Author: Kalayna Price

“What are you doing?” I cringed at how breathy and unsure my voice sounded.

“Showering.”

“But…” No argument came to my mind. But I couldn’t stay. Not now. Not after nearly…?

Grinding my teeth, I slid open the door and retreated from the shower. Some part of me wanted to glance back as I heard Nathanial’s pants hit the ground, but I suppressed the urge. Leaving a wet trail behind me, I fled.

Chapter Fifteen

I ran into Gil in the hallway, her purple mage light floating over her shoulder. She gawked at me—not all that surprising considering I was still streaked with blood and the vinyl dress had taken more damage in the shower and now barely hung to my body.

“Clothes?” I asked.

She just shook her head, still staring.

Great. Stoked with Nathanial’s blood, I was hyper-aware, but I couldn’t hear anyone in the house besides Gil. At least I don’t have to worry about running into anyone else. Still, it took opening three doors before I finally stumbled on a bedroom.

Slamming the door behind me, I ransacked the dresser.

Slight though he might be, Nathanial’s clothes were too big for me. I shucked what remained of the dress and pulled a plain white undershirt over my head. It turned translucent as it clung to the water soaking my body. Of all the mooncursed luck! I walked over to the closet and pulled out the first colored dress shirt I found. It was an odd shade of deep blue that probably looked amazing with Nathanial’s dark hair and gave color to his eyes.

I frowned at the shirt and shoved it back in the closet.

The next shirt I found was a simple brown, and I shrugged it on over the undershirt. I had to fight to get my useless arm through the sleeve, and I couldn’t work the buttons with only one hand, but it hung to my mid-thigh and kept me from looking completely indecent. As I fought with the sleeves, trying to roll them so they didn’t cover my hands, the door opened behind me.

“Later, Gil,” I said as mage-light filled the open doorway.

The door closed, blocking out the light. Well, at least she didn’t argue. Giving up on the sleeves, I turned and almost jumped out of my skin.

Nathanial stood just inside the door, his long hair streaming over his shoulders and chest until it blended with the black towel wrapped around his waist. Whatever expression he read on my face made him raise an eyebrow, but as he strode across the room toward me, he kept his features carefully empty.

He stopped an arm’s length from me and reached forward.

Gulping, I stumbled back in a confusion of tangled feet. That earned me a frown, but he stepped into the space I’d vacated.

Normally he didn’t push things. Tonight obviously wasn’t a normal night.

He reached out again, and I held my breath as his fingers closed on the shirt. He buttoned two of the buttons in the center of the shirt, and then rolled the sleeves to my elbows.

I stared at anything in the room other then the wall of bare chest in front of me. Once the sleeves were even, he stepped around me without a word and walked to the wardrobe.

That’s it? He fixed my clothes and went on about his business? I whirled around.

His back was facing me, but he’d pulled off the towel and wrapped it around his hair. The full length of his body was on display like a pale marble statue. And it was… my mouth went dry, and I shook myself, tearing my gaze away. I really must be going crazy. I’d seen naked men all my life. Hell, lots of shifters rarely wore clothing, even in human form. Why should this be any different?

Because I’d never seen Nathanial naked before.

He glanced over his shoulder and studied my face. A small smile lifted the edge of his lips. He thinks this is funny? No, I realized. This was a show. Damn vampire.

Fine. If he wanted an audience, I’d give him an audience. I wrenched open the door. “Hey, Gil. Come here a moment.”

I glanced back before she reached the door and found Nathanial staring at me, fully dressed. Or, at least, he looked fully dressed, but he’d gotten that way too fast for his clothes to be anything but an illusion. Show’s over. I flashed him some teeth and left.

* * * *

“I’ve already answered that question. Twice.”

Gil tapped her pen on the scroll and frowned at me. “I need to make sure I have all the facts straight. I’ve read that when vampires are low on blood they lose control, but I was under the impression they remembered what happened afterward. You’re sure you don’t remember anything?”

I glared at her in response. We’d already been through this. I understood that she had to write Biana’s paper, and I was thankful she’d brought in Biana to help, but enough was enough. I crossed my arm over my chest and glanced at Nathanial—who was, thankfully, fully dressed.

He sat in a chair at the other end of the coffee table. His elbows were propped on the arms, the tips of his fingers pressed together in front of him. He leaned forward as if intent on something, but his gaze was distant, unfocused.

And definitely not focused on Gil’s and my conversation. No help was coming from him.

Gil gave me a petulant look and tapped her scroll again.

