A Shade of Vampire 41: A Tide of War(6)

It didn’t take long for my body to return to normal. Clarity returned, and I felt like I’d woken, refreshed, from a deep sleep. I didn’t have the jittery sensation that I got when I took too much, and I took that as a signal to stop, releasing the bond between us.

“Thanks, Dad,” I muttered.

“Now can I yell at you for not doing what you were told?” he asked.

“You can!” my mom exclaimed, but took over anyway. “Hazel, you were told to move to the back of the ranks when things got dangerous, but you completely ignored us! Then you ran back to Tejus when you were commanded to get out of there!”

“I’m sorry,” I groaned. There was no way they were going to make me regret or feel guilty for what I’d done. Tejus was standing, safe and alive, next to me—all because I’d refused to leave him behind. Not only that, but somehow we’d created a barrier that was more powerful than anything I’d seen before.

“Your parents are right,” Tejus snapped. “You can’t risk your life like that, Hazel. If something had happened…” His voice trailed off, his expression murderous.

Great. Now I was getting lectures from my boyfriend too?

“Mom, Dad.” I turned to my parents, hoping to pacify them. “You sent me to Murkbeech to learn survival skills, right? And I’ve learned them—not in the way you wanted, but you need to let me use them. You need to trust me. I know you’re worried constantly about Benedict and me, but we’re okay. So far, we’re okay.”

My mom rubbed her temples. “I know,” she sighed. “But there’s no manual for this stuff, Hazel. You’re still my child. I’m going to worry about you for eternity and then some. I will never be okay with you deliberately putting yourself in danger.”

“And I won’t do it again,” I vowed, crossing my fingers behind my back.

She arched an eyebrow.

“You will,” she replied, her lips pursing. “But I suppose I can’t stop you.”

She looked up at Tejus. It was a fleeting look, but I recognized the unspoken implication. Tejus was also to make sure I stayed safe—apparently, my staying alive was now his responsibility too, as far as she was concerned. I knew Tejus wouldn’t argue with that—it seemed to have been his primary goal ever since he kidnapped me. In mom terms, that was acceptance into the family. I rolled my eyes, simultaneously annoyed that clearly no one believed I was capable of looking after myself, and secretly pleased that Mom and Dad were warming to Tejus.

“Tejus?” my grandpa Derek called, and I grinned.

Perfect timing.

“What was that?” he asked as he approached, looking from me to Tejus and back again, impatiently waiting for an answer.

“I have no idea.” Tejus shook his head in bafflement. “I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. My only theory is that our weapons may somehow have helped us, being infused with the waters…but still. That much energy…”

“Can you try to recreate it around the palace?” my grandpa asked.

“We can,” Tejus replied, “but not right now. Hazel needs to rest—it took a lot out of us both. I’m wondering if the extra energy came from us somehow syphoning off the rest of the army by mistake…or because we were all sharing energy, it created a build-up of some sort. I can’t tell.”

I was interested in Tejus’s theories. Perhaps the energy that I hadn’t recognized in our bond was an amalgamation of everyone else’s? I couldn’t imagine it coming from a singular source—Ash, Ruby and I had mind-melded together, and it hadn’t produced results close to that.

“We should also go looking for Ruby and Ash,” I interrupted. I wanted my friends safe before we attempted to try the barrier again—before we did anything.

Tejus turned to me in surprise. “Absolutely not.”

What?

“Hazel, we’re not going out to search for them. It’s too dangerous,” he replied firmly. “I’ll send out some guards shortly—but you’re not going with them.”

“Ruby wouldn’t leave me behind!” I exclaimed. “We have to get them, Tejus. We can’t leave them out there alone.”

“Don’t worry.” A hand was placed on my shoulder and I spun around to see Claudia and Yuri standing behind me. I hadn’t even heard them approach.

“We’re going to go and look for them—they’ve gone to the Impartial Ministers’ monastery. We can get there quickly on our own.” Claudia’s face was grim with determination.

“And Ash…” I hesitated, not sure if I should ask.