The First Legendary Beast Healer

_7_

For a moment, nobody said anything. Elias was still looking at Rachael when a man near the counter burst into laughter, drawing the attention of those standing farther down the hall.

“What did you just say?” the man asked, turning towards the person beside him as though he needed someone to confirm what he had heard.

“Perhaps the evidence he wants to give her is a lap dance.”

The laughter grew louder, and Elias looked towards the man who had spoken. He was leaning against the counter with a broad smile, pleased that everyone had found him so amusing.

Elias rested his hand on the counter.

“If you’re finished, I was speaking to her.”

The man’s smile faltered as Elias turned back towards Rachael. He had spoken without raising his voice, and the people closest to them could still hear him over the laughter.

Rachael’s lips pressed together, but she said nothing.

Tiffine stepped forward, the smile she had been using for Rachael disappearing as she faced Elias.

“I expected you to have some humanity and dignity left in you, Elias. All those times you went around bowing before everyone, asking for help, it was almost cute to watch. I never expected you to sink this low.”

Elias let her finish before glancing at the counter behind her. When he looked back at her, his expression hadn’t changed.

“For someone who works behind a counter and only escaped my situation because she was born with affinity, that’s quite a lot to say.”

Tiffine’s mouth parted, but nothing came out at first. She looked towards her companion, who suddenly found something to attend to behind the counter.

The tension around Rachael’s mouth eased, and it almost seemed she was holding back a smile. She glanced towards the counter before returning her attention to Elias.

Tiffine noticed the change in her expression. Her face hardened as she turned towards her, straightening her shoulders.

“I can assure you, Miss Rachael, that he has nothing to offer. Some of the best doctors in the world have been called to attend to your beast, and he doesn’t even have a medical licence.”

“Do you have one?” Rachael asked, raising her brows at Elias.

“I know I can heal your beast.”

The man leaning against the counter laughed again.

“She asked whether you have a licence, and you’re still promising miracles. Do you even listen to yourself?”

Elias faced Rachael again while the man continued laughing. She was studying him, but this time, her eyes remained on his face rather than his clothes.

“Your confidence doesn’t answer my question,” Rachael said. “I have to consider what happens if I let you near my beast.”

“Then judge the evidence I give you,” Elias replied. “After that, the decision is yours.”

She looked at him for a moment, then glanced towards Tiffine. The nurse was already shaking her head, but Rachael raised a finger before she could interrupt.

“I’m speaking to him.”

Tiffine’s fingers tightened against the counter, and she lowered her eyes.

When she looked up again, she stepped closer.

“If you’re so confident, why don’t you tell me my beast’s symptoms?”

Elias turned towards her as a small fox appeared beside her feet. Its reddish fur was thick and clean, and it stood close to her legs with its tail curled around its paws.

Tiffine bent and ran her hand over its back, looking up at Elias as she did so.

“Go ahead, then. You wanted to give evidence, didn’t you?”

Rachael looked down at the fox.

“Is there something wrong with it?”

“It’s had a few problems, miss,” Tiffine answered.

“Then you should know whether his answer is correct.”

“Of I will. I will smell it from a distance the insane he's lying.”

Tiffine straightened at that, glancing towards the people at the counter as though Rachael had put her in charge. Elias left her to enjoy the attention for a moment.

Her companion leaned over the counter to get a better look. The man beside her had stopped laughing, although the smile remained on his face.

Elias looked at the fox, and the discomfort beneath its ribs became clear to him almost immediately. There was more wrong with it than its appearance suggested.

Tiffine moved her hand towards its stomach, but the fox shifted away from her fingers. She returned to stroking its back.

Elias watched her hand for a moment before looking at her face.

“It hasn’t been eating properly.”

Tiffine gave a small laugh and looked towards Rachael.

“Even I could have guessed that. Is that what you call—”

“It goes towards its food as though it’s hungry, takes a few bites, then leaves the rest.”

Her hand slowed against the fox’s fur.

“And it’s been drinking more water than usual. Sometimes, it drinks so quickly that it brings it back up almost immediately.”

Tiffine looked towards her companion, who quickly shook her head.

“I haven’t told him anything about your beast,” the nurse said. “You know I haven’t.”

Tiffine faced Elias again, her mouth drawn tight. He continued before she could question her companion further, his voice carrying clearly to the people who had gathered around them.

“At night, it keeps getting up and moving around. You put it back in its bed, but it won’t stay there. When it finally lies down, it avoids resting on its right side.”

Tiffine’s hand had stopped moving, and the fox pressed its head against her knee. She looked down at it before lifting her gaze towards Elias again.

He could still hear someone speaking farther down the hall, but the people around the counter had grown quiet.

“You can touch its back without any trouble,” he continued. “But when your hand goes beneath its ribs, it pulls away. If you press there, it cries out.”

Tiffine’s lips moved, although no words followed.

“And there’s blood in what it brings up,” Elias added. “Only a little, so it’s easy to miss unless you’re the one cleaning it.”

All the colour drained from Tiffine’s face.