Daniel took a step closer to me, and before I could protest, he swept an arm around me. My legs gave out, like they’d only just barely been keeping me up. “You’ve been away from Imperial for too long,” he said, a rumble in his voice. He lifted me with ease, holding me close to his chest.
With almost laughably pathetic strength, I pushed at his arm, before letting out a sigh and falling against his hard chest. “How is she going to function in Astoria?” Emma asked, and even though I couldn’t see her face, I could hear the concern in her voice. “She’s only been away from Imperial for about an hour.”
Daniel shifted me higher on his body. I realized my eyes had closed. I tried to pry them open, but I couldn’t.
“She almost died today. Her body and energy need rest. Tomorrow she should be able to stay away for a lot longer.”
I missed more of what was said, as that heaviness which had been pressing on me increased. I regained some consciousness as we started to walk again. Part of my brain was screaming at me to get down and walk on my own, but there was no way for me to fight against the fog in my head and body.
For the first time in my life, I was going to have to trust someone other than myself to take care of me. In some ways, that concept was scarier than the fact I had died today.
7
Awakening in a strange place was becoming part of my norm lately. So when I opened my eyes to find myself in a bedroom that wasn’t mine, my heart barely skipped a beat. Scooting higher on the pillow, I looked down the bed. It was huge, bigger than any I’d seen before. I ran my hands across the navy comforter, thick and luxurious, enjoying the high quality and silky feel of it. Sign me up for a year of sleep in this bed. Not only was the bedding quality, the mattress might have been made from magic. Alien magic.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t in my nature to laze around, so I pulled myself up even further, sitting up straight. It looked as if I was still dressed in my bloody clothes from yesterday, which was totally gross, but I was also glad Daniel didn’t undress me without my permission. I appreciated that about him. Even if he would have to change his sheets now.
I stretched my arms above my head. I had a few aches and pains, but nothing to indicate I’d died yesterday. Standing, finally, I gave the rest of the room, which was as large and decadent as the bed, a quick look. There was a seating area filled with cushy couches, two dressers, a tallboy, and multiple other heavy, dark, wooden pieces.
Noticing a door, I dashed toward it, hoping it was the bathroom. I needed to pee. Badly.
Success!
The room, tiled in white with charcoal accents, had a shower and a deep tub. Ignoring these, I hurried to what looked like a toilet. It was different to what I was used to, smaller, lower to the ground, and square. But it was the closest thing to a toilet in the room, and I was at desperation level.
When I was done, I looked around for some paper. There was no holder or rolls that I could see. Just when I was about to give up searching, resigning myself to the old “drip-dry” method, there was a whoosh and the toilet flushed. Before I could move, a blast of icy water shot at my bare skin from all sides and I let out a low shriek as it hit me.
What in all the worlds?
That was the opposite of paper. I was now soaking wet.
Warm air followed right after, and just like that I was dry and clean and completely freaked the hell out. Scrambling off the alien toilet, I pulled my pants up and backed away from it slowly. I had no idea how it did that, because I sure as hell didn’t press any buttons or anything. I was hoping it was a sensor, and not some robotic-toilet coming to life thing. That would be really shitty. Pun intended.
Crossing to the sink, I had to search again for a way to turn the water on. Eventually I figured it out. One thing learned, twenty million to go. When my hands were washed, I lifted my head to the mirror.
My gray eyes were brighter than usual, the streaks of blue in them quite prominent. My skin, which was normally quite pale, looked positively ghostly. I was probably anemic after losing almost all of my blood yesterday. I’d always been tall and thin; athletic stuff came easy to me – I was generally healthy and well-toned. Today I looked frail. I didn’t like it.
A knock at the door startled me. I turned and rested back against the bench. “Yes,” I called out, hoping it was Daniel and not some rando. I did not feel up to dealing with an Imperial alien today.
The door cracked open and my heart did that stupid fluttery thing when a familiar face appeared in the open space. Daniel was dressed all in black, the slightest of dark stubble on his face, adding even more sexy to his appeal.
“Hey, was just checking in on you,” he said, leaning against the doorframe. He focused completely on me, eyes intense on my face. “We need to head to Astoria soon if we want to make class today. If you feel up to it.”
I forced myself to stop staring at him like he was a cool drink of water in the desert and rubbed a hand across my hair. “I feel fine, so far. Being here seems to have restored my energy.” Clearing my throat, I added, “And thanks for looking after me yesterday. You know, putting me to bed.” Dammit, that sounded far sexier than I had intended.
“I wanted you in my room, so I could keep an eye on you.” His voice was a caressing whisper across my senses. “I trust most of my people, but we know there are traitors. Logic says that a lot of those will be Imperial. Until I weed them out, I’m going to be keeping a close eye on you.”
Daniel’s bed! No wonder it was so awesome. Overlords probably got all the awesome things.
I must have been glaring and blinking rapidly, because Daniel lost some of his cool and actually smiled at me, that damn dimple creasing his cheek and sending my insides crazy. “I slept on the couch. No need to worry.”
He had it all wrong, I had not been worried about that at all. My mental images had gone straight to me sharing a bed with Daniel, and worry had not been the emotion that thought evoked.
Shaking it off with a grin, I tried to lighten the mood. “You don’t have to do that on my behalf. If we need to stay close for awhile … well, your bed is huge. I’m sure we can share. Just don’t hog the covers.”
The gold rings in his dark eyes felt like they were burning into me, raising my body temperature. And, of course, in that moment I lost my mind completely.
“I need a shower,” I blurted out.
