Ark had seen plenty of guards' mental health go downhill, and he recognised the signs in Jaro. Misery had hit hard and suddenly, and if they didn't help him, or maybe even with their help, he'd be stuck in a pit of hopelessness.
"She doesnothate you," Kheir said firmly. "She was shocked."
Shocked, hurt, betrayed. "It won't be an instant resolution," Ark said, "but don't give up on her."
Jaro shook his red head, pushing away from Kheir. "You should be comfortingMaia, not me. Go after her; I'll stay and pay the healer."
"If you think we're leaving you alone with a healer we've known less than an hour, you're crazy," Ark said, crossing his arms over his chest.
Jaro swallowed, moving away from them to look at a shelf full of opaque pots. "I don't understand why you're being like this. You should be punching me like you punched Az when he hurt her."
Kheir ran a rough hand through his glossy hair. "This is different, Jaro. That was Az lashing out and being an asshole. This was ... you were protecting yourself."
"Protecting her," Jaro corrected, swallowing. "From my horrible truth."
"You're not being fair to yourself," Kheir said carefully, watching him.
"When I first met Maia, when I realised she was my mate, I didn't even think of him. Not for a second. I didn't connect the two—my dream and my nightmare." Jaro shook his head. "But the next time he came to use me, Maia had been taken by the Foxes and I—I couldn'tbear it.Everything felt wrong.Ifelt wrong, deep in my soul. I think there's still something wrong with me."
"There isnothingwrong with you," Kheir disagreed.
"Nothing," Ark agreed firmly.
But Jaro ignored them, the words not penetrating his fear. "Every time she looks at me, I'm scared she sees it in me—the wrongness. And now she will. Now it'sallshe'll see."
Ark took a step, not sure how exactly he'd comfort Jaro but needing to dosomething, but Jaro straightened and swallowed, calling out, "Hey, Heron. We'll take Maia's treatment now."
An effective way of ending the conversation—of letting himself wallow in his self-hatred. Ark sighed, worried they wouldn't get through to him any time soon.
"Did I hear my name?" the little old man poked his blue head around the door, assessing them with a sweep of his eyes. "All done?"
"Done," Jaro agreed, even though Kheir and Ark clearly had a lot more to say. Ark bottled it up and stored it for later. One thing was for sure, he wouldn't let the beastkind be alone tonight; he was glad they had a shared room.
"Let me just jar this up," Heron said, sweeping over the atmosphere in the room as if he hadn't caused it with a stupid mishap. "There's enough here for a month, so make sure your mate applies it daily."
Jaro nodded sharply.
Into the silence, Ark stepped forward and said, "You mentioned certain circles picking up information earlier. Have you heard anything about Ilysen and Calvo? About creatures sacking them?"
Ark expected a dismissive laugh, or at least a blank look, but instead the blood drained from Heron's face.
"Tell us," Kheir demanded, spotting the same thing. "If you tell us everything you know, we'll pay double the price for that healing paste."
But Heron shook his head. "I'm not telling youanythingabout what's happening out there."
"Out where?" Ark pressed, eyes narrowed.
Heron laughed, pouring purple-flaming green slop into a jar and avoiding their watchful stares. "If you don't know, I'm certainly not telling you. I've had enough nightmares to last a lifetime, and I havenodesire to relive them, no matter how pretty the men asking are."
"This is important," Jaro growled, more than a hint of his jaguar in the sound.
"So is my peace of mind," Heron deflected, screwing a lid on the jar. It was a sizable thing that would weigh them down, but for Maia, Ark would carry it to the other side of the Saintlands.
"You've had enough nightmares to last a lifetime," Ark repeated, watching the healer. "So you've seen the monsters."
"I'd rather not talk about it. Denial works wonders for my sleep routine," he added with a forced laugh.
Jaro's next growl was loud enough to rattle the bottles on the shelves, and Heron threw up his hands.