Of Cunning Minds: Sebastian Sallow

"Merlin, are you two okay?" Anastasia grasped the hem of her long dress and rushed forward to Thea, eyeing her bleeding leg.

"How did Harlow break in?" Sebastian demanded. "I thought Ominis said there were wards in place."

Anastasia threw him a rather pointed look. "There are, but they're tied to Guant blood. And because of this," she wiggled her ring finger. "mine too. They must have weakened with us both being gone."

"What are you going to do with Harlow?" Thea chimed, gesturing to his unconscious form. "Take him to the Ministry?"

"I'm afraid that will raise suspicions," she said softly. "If Clyde gets found out as being a dark wizard, he may act impulsively and we won't be able to predict his movements. It's best if we try to keep things appearing normal." She titled her head and brought a well-manicured hand to her chin. "I can drop Harlow off in front of that nasty pub. I'll modify his memories so that he'll think he simply had too much to drink. How did he find the manor in the first place?"

"He followed my blood trail from the night I got hurt."

"I'll deal with that as well." Anastasia stared determinedly at Sebastian. "I trust that you can help with her leg."

He nodded curtly in response.

"Good, I'll let Ominis know what happened. Try to stay out of trouble until we get back." She smiled and turned towards Harlow. Bending down gracefully, she closed her hand around his meaty forearm. With a twist and a crack, they disappeared from the gardens.

"That looks bad," Sebastian said from Thea's right. He was staring at the pool of blood forming at her feet. The cut must have been deeper than she realized. In fact, she had only just become aware of the dizzy sensation fogging her mind. She met his eyes and thought she saw his lips moving to say her name. The sound was lost in her ears. His hand reaching to hold the back of her neck was the last thing she remembered before she blacked out.

~~~

She woke up on something soft: a bed. Slowly opening her eyes, she recognized the room as the guest bedroom she stayed in when she first visited Ominis. It looked almost identical to how it did when she slept in it apart from the small pile of clothes in the corner. Sebastian's clothes.

She sat bolt upright. She was in the room he's been sleeping in. Feeling suddenly very warm, she yanked the blanket off her body revealing the now mostly healed cut across her thigh. Her bare thigh.

"You're awake," Sebastian commented as he entered the room, washcloth in hand.

"You took off my pants?" Thea stammered while pulling the blanket back over her legs.

"Well, I needed to see the cut," he defended, crossing the space to the bed, and dropping the washcloth into a bowl of water on the end table.

"You could have torn the fabric," Thea argued. "Undressing me was unnecessary."

"Trust me, it wasn't the ideal way to undress you." He froze and he turned a shade of red Thea had never seen on him before.

"I'm sorry?" she countered.

"That's not what I meant. I just—it was very bloody and gross and your pants were tight so it was sticky—"

Thea nodded, ignoring the own blush spreading across her cheeks. "Thank you for helping me," she said cutting off his rambling words.

"You're welcome," he said quietly before reaching for the washcloth again. "It's a dittany soak. Anastasia said the other night that it's good for wounds like this."

Thea met his gaze as he pulled the blanket back down her legs. He pressed the warm cloth against her cut and she melted against the touch. She wasn't sure if it was the dittany or the way he looked at her that was so soothing.