My eyes widened as my brain connected the dots. Her glowing skin. The purple hair. The way she stood unflinching as lightning struck her repeatedly. The implications were staggering.
Lightning usually drained creatures of light. No light meant only one thing: becoming vacant. Vacants were hollow shells of their former selves, driven by an uncontrollable hunger for flesh.
“Is she going to be okay?” I kept my voice low, suddenly concerned that Val might overhear us despite him sleeping like the dead. If I were wrong and Samara were turning vacant, we needed to get as far away from her as possible.
Nico sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. “She’ll be fine by morning. It usually takes her about six hours to snap out of the trance-like state she’s in and to stop glowing sonoticeably. Until then, she’s vulnerable.” He turned to face me fully. “Is knowing this information going to be an issue?”
I assessed him from head to toe, a deliberate evaluation that communicated my thoughts without words:What exactly do you think you could do if I decided it was a problem?I might not care for either of them, but I wasn’t in the habit of revealing secrets that could get people killed.
“That includes telling the vampire.” Nico’s expression hardened, challenging me.
I opened my mouth to defend Val, but Nico raised his hand, cutting me off. “Vampires can’t be trusted.”
A growl rumbled in my chest, my panther rising to the surface at the implied insult. “Val can be. He’s one of the most trustworthy demons I know.”
Nico shrugged, unimpressed by my defense. “That might be true, but if word gets out about this... remember what’s happened to all the luminous monkeys.”
The reference hit its mark. The tiny monkeys had been hunted to extinction for their light magic, their essence harvested by black market dealers who sold it to the highest bidders.
“The secret is safe with me.” I honestly didn’t know if I was going to tell Val about it. In that moment, I felt like I needed to keep it a secret.
The reality was that Valwasa vampire. He wasmyvampire, but the squirrel had a valid argument. Vampires were notoriously untrustworthy and always had their own agendas.
Nico nodded once, satisfied with my response, then slipped back into the tent where Samara was still glowing.
I transformed back into my gargoyle, my mind racing. The purple-haired princess was more than she appeared, and suddenly her presence in our lives was less like coincidence and more like the first rumbling of something big.
The forest seemed darker now, filled with hidden threats beyond mere physical dangers. I settled into my watch with renewed vigilance, my thoughts circling around the image of Samara standing beneath the lightning, face upturned in welcome rather than fear.
What other secrets did she carry beneath that unassuming exterior? And what would Val do if he discovered this one?
Everything was black.One second, I was staring out at the forest and the next, nothing.
I reached for my senses, my eyes not cooperating. They were shut.
Was I sleeping?
Part of my curse was that Ineverslept.
I struggled to open my eyes, clawing internally to wake up. It was such a foreign sensation, and I wanted to scream, but I also wanted to cry.
Finally, true rest. Complete rest without the worry of what was threatening those I was in charge of protecting.
I gave in to the feeling and let myself drift away into the abyss.
As quickly as the feeling had come, it was gone.
My eyes flew open, and I took in my surroundings. I was curled in a ball, my nose buried between my paws, and I was in a tent.
When did I shift?
I inhaled and smelled the lingering scent of squirrel and something sweet that made my mouth water. I got to my feet quickly and looked down at the sleeping form I had curled up next to.
Samara.
Unable to resist, I lowered my nose to her hair and inhaled. She stirred, and her eyes slowly opened. They widened, realizing a panther was hovering over her.
Before she could make a noise, I shifted and put my hand over her mouth to stop her scream. She struggled under me as my body hovered over hers.
