Silently, Rika retrieved the tiny pot of salve from her bag. She’d stuffed it in there before anything else, figuring it was best to carry it with them just in case they needed it. Jayce watched her with a solemn gaze that altered only briefly when he saw where the salve had been.

Carefully, she dabbed the salve onto her fingertip and then applied it to his eyes. She hoped that Sionnach had made it correctly, had found the right recipe, had thought this through. Even now, when she was furious with him, she trusted him enough to use the ointment he’d given them.

Jayce blinked a little, stared at her, and then murmured, “You look the same.”

“I used to be human,” she reminded him.

He nodded, and they finished gathering their things to travel.

Once they were in the desert, she was relieved that he could contain his reaction to the faeries that were now visible to him. He muttered “Wow,” but he didn’t stare at them and his soft exclamation could’ve been in reference to anything. He squeezed her hand a couple of times, either in excitement or nervousness, but in all, he hid his reaction to seeing the world revealed in a new light. She hadn’t been anywhere near that subtle in her responses when she’d first seen the creatures that lived hidden all around mortals. Then again, she’d also just become such a creature, so her own responses were heightened by emotions he didn’t have to experience.

“It’s amazing,” he said, almost reverently. His gaze drifted across the desert, and anyone watching could easily think he was referring to the cacti and cliffs.

“Deadly too,” she reminded him.

“My girlfriend is ruling the desert, right?”

“More or less.”

“Then I feel pretty safe,” he told her. “You can keep me safe.”

Admittedly, he had a point. Whether she took Alpha from Sionnach—which she certainly could if she wanted to—or accepted his repeated offered to share it with him, she would be able to keep Jayce safe from the fey here. She could order them not to reveal his Sight. Realizing that went far to easing her worries.

“Only here though,” she cautioned. “Outside the desert, I have no power.”

He nodded.