A Meet of Tribes (A Shade of Vampire #45)(9)

My own nose itched all of a sudden, and my eyes burned.

I reached her in several steps and noticed her red nose and teary eyes as she tried to wipe the water from her face. Steam drifted out of her shivering body, and I realized that I had to get her inside and warmed up fast before she came down with a cold or worse. I was taken aback by how quickly her symptoms had come on.

I took her in my arms and carried her inside. She was silent, tender against my chest, trembling and sniffing. I raced up the stairs and went straight into my room, placing my little bundle of pink hair and soft white flesh on the bed. I retrieved several large towels from the bathroom, and wrapped her in them.

I used one to dry her hair, and she silently sat there watching me for a while, the faint shadow of a smile flickering on her lips. Soon enough, her eyes closed, and I laid her on one side of the bed. I pulled the bed cover over her as she drifted off to sleep.

She seemed content, covered in warm linens and towels. The rain outside stopped, and the clouds broke apart. The sun shone and threw warm rays into my room. I pulled a chair close to the bed and sat there, watching her while she slept.

Her body moved with every breath she took, and her dark red brows furrowed slightly once in a while. Was she dreaming?

I couldn’t bring myself to leave her, and the thought startled me.

What had she done to me? How had I become so tied to this gorgeous creature?

And why was I so okay with it?





Aida





I leaned against Field as we walked into the banquet hall, where breakfast was still being served—although at this hour it could easily be considered brunch. We didn’t care. We were famished.

We ate in silence, sitting next to each other, and my mind rocked back and forth, oscillating between last night’s moment with Field and everything that came afterward, including the forced hatching of the last Daughter. The latter had definitely made it onto my “top five weirdest moments in Eritopia” list. It didn’t beat the flickering runes I’d seen on my body the other night, but it was a decent contender for the upper echelon of freaky occurrences.

Field’s presence so close to me soon started to have a dominant effect. I found myself giving him sideways glances and wondering what he was thinking about. The silence shifted from normal to awkward, as we both slowed down and picked at the pancakes on our plates and sipped our coffee.

“Field,” I said.

He looked at me, his turquoise eyes lighting up as soon as they met mine.

“I want to thank you,” I continued, my voice lower than usual.

“For what?”

“For everything. For everything you’ve done, for being here, for being an amazing friend. We’re so lucky to have you around.” I was exhausted, judging by my mild slur and dim tone.

Despite the nourishment, what I needed most was sleep. Long hours of it, uninterrupted. I noticed a frown pass over Field’s face, and I wasn’t sure what to make of it, especially when he shifted his gaze to his plate.

“I’m still trying to wrap my head around Phoenix and the Daughter,” came his completely unrelated reply. “It’s so good to see him alive, but at the same time I can’t quite put my finger on this connection he seems to have with the Daughter. It’s like they’ve become inseparable.”

“Yeah, me neither.” I nodded slowly. “It might have started from his vision of her from the past, sleeping in her shell. And if the Daughters picked up on that and gave him that knife, clearly this was somehow meant to happen. Though I don’t understand what their end game is and why Phoenix and the Daughter seem so attached.”

“We’ll have to keep an eye on them going forward,” Field said and gulped down the rest of his coffee.

I pushed the chair back and stood up, ready for my beauty sleep. But my legs didn’t feel like obeying the rest of my body, and I wobbled, prompting Field to rise out of his chair and lift me in his arms.

While exhaustion may have finally prevailed over me, I had enough sense to marvel at the sensation of his arms around me.

Field held me, my feet dangling, as I wrapped my arms around his neck for support. I melted into his chest, tired and grateful to feel him so close. His body was hard and unforgiving, but his grip was gentle and cautious. I let my head rest on his chest as he carried me upstairs. His heartbeat drummed in my ear.

We made it to my room upstairs, and he set me back on my feet. I looked up and gave him a weak smile as a thank you and staggered into the bathroom.

“I need a shower before I can even touch that bed,” I mumbled.

I locked the door behind me and leaned against it. My breathing was fast and uneven, mimicking my heart. I’d felt so safe for a brief moment in Field’s arms, tucked away from the whole world and everything that wanted to kill me. I needed a few seconds to get a grip.

I turned on the water and peeled off my clothes, dumping them in an old laundry basket. I’d deal with those later. I welcomed the stream over my face and body. My muscles relaxed, and my skin was thankful for every drop. I washed my hair with soap and cleaned all the dirt away; my digging attempts had been quite messy.

I stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around myself, my mind wandering toward Field and what it had felt like against his body. No wonder my legs were so weak.

I twisted my hair and let it loose over one shoulder, enough to feel some cool air against the back of my neck. I wiped the mirror above the sink with my palm to get a quick look at myself. My eyes were droopy and bloodshot, but some color had returned to my cheeks thanks to the food.