Two days passed by in a blur, and now we were hit with something unexpected. Felix, Giro, Dina, and Astrea had all fallen ill. It was no coincidence, we knew as much. Only the witches had been hit, and even with the pack here, none of us knew how or why.
I had feeding duty, which was not as fun as it sounded. With the witches too weak to do anything other than lay in bed, the rest of us had to feed them their meals. I had given Joel the day off, which he looked like he needed, the poor man was swaying on his feet having been takingcare of everyone.
Felix was well fed and asleep, so Dina was my current task. I sat on her bed, having told Joel to sleep in one of the empty guestrooms so he could have privacy and quiet. She gave me a tired smile, then eyed the bowl of soup I held out for her. “Thank you,” she mumbled, opening her mouth for a spoonful.
“It is my pleasure to help,” I assured her. “I sent Joel to sleep in one of the empty rooms upstairs.”
“Thank you. He needs the rest, but he won’t listen to me.”
I smiled. “He seems stubborn like that.”
She rolled her eyes weakly. “I’m surrounded by stubborn men, you’d think I would be used to you lot by now.”
I laughed. “You would think that, yes.”
I fed her a few more spoonful’s before she asked, “Can I..” she sighed. “Can I tell you something?”
“Always,” I replied, placing the half empty bowl on the nightstand.
“It’s private, but I’m going crazy and I need advice.”
I frowned. “Okay?”
“It’s about Joel,” she whispered, like he would somehow overhear with his superior human ears.
I nodded for her to go on, and she did; still with a whisper, which I doubted I could hear had I not been a vampire. “He, we haven’t, um.” She sighed. “We haven’t had sex yet. And the reason for it is that he told me he has scars on his chest. Scars he doesn’t want me to see. And you and I both know sex can be had with a shirt on, but he’s shy about it. And I don’t want him to feel forced into it, while simultaneously I want to assure him that whatever scars he has I won’t mind.”
“Has he told you how he got the scars? They could hold traumatic memories that might be the reason and not just how they look.”
She shook her head. “I never asked.”
“Maybe once we figure out how to cure you, you need to.”
“I knew you were the right person to ask,” she said, smiling softly. “I just hope whatever it was that gave him those damn scars, that I can help him move past it.”
I shrugged. “You can do your best. But everyone has a past, and Joel might just need more time before he is ready to show you his.”
Chapter 29
Felix
My eyes flew open, my heart beating like I was being chased by someone, or something. But there was nothing, just our dark bedroom. Sev was sleeping next to me, softly snoring as he did whenever he was truly exhausted. And he had to be, after the sickness hit us, all of them had spent their waking hours figuringout what had happened and then taking care of us. Samantha and her pack had stayed here, intent on helping us.
Still having no clue on what woke me up, I figured some water would do me good. I’d only taken four steps to the bathroom when loud knocking scared the shit out of me. “Severin!” Dina called from the other side of the door. I hurried to open it. She was panting and holding on to her knees. “Joel.”
Sev was beside me in an instant, both of us only wearing our underwear, but neither of us caring. “Joel what?” Sev asked worriedly.
“He’s gone! I’ve looked everywhere! In every empty room. Even the garden!”
I was fully awake now, and realizing the illness seemed to have dissipated, I just felt achy, like I always did after recovering from a sickness, but I felt…normal.
“Oh gods,” I said, realization dawning on me.
“What?!” they both demanded.
“Um, how are you feeling right now, Dina?” I asked, needing to know before telling them my theory.
“I feel fine! It’s Joel I’m worried about!”
