“I’m going to step out so you can have a minute with Avery before Dr. Knight comes in to examine her.” Sebastian goes into the hallway and moves to close the door. “She’ll be in as soon as she’s finished with Chansey.”
We’re alone for the first time and I take Avery’s hand in mine as I lean over to press my forehead against it. She lifts her free hand from the bed and strokes her fingers through my hair. Her nails are gently scraping against my scalp and the hairs on my body prickle in response. It’s such a human reaction to her touch. “You’re placing blame on yourself but I won’t have it. None of this was within your control. Vincent’s dead and the others have chosen to be conformed by Sebastian. This nightmare is over so I refuse to relive it by not letting it go.”
I’m a vampire–an undead creature with a tortured soul–so it’s not my nature to let things go without dwelling upon the past. “I think I need to know what happened before I can let go and move forward.”
“You think you need to be tortured by hearing the things he did.” She knows me too well.
“I want to hear everything because I think not knowing is worse than hearing the truth. I’m afraid of becoming fixated on the unknown. I’ll drive myself mad trying to figure it out through our connection.” And in addition to my own punishment, I plan to use the information she tells me as a lesson well learned. It will be forever etched in my mind as a reminder of what happens when I don’t protect my agápe from other vampires.
I feel her reluctance. I see it in her eyes. But she’ll do this for me because I ask it of her. She’s unable to deny me the things I want just as I’m unable to refuse the things she asks of me. “I’ll tell you but I want you here.” She slides over and pats the bed. “I need to feel you against me. It’s been too long.”
She doesn’t have to ask twice. I slide into bed beside her and she places her head on my chest as she stretches her palm over the left side. “How long were we gone?”
I’m surprised by her question but I suppose I shouldn’t be. She’s been held captive in a house without access to light. “Two weeks and two days.” The longest sixteen nights of my existence.
“Time became a blur for us after the first night. The room where we were kept most of the time had no windows so we couldn’t decipher day from night. It was always cold and smelled damp and musty. The floor was stone and the walls felt rough so we guessed it was some type of cellar.” And probably full of airborne mold spores to make her sick. I pray none of them are toxic.
“Vincent allowed the others to share Chansey but he kept me to himself.” The thought of them passing her around makes me sick. “The first night wasn’t what I expected. He opened a vein in my wrist to drain what he wanted into a cup and then sealed the wound. He was never so gentle with me before so I was surprised. I expected a ravenous attack.”
My expectations were the same as hers. “He was kind to you?”
“Only the first night. He wasn’t in control when he returned.” She’s shaken by a rigor. “The addiction had taken him over again with a new vengeance. He had no self-restraint and was greedier than ever.”
The second night was when I lost my connection to Avery. “What did he do to you?”
“He said my blood was different and better than it had been even at my highest adrenaline rush. He drank until I collapsed. Chansey thinks I was out for at least eight hours but there’s no way to know for sure. I guess it must have scared him because he didn’t come back for a while.”
“Nine hours and twenty-seven minutes. That’s how long you were unconscious. I felt it the second it happened and I knew the exact moment you woke.” I pull her closer using the arm wrapped around her shoulders. “I thought he had killed you when I lost our connection. It took a lot on Curry’s part to convince me otherwise.”
She laces her fingers through mine. “I had someone trying to convince me everything would be fine as well.”
I’m sure Curry used his powerful bond with his agápe to keep her strong so in turn she helped Avery remain hopeful. “I’ll need to thank Chansey for keeping your morale high.”
“It wasn’t Chansey.” I lift my head from the pillow and Avery looks up at me. “Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to belittle her encouragement but it was Eden.”
“Eden.” She must be the fylgia that appeared to me.
“You and I had so little time together before Vincent took me. I never got to tell you about my twin that died at birth. I know it sounds crazy but I see her sometimes. Chansey says she’s my fylgia–a supernatural being that accompanies me in connection to my fate. She usually appears in my dreams but she acts as my guardian when she materializes.”
Her arm feels cool so I rub it briskly from her shoulder to her elbow to produce warmth. “She guides me in protecting you as well.”
“How so?” Avery asks.
“She appeared in Vincent’s house while I was tearing it apart looking for any clue to where he had hidden you.” Even now it seems unbelievable. “I thought she was you when I saw her standing there. Even her voice is identical to yours. ”
“You saw Eden?” I hear the amazement in her voice. “I always thought I was crazy because no one else could.”
“She’s the reason I located the secret compartment in the mantle. It’s where I found one of the original keys to the house where Vincent was hiding you.”
She’s confused. “I don’t understand. How did the key help you find us?”
I pull it from my pocket–the place I’ve carried it for over two weeks. “The sigil identified the house.” She takes the key and holds it closer to the bedside lamp for a better look. “But Anna was the one to recognize it.”
There’s a knock at the door just as I’m preparing to tell her the rest of the story. “That’ll be Dr. Knight.” There’s plenty of time for explanations but for now I need to hear that Avery is the picture of health. “Come in.”
Michaela Knight eases the door open and is carrying the black leather bag she has every time she has made a medical call. “I hear I have another patient.” She enters the room and sits on the bed by Avery’s feet. She reaches out and strokes her lower leg. “It’s good to have you back.”