Chapter 51: The Celestial Unicorn

Maria tsked and crossed her arms while pressing her tongue against the inside of her cheek. She glanced between her boys, mumbling to one another in Spanish, their tone defensive.

"Aye, well damn...ya been listenin’ to us, eh? I heard what ya did for one of the lil’ niños. Hmm..."

Rachel spun one of the free chairs around to sit backward, matching energy and resting her arms on it as they discussed her entrance, a few pointing at her large ears. "I heard no one can lie to you, and in return, you can’t lie. Is that right? Rachel, by the way, but, heh, Diego told you that. He’s sleeping, right?"

"Yeah... Yo, the hell happened to you, chica?" she mumbled, silver eyes scanning her bandages and lightly discolored skin representing her bruises. "You look like you’ve been scrappin’ with dogs."

A few of the men chuckled, but Rachel was sincere and straightforward; she’d be the type of person Maria liked dealing with, and since she could detect lies, breaking the ice would be quick.

"I did fight aliens from another world with a dragon. Am I lying?"

The woman’s eyes narrowed, and she sat straighter, silencing the men around her at her sudden change in demeanor. "Aye, aye—say that again, chica—a whole ass dragon? Shit. What about the toad aliens I’ve heard about—were they perras ya popped off on?"

"I fought a few different aliens, sure, but I took care of some in their own world before that toad invasion at the college happened." Rachel giggled, trying to ignore the spotted vision and swaying faces as she held up her hand to distract them, showing a squeezing gesture. "Popped their heads like a child’s doll!"

Several of the men and women around them shifted uncomfortably at her blunt confession to murdering that the unicorn didn’t call out, their queen’s posture changing as the conversation went on.

"Ah, but I’m not here for that," she giggled, flashing her teeth. "I’ve heard you can heal people, and, well...you can see I’m in need of a little support. Eh-heh. Are there two of you or five; I can’t even tell anymore? Haha. C’mon, help a girl out!"

The atmosphere grew tense as Maria leaned one arm against the table beside her, index finger tapping the surface; more than just her crew were now paying attention to their meeting.

"Ugh. I figured ya weren’t just bein’ nice ta Diego... Liebre means hare, my chica—your ears are too big to be a bunny—but, damn, I get the feeling you’re more of a loba."

Rachel’s ears shifted to the left, pain making her tail go completely stiff, yet she kept her voice under control. "I’m guessing that means wolf by the context—heh, instead of a wolf in sheep’s clothing, I’m a carnivorous hare, huh?"

"Ya ain’t lied yet," Maria grunted. "Respect for that—even the carnivorous hare part regarding your personality...but some of my girls were watching you when you came in... You’ve got an angle; spit it out."

Expression twisting to a more sly smirk, Rachel hummed, looking the uncomfortable unicorn in the eyes; some of the gangsters’ hands went to their hidden weapons, but they didn’t escalate things as Rachel kept her focus on their queen.

"I did want to help Diego—I’m not about to let some wannabe influencer make fun of a boy nearly half her age without stepping in. I’ve been on the receiving end of that in junior high—but I also like to make the most of my time. I knew you’d feel compelled to heal me for Diego because you don’t like to owe people favors and believe in karma. Well?"

Drawing in her pink lower lip, Maria held a guarded gaze, listening to some of the Mexicans mumble in Spanish around them and responding to a few inquiries; she retained eye contact the entire time.

"Tsk. Damn, not a single lie, chica. I usually can’t go a minute without feelin’ one. You scratched Diego’s back, I’ll scratch yours, but there’s more to it than that, Liebre Lunar. I’m not tryin’ ta make waves with the wrong people, and I hear ya got somethin’ going on with some military types—qué demonios es esto!"

A brilliant light lit up the space as her spiral horn solidified on her brow, and she shot to her feet in shock, making Rachel force a laugh at her face; the rest of the room did the same at the sudden action, unsure if they should make a break for it.

"Chica—the hell’d you do to your body? Shit!" she snarled, eyes sweeping past key parts of her figure. "Ya get hit by a camión de la basura—how the hell are you not screaming?!"

"Heh. That bad, heh?"

"Worse than the trauma patients I’ve seen in this bitch—I, eh...damn... It’s gonna take hell ’ta get you put back together. Saint Mary better bless us, chica, because I ain’t sure I can bring you back with my power." She hastily motioned to the crew around her. "Aye, let’s bounce—shit..."

A little lost now, Rachel frowned and forced herself up. Her jaw tightened as she put pressure on her legs again and saw spots; she did her best not to teeter. "W-What’s up?"

Maria looked at her like she was insane. "The hell you mean, what’s up, perra loca?! I gotta juice up ta deal with your shit. Catch up, chica!"

Rachel glanced left, seeing Roy watching them from a table, only a single bite taken out of his sandwich as they passed; the urgency in Maria’s voice was accompanied by a refreshing pulse of energy that lessened some of her pain, with one caveat.

"Wow," she whispered, seeing some of the bruising fading. "That was—Maria?"

Her brow furrowed, now seeing how terrible her reaction time was. The gangster’s tight expression grew more frustrated as she almost tripped, cursing in Spanish under her breath while her light faded.

"Shut up," she grumbled, rubbing her chest as if in pain, her horn dimming significantly; her voice lowered when Rachel caught up, already ahead of the pack, scrambling to join them. "The hell you get off on... Masochistic bitch, your organs are failing—five hours, and you’re on ice—so shut your mouth and keep close. You’ll be blacking out soon—how the hell are you still conscious?"

A shiver ran down her spine at the revelation; sure, she’d been pushing herself to remain awake, just like when she’d talked to the officers the previous night when she’d passed out, yet somehow continued to speak, but she didn’t think it was due to organ failure.

"I...guess my pain threshold is a lot higher than I thought."

"No shit, Sherlock—you’re a machine. Now keep up," the unicorn growled, more pissed than Rachel thought she’d be.

However, if her new suspicions were correct, Rachel could understand why she was suddenly so temperamental; healing people could have a negative effect on the unicorn, and, while she was the type to demand payment—rightfully so if there were side effects—Maria wouldn’t let someone die in front of her if she could help it.

Making her way to the doors, she hesitated for half a second just before entering the bright section of the cafeteria; she didn’t want to drain all of her lunar energy since it was helping to sustain her, but she didn’t really have a choice—she stepped into the golden rays.