A silent shadow shifted outside the window of the library. Flay was only just recovering from the shock, and willing her rage under control. Gareth and that human together, fighting side by side, as he had promised to do with Flay. All Gareth's talk. Lies! And she had believed him.
Flay pressed her hand against the glass, claws slowly extending from her fingertips, scratching the surface. She was going to slaughter every living thing in the castle, starting with the empress. Let Gareth profess his love to her then.
But her own flesh prickled with the heat emanating from the room, and the familiar, horrible stench of Adele washed over her. She could smell nothing else. Flay drew back snarling. Her fury demanded to be let loose, but she had nowhere to go. Once Adele had nearly killed her. Now the human had humiliated and shamed her. Like Gareth had. Flay would see to it he was humiliated.
Gareth would pay for his betrayal.
ADELE STOOD IN a shadowed corner of Gareth's room, her anguish welling up out of the darkness. The townspeople had long since departed, and the room was steeped in silence. Gareth lay unmoving on the bed, his body struggling to heal the damage wrought by the geomancy.
She felt safe in the shadows away from prying eyes. She didn't want anyone to see her despair as she hovered over him, watching the rise and fall of his chest as he slept, as she had for a day now since the fight in the library. She wondered what life would be like without him. It terrified her to think that way, but their lives were so chaotic that it was an all-too-real possibility.
Damn Mamoru.
Why couldn't he have understood that Gareth wasn't any harm? Was it so hard to trust her?
Damn Nzingu and her ruthless cunning.
His library. The place held dear by both of them, and the assassin had modified it into a killing floor. Gareth had no defense against such cruelty. If he had been human he would have been dead from his wounds. Bandages stained with blood obscured the right side of his chest and arm. The burns were still dark red welts on his skin. It always frightened her to see him like this, so much like the myths of old when vampires lay still as the dead in tombs. It was more than just a deep sleep.
Adele wiped her hands down her clean skirt as if there were still some residue of blood there even after the scrubbing she had given them. Stepping quietly from the shadows, she walked over to the bed and sat beside him, her hand searching for his and taking it gently. To her relief she didn't seem to cause him any additional injury.
She couldn't bear the thought of saying good-bye to him another time. The odds of his returning were growing insurmountable. Adele's fears swirled inside her, and she couldn't quiet them. His hand flinched, and the creases deepened at the corner of his eyes. He was in pain. Geomancy created the only true pain vampires felt. Yet he said nothing. If it had been her she would be demanding some sort of relief. And he had hours to go yet before the burns faded. Frustrated, she chewed her lower lip and held his hand tightly. Over the next hour, his grip was intermittent. Sometimes gentle and sometimes strong when the pain grew worse.
He was going to be fine, she tried to convince herself. They had far too much to do together. Incredibly, it had been only a year since they met. That was too short. She couldn't lose him now. It didn't matter what the future held. It was just enough to know they had one. She hoped.
Adele rubbed her face and finally let her tears flow down her cheeks. She leaned over and ever so gently kissed his lips. She hummed an aria from the opera softly, letting it drift over him, the only thing to find its way through his haze of pain. His breathing deepened, and slowly he opened his eyes, still bright as an azure sea. His gaze swiftly found her.
“Oh, it's you,” he said. “I thought I was at the opera again.” His hand reached up and cradled her cheek. He saw the wetness on it. “We're all right now.”
Praying that it was so, she clung to his hand. His breathing eased, and he visibly relaxed. “I could keep you here with but a word.”
“Don't.” Gareth put a finger against her lips. “I'd be powerless against such a command.”
The air felt thick in her lungs as she drew in a deep breath. “It feels like I heal you only to send you back out into battle again. How horrible I am.”
“Nonsense. This is just the way it has to be.”
“No! There is a better life out there for us somewhere. I know it. We should have looked harder for it.”
“We are where we are supposed to be, protecting what we love. Our people. Our own desires come second.”
“It's hard, too hard. How do you handle it so calmly?”
“It's about offering everything you have in order to protect someone you care about. The trick is never hold back. Never doubt yourself or what you have to give.”