A World of New (A Shade of Vampire, #26)(37)

Taking one of his arms, I turned my back on him and dropped it around my shoulders.

“You can manage?” he asked dubiously.

“Of course,” I said.

He placed the other arm around me and once I felt that he was holding on securely, I kicked against the side of the pool and launched toward the center. It was always a bit awkward swimming with somebody on your back but I could hardly feel his weight anyway. I swam up and down the length of the pool a few times, letting him enjoy the feeling of movement. Then I moved to the shallow end of the pool, which sloped upward gently until the water level was low enough that one could sit down, half submerged in water. I guided him to sit next to me and took a look at his face. He was eyeing the edges of the pool. Using his hands, he moved away from me and gripped hold of the side, placing himself against the jets again. Then his eyes met mine, and he smiled a little. “Come here, Grace. I want to try something.”

“What?” I asked.

“Just come.”

I moved up to him and found him doing the same to me as I’d just done to him—taking my arms and planting them around his neck. Then, still clinging to the sides, he began moving slowly along the pool’s borders.

He smirked. “Not as interesting as your ride, I’m afraid.”

“I’m enjoying myself,” I assured him. “Just let me know if I’m strangling you.”

“Will do,” he muttered.

He made his way around the pool until we arrived back in the shallow end. Here, I slid off him and sat next to him. That had hardly been strenuous, he would have barely felt my weight, but he looked worryingly out of breath.

“You okay?” I asked.

He nodded, an expression of triumph spreading across his face. “Now I can say that I’ve carried you.”

I chuckled, even as my cheeks flushed a little. “Thank you.”

We sat there in the warm water a bit longer while he caught his breath, and then I suggested that we head back to our room to shower and change, rather than use the changing rooms here. I helped him out of the pool and into his wheelchair before dabbing him down with a towel and wrapping a robe around him. I wrapped myself in my own robe, collected our clothes, and returned us to our room.

Once I’d helped him wash off the chlorine in the shower, I wrapped him up again in towels before pushing him back into the bedroom. He said that he could manage the rest himself—getting dressed and drying his hair—and simply asked me to lay out some clothes for him. Once I’d done that, I returned to the bathroom and took a shower myself and washed my hair before changing into a pair of silky pajamas, courtesy of the hotel.

When I reemerged in the bedroom, I found Josh already in bed. He was wrapped up in blankets, sound asleep.

I padded over to him and gazed down at his face. But for the slight frown that marred his forehead, he looked peaceful. Serene. Content, even. The swim must’ve worn him out.

I was about to return to my side of the room and climb into my bed, when I found myself leaning down closer to him, until my lips grazed his forehead in a gentle kiss.

“Good night, Josh,” I whispered.





Grace





I woke up with a start the next morning. Somebody was tugging at my blankets, and then hands were grasping my shoulders. The curtains had been drawn open, sun streaming into the room, blinding me. As my vision focused, I found myself staring up at Shayla.

“Rise and shine, sweetheart,” she said. “You slept in late. I want to leave in half an hour.”

Groaning, I slowly sat up in bed and glanced toward Josh’s bed. He was sitting upright, already dressed. Through the window behind him was a bright, cheerful morning. Blue skies, not a cloud in sight. My kind of weather.

Since I’d already cleaned myself last night, I didn’t bother getting in the shower. I just went to the bathroom to brush my teeth, do my hair and get dressed. I felt nervous as I thought about the day ahead. A visit to the area where the IBSI’s base was located. I had no idea what we might find, but hopefully we would not be detected by anyone.

Shayla ordered up some breakfast. She and I stuck with cereal and fruit, while Josh would only drink a milkshake.

Then we gathered in the center of the room. Shayla placed a hand on my shoulder as well as Josh’s. A moment later, the hotel had disappeared, and we were hurtling through air at the speed of light. Traveling by the witch’s magic really was not the best thing to do right after breakfast. I was glad that I hadn’t eaten too much.

It took a few moments to orient myself as my feet hit solid ground. As I gazed around, we were standing on the sidewalk, along a long, wide road lined with graceful oak trees. On the opposite sidewalk was a high, spiked fence that stretched the entire length of the road. Beyond it was some kind of grand estate consisting of dated stone buildings. They’d been renovated recently, by the looks of it, with tinted glass windows.

It looked like it might have once been an old, prestigious university, maybe even a monastery. There was one large structure toward the center of the compound shaped like a cathedral, and other, smaller rows of pointed buildings clustered around it.

“So this is it?” I whispered. I was so used to the usual oblong, brownish, custom-made buildings that the hunters usually set up at their bases. This came as a bit of a surprise.

Shayla nodded, her focus on Josh. She gripped the handles of his wheelchair and began pushing it forward. “Any of this at all familiar to you?” she asked.