That’s all I allow before using the shadows to conceal me, and then I move faster than eyes can track.
The smell of herbs and ointments fills the corridor, alerting me that I’m in the right place. A female with a short cap of dark hair steps out of a door and eyes me warily. “Bring her in here.” She moves to the side, giving me a wide berth as I enter the room she emerged from. There are several cots lined up. Most of them are empty, but I take my creature to the farthest bed against the wall and gently place her on the thin pallet.
The pang that hits my chest as I release her almost makes me pull her back into my arms, but when her lids just barely lift, revealing golden irises that are a match for the thick tresses woven into her long, dark plait, I shift back quickly, fearing she may touch my skin without knowledge of the consequences.
“I was hoping being dead wouldn’t hurt so badly,” she mutters as her eyes close once again, and she loses consciousness. Her voice feels like a soft caress against my skin, and I have to force myself not to physically react or demand she open her mouth and whisper her words against my flesh.
“She’s hurting,” I bark at the female harshly. She is doing nothing more than standing and staring.
Her head drops, and she leans over the bed, touching her fingertips to my creature’s forehead without concern of hurting her. Envy bites at my chest at the simple touch I will never be allowed. “Do you know what happened?” She tilts her face, keeping me in her line of sight as if she thinks I will attack her while her back is turned.
“She collapsed while walking.”
“Do you know why?” Her brow furrows as she returns most of her attention back to my creature.
“She seemed…tired,” I reply without conviction. I should have approached her much sooner and made sure she was okay, or notified the school of her presence so they could have sent a carriage for her.
The healer repositions herself closer to the girl, bringing both hands up to trace a shape over her forehead, down across her cheeks, then to her neck, where she places her palms on my creature as if she’s feeling for a heartbeat. My heart constricts, skipping a beat as fear coils around my chest.
“She’s breathing, but I can’t sense anything. It’s as if she’s already gone.” The healer shifts her hands again, searching. I shuffle forward, prepared to pick her up again and find someone else more capable, but a voice stops me in my tracks.
“If she’s breathing, she’s alive.”
I shift, caught off guard by the newcomer standing near me. I can’t recall another time when I’ve been so oblivious, but the massive male was able to sneak up behind me without issue.Ziv sidesteps me, moving to get closer to the bed. His shoulder brushes against mine, proving he’s either foolish or brave. Considering he’s the head combat instructor, I doubt very much it was by accident. I survey the three deep scars cutting through his eyebrow then down his cheek, where they disappear into a short beard a few shades darker than his silver hair. We’ve never spoken, since shared combat isn’t something I’m permitted to entertain, considering my affliction, but that doesn’t mean I don’t train in the gyms, so I know exactly who he is.
I’m not sure if I should be affronted by his dismissal or entertained. When he picks up my creature’s plait as if to examine the two-tone color of her hair, I settle on feeling displeasure. I don’t like knowing he can touch her so freely while I can’t. A rumble leaves my chest, and for the first time, Ziv acknowledges me with a curt look over his shoulder, as if I’m nothing to be concerned about.
“You found her?” The lilt of his deep voice makes it clear he’s asking a question. “You seem eager to get her help.” I don’t feel the need to respond. In fact, I’m having a hard time even pretending to concentrate on what he’s saying because I’m too busy watching the way his fingers roll over the ends of her hair as if he doesn’t want to release her. It’s very possible he’s doing it to piss me off.
Sensing I’m not going to respond, Ziv looks away from me, giving me his back and showing his total lack of concern at having me there. “She was due to arrive hours ago,” he divulges. “Syrinx just dispatched me to locate her.” When he pushes a lock of hair back from her pale face, I have to force myself not to push him away from her as a wave of possessiveness threatens to shatter my calm exterior.
“She is unwell,” I tell him in an effort to get her help and to hopefully get him away from my creature.
“So it would seem,” he agrees without concern. I shouldn’t be surprised. Neither this place nor Ziv are known for their compassion. Up until this moment, I wouldn’t have believed I had any myself.
“You may go.” He turns his head to appraise me once again. “Unless there’s some other reason for you to be here that I’m unaware of?” He’s dismissing me, unless I’m willing to answer his question, which I am not.
Even with his watchful eyes on me, it still takes me a moment to get my feet moving and leave the room with a plan to return as soon as possible. I allow myself one more glance in her direction and find her amber eyes slitted open, observing me without an ounce of fear or loathing. It’s nearly enough to pull me back to her bedside, but from the corner of my eye, I notice Ziv averting his gaze from me before looking at the girl, who flutters her lids as if she’s struggling to wake from a dream. She’s a cunning little thing, which leads to another thought—it wasn’t an accident that I witnessed her awake and watching me. She wanted me to see her.
ZIV
Ihave to admit, not much intrigues me, but when I see the death demon shifting through the school with a bundle clutched to his chest, I take notice. I’ve thought about killing him in the past, if only for the fact that he could represent a threat to me, but I decided his usefulness outweighs the inconvenience of his life. There may come a time when I decide I no longer want to exist, and he could be effective in aiding in that endeavor.
Using the shadows, he shifts to the third floor and heads straight for the infirmary faster than most could track. When the shadows peel back, I’m able to see a small, unfamiliar female in his arms. A long braid of dark hair swings restlessly whenhe stops. It’s only then I see the thick chunks of gilded amber intertwined with the brunette tresses. I immediately know whom Kage has cradled in his arms. Everyone on the staff was given a description of the female with a warning.
A subtle twinge of curiosity has me moving closer to discover how the male found himself in this situation. Kage lowers the girl to a bed and reluctantly steps back, giving the healer room to work. A soft murmur I can’t quite make out hums through the room. I would have guessed the girl was unconscious or dead by her appearance, and considering what the male who held her is, dead seemed like the safer of the two bets.
“She’s hurting,” Kage snaps, surprising me. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him speak or act with anything but apathy, yet he seems concerned for the girl. Maybe he just feels guilty for something he did.
I listen as the healer questions him about what happened and where he found her. His answers give very little information, but Kage is adamant that he had nothing to do with her current condition. I’m tempted to believe him, as the demon’s ability—or curse, most would call it—is deadly, and the female he just placed on the bed isn’t deceased. The male hasn’t shown himself to be cruel or even conceited, so I doubt he would attack her. His power would allow him to lord over the other novices, but he mostly keeps to himself, if anything, and before this moment, I wondered if he possessed any benevolent traits at all. I’ve even pitied him at times—not for his lack of concern, though it is strange to find one so young quite so jaded—because his touch is death.
The fervent way he’s worrying over the female takes on a new light. Could he already know what she is and what it could mean for him to find one such as her? I know the adage to be true, you long for what you can’t have, and she may pose a possibility for him I hadn’t yet thought of.
“She’s breathing, but I can’t sense anything. It’s as if she’s already gone.” It’s clear the healer has no idea what the fragile-looking girl in the bed is capable of.
“If she’s breathing, she’s alive,” I interrupt. Kage’s quick turn tells me I caught him off guard—another surprise. I know he’s well aware of his surroundings.
Even though I’m a good head taller than him, the demon manages to appear as if he isn’t looking up at me when he glowers at my approach. My eyes, however, are drawn to the being lying on the bed. It’s no wonder the demon seems to be enthralled with her. She’s…ethereal. Her pale skin is flawless, with a smattering of freckles coloring her cheeks and nose, while her pouty lips are slightly parted, showing off delicate little fangs. I work to tamp down the thoughts those sharp teeth elicit.
