A Den of Tricks (A Shade of Vampire #54)(59)

“What do we do tomorrow?” I asked, in the absence of anything better to say. The air around us was charged with unspoken words.

“We can start by meeting with the rest of the team in the infirmary, first thing in the morning, like we agreed,” Heron replied. I could feel his eyes on me, and if I lifted my head, I was probably going to find him looking at me, but I lacked the courage to even do that.

You coward! You were the one going after him tonight!

“Makes sense,” I murmured, then stared at the ceiling, following the fine cracks in the plaster.

Minutes slipped by as I tried to find the right words to say to him. I needed to talk to him about how I felt. Heron needed to know that I was developing feelings for him—mainly because I wanted to understand what it could mean to him. Was he going to look at me as another conquest? Because if that was the case, I was better off chewing the bark from a tree. Or was he going to reciprocate, and rid me of my growing misery? I hated keeping things to myself, especially feelings. They always cluttered up and made me feel anxious…

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you,” I said slowly, after a while. “About… you know, yesterday, and us. I mean, I don’t really know where to start, or how to say this, but… I’m… Ah, hell, might as well spill it. I’m starting to like you, Heron. Like, really like you. Well beyond the friendzone we discussed. And I just wanted you to know that. Don’t think it’s an excuse for you to try to get into my pants. I’m not one of those swooning succubi you left behind back on Calliope.”

There… Doesn’t that feel better?

I waited for an answer, but all I got was a nearly deafening silence. My breath got stuck in my throat as I braced myself for his response – it could be literally anything and that was what scared me the most.

Then a faint grumble made it out of his chest. He was snoring…

Ugh. Way to miss the mark, Avril!

I’d bared my soul for nothing. Heron had fallen asleep already, clearly more tired than he’d seemed. The poor thing was knocked out, and I was lying here in my bed, just a couple of feet away from him, wondering if I’d be able to say those things to him again tomorrow.

My chest deflated as I sank beneath my bedcover and turned onto one side, closing my eyes. They popped back open. I was in no shape to sleep now.

This is going to be a rough night…





Avril





(Daughter of Lucas & Marion)





I did manage to fall asleep eventually, but my dreams were not kind. Daemons surrounded me, their eyes glowing red as they clawed at my back and legs. I couldn’t feel any pain, but blood poured out of me in bright red swirls, as if I were in zero gravity. My voice was muted, although I was screaming. I was kicking and punching, but they kept coming.

My nightmare only got worse, and I saw Heron beyond the sea of daemons killing me. He was running toward me, desperately reaching out and calling out my name—but I couldn’t hear him either. Everything was muted. And as much as he ran, Heron wasn’t getting any closer. The physics of my subconscious had rallied against me.

I gasped and opened my eyes, surrounded by quiet darkness. My sight adjusted to the obscurity, and I could make out the contours of the windows and furniture in my room. I’m in my room… at the inn…

Warmth enveloped me, a pair of strong arms holding me tight beneath the covers. Heat expanded through my chest as I caught his scent—a plethora of spices and musk, combined with a faint whiff of citrus from whatever soap he’d used earlier. Heron was in my bed, spooning me in a soft embrace, and I… I didn’t want to be anywhere else.

“I fell off the couch a couple of times,” he whispered, his hot breath tickling my ear. “I figured the bed would be more comfortable.”

I didn’t say anything. My words were stuck in my throat, anyway. Well, I could tell him to go back to his room if he wanted to sleep in a bed and not on my sofa, but that seemed cruel. He’d come to me for comfort and company. Besides, I was ridiculously comfortable just as I was.

His frame outweighed mine, and every curve of my body seemed to fit perfectly against his, as if someone had sculpted us as two pieces of a whole. I belonged in his arms, and every atom in me happened to agree.

What are we going to do about this? What am I going to do?

I still needed to tell him about how I felt, given my earlier failed attempt. He still needed to know that I was starting to see well beyond our physical attraction, that I was having trouble seeing him as just a friend.

I’ll try again tomorrow… Maybe.

There were two ways in which this was going to go. Option one: Heron would tell me he felt the same way, and that meant we could maybe explore this chemistry between us and see what we could make of it. That was my best-case scenario, and it still scared the hell out of me, because I’d never been in love with anyone before and I didn’t understand the depths to which we could go.

Option two wasn’t good. Option two had Heron telling me he wasn’t interested in a serious relationship, but that we could always take advantage of our physical attraction and “have some fun”. I’d heard him say that to other females back on Calliope—I knew his lines all too well. He’d tried some on me already, after all. That was my worst-case scenario, in which my feelings were one-sided and I was bound to come across as a fool, after I’d pushed him away for being a superficial philanderer.