Instead, I licked my finger and dramatically turned the page. A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth at my theatrics and I returned a subtle smile.
The woodland princess had just admitted she was falling for a human to her father when I noticed Dommik’s lips moving. He was silently reciting the words along with me. His eyes were shut and sweat beaded at his brow.
“Dommik?” I whispered. When he didn’t answer, I slowly laid my hand flat against his wet forehead. A hearthfire’s heat radiated from him. I chewed on my cheek, my worry compounding.
“Dommik. What can I do? What do you need?”
“Just rest,” he muttered through a rigid breath. I wanted to believe him, but I knew more blood was what he really needed. I just wasn’t ready to give him mine and what he hadn’t drunk from the canteen outside had spilled onto the earth.
I was the only option.
If he’s not better by sundown, I thought,I’ll give him mine.
“Okay.” I pushed his hair back, wiping away the fevered droplets.
An appreciative hum rumbled through him. “You remind me...”
Stroking his forehead instinctively one more time, I asked, “Remind you of what?”
His lips pressed together and his eyes fell shut.
“Please don’t die,” I whispered before returning to the book. I softly read aloud, hoping the familiar story would keep him tethered to the realm of the living.
After two more pages, gentle snores rolled from Dommik. And by the time the heroine of the story declared she could never love again, I slipped into sweet unconsciousness beside him.
Chapter 8
Off Limits
The windowless cellar stripped away all sense of time. I woke, startled in the darkness. The sound of Dommik mumbling in his sleep anchored me in place and time.
Raider ambush. Injured vampire. Abandoned basement.
I rubbed my temples, exhaling in disbelief at my situation.
Maybe it was the muted orange glow cast from the dying oil lamp, but Dommik didn’t seem as pale. That had to be a good sign. A sign he was healing. Relief rippled through me, cut short by what it meant if he was well enough to travel.Wherewe were traveling to.
I shifted in my seat, wincing as I prodded at my own injury before laying back against the stone. The aches and tears and itchy beginnings of my own healing made me claustrophobic in my own body.
I wondered what it was like, the immortal perk of healing so quickly. It all seemed so obvious now. Dommik’s demeanor and presence. His mannerisms and attitude. The way he moved with such patience and natural confidence. Living in the same body for hundreds of years must do that to a person. I realized then, I didn’t know how old he was.
Would all the vampires at the Hive be like him? I’d imagined bloodthirsty monsters. Pallid, gaunt, more animalistic than human. Maybe I just hadn’t seen him in his element yet.
My throat tightened and my chest constricted as I imagined a lifeamongst the vicious creatures of my nightmares. Dungeons and fangs and…
Fresh air. That will help.
I found it, wafting freely through the broken windows of the main floor of the manor. Darkness had descended while we’d slept in the cellar below. Starlight refracted off the shards of glass. A whole day gone. We both must have needed the rest.
I tiptoed from room to moon-lit room, leaving footprints in the dust and crunching the occasional leaf under the pads of my feet.
In the dining room, I found a scene frozen in time. Instead of people sitting down to a grand meal, the elements dined here. Foliage covered the table, chairs, and place settings. Cutlery, plates, and glasses were broken and out of place. Like whatever happened here interrupted the owners while entertaining.
I brushed my fingers across the long wooden table, careful to avoid the broken glass. My curiosity caught on a face staring down at me. A portrait of a young man dressed in fine clothing. His hands held his jacket like he was proud of the garment; behind him, in matching clothes, stood an older man. The boy’s father, presumably.
I stepped closer, squinting in the dark, trying to place the face. The men shared intense, stormy eyes. Almost like a younger…
“Oh, dear. What’s this?” I jumped, alerted by a serpentine voice from the doorway.
