Cutie turned his head slowly, his eyes locking onto the healer with a gaze so sharp and cold it felt like a knife slicing through flesh. Every inch of the room seemed to shiver under his stare.
The healer's composure faltered. A shiver ran down his spine, his body betraying him in ways he could not control. One thought clawed at his mind like a frantic rat: Is this man really just a rabbit beast-man? No—this presence, this suffocating, almost physical weight pressing against his senses, it was something far more dangerous. A mere rabbit beast could not make his instincts scream with this intensity. Yet, every fiber of his being screamed to flee, to vanish, to put as much distance between himself and Cutie as the world allowed.
But Cutie's attention had already returned to Kaya. Kneeling beside her, he pressed two fingers against her wrist with careful precision, seeking the fragile rhythm of her pulse. It was faint. Too faint.