With a sigh I said, “I don’t remember anything between passing out in the council session and waking to Biana sewing my arm.” She looked on the verge of interrupting so I held up my hand, silencing her before she asked the next inevitable question. I could guess it anyway. “I’ve told you everything I know about the hebi thing. And don’t even ask me what the poison felt like again.”

Gil’s mouth opened then snapped shut, her teeth clicking with the force. She vanished her scroll. “I swear, if you and this study weren’t going to make me famous…” She shook her head. “Fine. We’re done. I’ll write the report from the little bit of information you’ve given me. The very little bit.”

Her bottom lip extended in a pout. Then she vanished.

I leaned back against the couch, rubbing my eyes with my good palm. It felt late—or early, depending on how you looked at it. How long was I… ‘unconscious’ was the first word that came to mind, but apparently that hadn’t been true for the entire block of time missing from my memories.

Pulling my knees onto the cushion, I settled into a more comfortable position and watched Nathanial. His expression hadn’t changed when Gil vanished, and I wasn’t sure he’d noticed she had left. His hair was still damp—and still loose, falling around his shoulders in heavy black strands.

Even as still and deep in thought as he appeared, there was something about him that looked more on edge, more… uncontrolled than I was used to. Heat crawled to my face, remembering what had happened earlier, and I dropped my gaze, forcing myself to look around, at the abstract paintings on the wall, at the bronze figure in the corner, at the bookshelves around the fireplace—anywhere but at the vampire in the room with me. Not that he noticed my distraction.

“So, where are we?” I asked.

Nathanial continued staring into space.

“Nathanial?”

His head lifted, but his eyes didn’t focus. Scooting off the couch, I stepped around the coffee table and waved my fingers in front of his face.

He blinked. I wasn’t convinced I had his attention yet, but that appeared about as good as I was getting.

“Where are we?” I asked again, waving a hand to indicate the room.

He looked around as if he didn’t remember, and the corners of his mouth dipped. “A home I own.”

“Yeah, I assumed that.” Terribly helpful, isn’t he? “Are we still in Haven?”

He nodded. “The very heart of the city. This house… no one knows I own this house. Not even Tatius.”

At the mention of Tatius’s name, the worry I’d been ignoring clawed its way to the front of my mind. I sank back onto the couch. “So, are we staying here?” In the heart of the city? Right under Tatius’s nose?

He nodded. “Tonight.”

But not tomorrow? We were running. I sighed. Nathanial’s home had been mine since he’d turned me—only two weeks ago, though it seemed like forever—but now we’d be on the street again. I pushed aside the unexpected disappointment.

How was running now any different from the past five years?

Well, except the whole sunlight-restriction thing, and the addiction to blood. Oh, and let’s not forget the Judge’s mark, and… Okay, so things were more complicated now. But I’d made it on the run before. I’d do it again.

“What is our next move?” I asked, wishing I had my gray coat with me. It had been with me a while. We’d gone through a lot.

Nathanial didn’t answer. He stared into space again. He’s planning. I wasn’t much of a planner while on the run. I was much more a stowaway-on-a-train-and-see-where-I-end-up kind of stray. Of course, that was how I’d ended up in Haven in the first place.

I pushed away from the couch and paced in front of it. I needed to call Bobby. I’d never made it back to the cabin last night, and I obviously wasn’t headed there tonight. Or possibly ever again. Running was like that. You didn’t look back. You didn’t get attached.

But I’d disappeared on Bobby once before. I didn’t want to do it again. As for notifying Gil, she had no trouble tracking me down, so no need to let her know we were leaving. I glanced down at the shirt I’d misappropriated from Nathanial’s closet. I’ll need some different clothes to blend in.

Nathanial will also have to—

My mental packing ground to an abrupt halt. I’d never been on the run with someone else, but I’d added him to my mental to-do list without thinking about it. It’s just until I become a master vampire. Once I don’t need his blood anymore, we’ll go our separate ways.

How long would that take, anyway? I had no idea.

“So now what?” Good to get the question out there as many times as it took for Nathanial to actually answer.

Nathanial leaned back in his chair and crossed an ankle over his knee. “I can appeal to Tatius, though since everyone in attendance heard him tell me to take you to his chambers, they will know I did the exact opposite of what he commanded. He is unlikely to forgive such a public display of disregard for his authority anytime soon. We can keep a low profile until I find another city willing to take us in, but time is against us. Remaining in Haven increases the risk Tatius will find us.” His frown deepened, cutting into his face. “There is the Collector’s offer?” His voice sounded like he was considering it, but he shook his head. “You would grow to hate me.”