Aida

What the hell was she doing?

She was standing there like an idiot, holding a mug of water and staring at him like she had never seen a person sleep before.

The fact that it was a gorgeous person, who had just kissed her senseless, and who was now sleeping in her bed shouldn’t make any difference.

Right?

This was getting entirely out of hand, Aida thought as she forced herself to turn around and walk calmly back down the stairs before she did anything else foolish.

Like run back in there and climb on top of him.

Gods, she must have lost her mind.

She promised herself she would go back and review her old teachers’ notes on healer-patient ethics and countertransference as soon as she had a moment.

Now, however, she busied herself repacking the simple meal of bread, cheese, smoked meat and fruit she had set out. Toma needed rest much more than he needed to eat right now. All of this would keep until he woke up.

Her stomach grumbled at her, reminding her that there was no particular reason for her to wait if she was hungry. After all, she hadn’t exactly been well fed while she had been Magnus’ “guest.” She grabbed some cheese and a slice of bread and wandered out to the front porch to eat it.

Just as she was finishing up, she felt the ward under the waterfall trigger.

Now, who on earth could that be?

There was a village not far away, of course. That’s where most of her patients came from. It was just very unusual for any of them to seek her out. She would visit to her clinic in town several times a week, and would make house-calls as necessary. In fact, only a couple of the villagers knew how to find their way here, and they wouldn’t dare do it unless there was an emergency. She valued her privacy, and she knew through experience to be wary of people like Magnus.

She supposed it was possible one of those villagers had become concerned when she hadn’t come in as she usually did, but she didn’t think that could be it.

Aida had a bad feeling about this.

Frowning, she walked back into the house and hurried to a nondescript mirror that hung on the wall by the door. Touching the frame with one finger, she triggered the magic embedded in it and was able to view what was happening under the waterfall from the point of view of her doll.

What she saw made her blood run cold.

“TOMA!” she screamed up the stairs as she sprinted out the door.