“Tess?” Mrs. Frost called out, and I winced. I’d forgotten about her for a minute.
“I’m coming, Mrs. Frost.”
“Is that Jack? Tell that nice boy to come in here and help me up.”
Jack tilted his head. “Is she okay? Why does she need help up?”
“Excuse us for a moment, Quinn, Alaric,” I said. “A friend needs some help.”
I said, quietly, to Jack: “She has cataracts and is afraid of surgery, so she’s terrified she’d going blind.”
Alaric, who’d been looking around the store with interest, whipped his head around to stare at me. “Your friend is losing her vision? This is no problem. I can fix that.”
With that, he strode past me and shoved the door to the back room open. “I am Alaric of Atlantis, respected elder. I will repair your eyes.”
I gasped and pushed past Jack to follow Alaric into the back room. Mrs. Frost would be scared to death of this imposing stranger making grandiose claims of being able to cure blindness.
“Wait! Alaric! Mrs. Frost, I’m sorry! Don’t be afraid. He’s from Atlantis, he doesn’t understand—"
But she was peering up at Alaric. “Well, get to it, young man. I’m ninety years old. I don’t have all day to wait around.”
Shockingly, he smiled. Alaric, one of the most dangerous men in the world, according to Jack’s stories, smiled. And then he bowed. “I have over five centuries, my lady. I understand impatience.”
With that, he reached out and touched her face, his hands on her temples. A glowing silver light appeared and surrounded Mrs. Frost’s head in a nimbus of radiance, and Mrs. Frost gasped. I took a step toward her, but Jack’s hand on my arm held me back.
“He’s very good at this,” Jack said quietly. “Give him a minute.”
But it didn’t take that long. In only a few more seconds, Alaric removed his hands, and the glow faded.
Mrs. Frost stayed entirely still for a long moment after that, and then her eyes snapped open.
“Wow,” I murmured. Her eyes sparkled up at Alaric—and they were completely clear. Not a hint of cloudiness. But did it work? Could she see?
Mrs. Frost’s mouth fell open. “Oh, boy, howdy! It worked! You fixed me, young man. And gosh, you’re pretty. If I’d been able to pick the first thing I saw when I could see clearly again, your pretty face would be right up there! You’re almost as handsome as my husband.”
Jack and I glanced at each other. Mr. Frost was a short, round man with a face a bit like a bloodhound. But he loved his wife with a deep, pure love, and that made him beautiful to her.
Alaric’s eyes widened. He probably didn’t have much experience with being told he was pretty by nonagenarians. I tried not to laugh, but Quinn had no such reservations.
I glanced over my shoulder.
She grinned. “Well, heispretty. I tell him that all the time.”
“Help me up, young man,” Mrs. Frost demanded, holding out a hand.
Alaric, still looking slightly befuddled, bowed again and then held out a hand to take hers. She rose and smiled at all of us and then patted his arm.
“Are you … really cured, Mrs. Frost?” I didn’t want to insult Alaric, but she was my friend, and I was worried.
“I haven’t seen this well in fifty years! I can even read the small print on that poster over there on your wall!” Her smile was enormous. “I won’t be selling you my crossbow after all.”
“Crossbow?” Alaric asked.
“We’ll tell you later,” Jack said.
“Will it last?” I directed the question to Alaric. “Is it a temporary fix, or is she really cured?”
His eyes narrowed, but then he nodded. “You do not know me, Tess Callahan, so naturally you have doubts. Yes, she is cured. She will have perfect vision for the entirety of her life.”
