A Shade of Vampire 37: An Empire of Stones(16)

“That was lucky,” I managed, feeling sick at how close we’d come to falling off the edge. We wouldn’t have survived the fall.

“It was.”

Keeping his arms wrapped around me, Tejus heaved us both off the bird. It gave another whimper as my feet gingerly touched the solid earth beneath us. When he released me, my head spun, and it took me a few moments of deep breathing to right myself.

“Are you hurt?” Tejus asked, taking my shoulders in his hands.



“I’m fine, just a bit dizzy.”



“You’ve been cut. It was probably the branches.” Tejus ran his thumb over my bottom lip. He was right. I could taste the coppery tang of blood in my mouth and felt a sharp pain running from my cheekbone down to my lips.

I gazed up into Tejus’s concerned eyes, and a jolt of adrenaline shot through my body. The pain of my cut receded completely as I focused on his part-open mouth and dark hollows of his jaw. He ran his thumb up the length of the cut gently, removing the blood. When he had finished, he took his hand away. His thumb was covered in the bright red smear of my blood. He placed it between his own lips and slowly sucked the liquid away.

Oh… my.

I felt like molten liquid was running through my veins. My throat ran dry and I was incapable of doing anything but staring back at Tejus, completely oblivious to anything but his presence and the mind-blowing effect he was having on me.

“You’re trembling, are you cold?” he asked, moving his hands to apply pressure on my forearms.

“Um…no,” I replied, confused. I hadn’t realized I was trembling. I looked down at my body, detecting a slight shaking of my hands. I didn’t think it had anything to do with the temperature though.

Tejus looked back at the forest, and I could see the dry white smoke of the flames moving closer.

“I need to build a barrier. I don’t think there’s any other way out.”

I looked over to the pathway of the precipice. On the other side of the ridge, the forest was the same—white flames engulfing everything that grew there. We were surrounded.

“Okay.” I nodded hastily. “Do you need me?”

“I think so; do you have the energy?” he asked.

I felt like I had bundles of energy; the adrenaline from the flight and Tejus’s touch had made my brain running into overdrive.

“Yes, it’s fine,” I replied. “Take what you need.”



He pulled me closer toward him, bringing my head to his chest.

“It’s easier this way,” he muttered as I stared up at him, puzzled by his sudden willingness for proximity between us—normally we kept a distance from one another when he syphoned off me.

I felt the familiar, feathery-light touches of Tejus’s mind meeting mine. This time, we didn’t project images or visions to one another. As soon as his mind touched mine, I realized how tired Tejus was: I hadn’t been aware of the last few days taking its toll on him—he had obviously hidden it well. I opened my mind up as much as I could, focusing on sending all the energy I could muster up toward him.

He exhaled softly as my excess energy was syphoned. I could feel the draining of it throughout my body, but it wasn’t an unpleasant sensation—more like taking a warm bath, relaxing all my muscles and removing all my pent-up tension.

Eventually the sensation faded, and I looked around me. A thin, shimmering globe surrounded us, making me feel like I was standing in a large bubble. Tejus stepped back, releasing me.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” I replied, suddenly feeling awkward. “Should we start a fire or something?” Now that my adrenaline had faded, I was starting to feel the cold.

Tejus removed his robe and wrapped it around me before I could protest. “Wear this. I need to check on the bird—then I’ll make one.”

I pulled the robe tighter around me, feeling guilty for leaving him in just a shirt.

The bird lay on the grass, enclosed in the bubble with us. Tejus went over to kneel by its head, murmuring and stroking its feathers. I could see that it was still breathing, but its chest fluttered erratically and the wings drawn up about its body were almost completely white with icy frost.

Not knowing what to do, I started looking for dead branches and other things we could burn for a fire. There was a fair amount of it, and I placed it all in a pile by the bird for Tejus to light. I had no matches, so I hoped that he had come prepared or had another sentry trick up his sleeve I was unfamiliar with.

“Hazel, come.” He beckoned me over to the bird. The creature turned its beady eye toward me as I approached.

“Sit by the breast, it will warm you.”