Project Spies (snippet)

Rowan touched her nose, feeling the fresh flow of blood. She was sure her nose was broken, but she refused to react. Aubrey had done it on purpose, Rowan was almost certain. The rest of the recruits didn’t do anything to help her. Most of them were too bruised themselves to care.

Rowan headed for the benches, feeling a deep bruise on her behind as she sat and began digging through her bag for something to wipe the blood with.

“Here,” a deep voice said. 

She looked up, and Elliot was standing beside her, holding out a mini first-aid kit.

“Thanks,” Rowan mumbled, taking it from him. She opened the bag and stared dumbly at the supplies, having no idea what to do with them.

“Start with the wipe,” Elliot advised, propping a leg on the bench to position himself on the bench aside from her. 

She glowered at him, unsure why he was helping her. It took quite a few wipes to clean the blood off her face, made even harder by the fact that the blood kept coming.

“I can’t believe Aubrey did that,” Elliot muttered.

“I can,” Rowan snorted. She glanced up at Elliot, who was watching her bleeding nose with concern. “That girl hates me with a vengeance.”

She looked away, focusing on the worrisome amount of blood on the wipe.

“I could heal it if you want,” he said. “Just to stop the bleeding.”

She stared at him, surprised by the offer. “I- okay.”

He hesitated for a moment. “I’m going to touch your face, is that okay?”

Rowan blinked. “Right. Fine.”

To her surprise, Elliot reached out and held her chin with one hand. She would have recoiled if his grip hadn’t been so firm. Instead, her cheeks warmed as a mixture of discomfort and fluttering in her stomach.

Elliot ignored her reaction, bringing his other hand to touch the bridge of her nose. His eyes fluttered shut, and she felt a tingle in her nose as his powers began to heal the broken parts of her cartilage. The sensation was odd and uncomfortable. Rowan would have jerked back if Elliot hadn't been holding her in place.

She studied him for a moment, surprised to find him so tender and focused. He had his guard down around her of all people. They were the last people in the training room, leaving her feeling both relieved and nervous to have this private moment.

Up close, Rowan could see the light smattering of freckles across his nose. She wondered if the freckles had been stronger when he was little, but faded due to a lack of time inside away from the sun.

After a moment, the feeling of his powers subsided, and Elliot’s eyes reopened. He ran the pad of his thumb against the side of her nose, examining the remains of the injury before removing her hands from her face.

“There you go,” he said, offering a small smile.

Her stomach fluttered. She told it to shut up. “Thanks. You didn’t have to do that.”

Elliot shrugged. “I didn’t have any reason not to.”