; although I hated to get my hopes up.

I shook my head. “Not a clue. Chris has been gone all day.”

Ophelia frowned. “Well, this is all very cloak and dagger, isn’t it?” She pulled her cloak a little tighter around her shoulders.

We walked down the beach together, the sand shifting beneath our feet. The docks loomed ahead, dark silhouettes against the night sky. As we drew closer, I saw a familiar figure standing by a small speedboat, partially hidden in the shadows.

But he wasn’t alone. There was a woman with him, someone who I didn’t recognize.

“Chris?” I called out, straightening.

He turned, relief washing over his face in the dim light. “You all made it. Good. Come here, I want you to meet someone.”

As we approached, I could see the woman more clearly. She was human, middle-aged, with kind eyes and a no-nonsense air about her. Her red hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail and she wore a pair of wire-rimmed glasses on the end of her nose.

“This is Dr. Foster,” Chris said. “She’s here to help Leonard.”

Ophelia gasped. “A human doctor? But how...?”

Chris ran a hand through his hair. “So, I’ve been in contact with her for the past week. I didn’t want to say anything in case it didn’t work out, but after what happened last night…” He looked at Dr. Foster, who offered him a small smile. “Well, I visited her and explained the situation. She agreed to come and take a look.”

Dr. Foster nodded. “Chris has told me about the... unique nature of your affliction, Leonard. I’m here to help in any way I can.”

“But we need to keep this quiet,” Chris added.

He didn’t need to elaborate; we all understood the implications. If Elder Elise was actively working to harm us and Leonard, then any real treatment he underwent needed to be kept private—just in case.

Leonard looked stunned. “You... you came all this way, just for me?”

The doctor smiled. “That’s what doctors are supposed to do—I couldn’t say no. Especially not once Chris came to my office himself this morning and quite literally dropped to his knees in front of me.”

I glanced at Chris, who looked a bit sheepish. So that was where he had gone off to; he had taken a boat to the human world without telling anyone, and had pleaded with Dr. Foster to come back with him. If it was even possible to love him even more, I certainly did now.

“Now,” Dr. Foster said, turning and grabbing a hefty medical supply bag from the boat, “let’s get somewhere more private so I can examine you properly.”

We snuck back through the village, our eyes and ears on high alert for any sign that we had been spotted. The streets were deserted this late, but every shadow seemed to hide potential eyes watching us. But, finally, we made it to my cottage without incident.

Once inside with the doors firmly locked and the curtains snapped shut, Dr. Foster turned to Leonard. “I’ll need to do a thorough examination. Is there a private room we can use?”

I nodded. “My bedroom is just up the stairs. You’re welcome to use it.”

As Leonard and the doctor headed toward the stairs, Ophelia hesitated. “Could I...?”

Dr. Foster smiled. “Of course.”

The three of them disappeared upstairs, leaving Chris and me alone in the living room. We paced back and forth restlessly. The tension was as thick as Moonshine’s fog in the air but both of us were too stunned and exhausted to speak.

I wanted to scold Chris for doing all of this without my knowledge, but ultimately, I couldn’t fault him; it was the safest thing for him to do.

“Do you think she can help him?” I finally asked softly after a long pause.

Chris sighed. “I don’t. But we had to try something. And she’s the only one who seemed interested in working with us to find a cure for Leonard.”

I shuddered, wrapping my arms around myself. “I hope she’ll be able to.”

Minutes stretched into hours, and the silence was deafening. I made coffee, but neither of us drank it. We just held the mugs, needing something to do with our hands, something to warm our cold fingers. The wait was excruciating, and I wondered what could be going on up there.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, we heard footsteps on the stairs. Dr. Foster appeared, her face unreadable.

“You can come up now,” she said.

She didn’t need to tell us twice; Chris and I were suddenly on our feet, practically knocking Dr. Foster over in our haste to get upstairs.

As we entered the bedroom, I saw Ophelia sitting on the bed next to Leonard, gripping his hand tightly.

Tears were streaming down her face.