The morning came and went with Trembley asleep in my arms. She barely stirred, but every movement terrified me. What would happen when she awoke here with me? She was barely in her right mind last night after Barrett’s stunt. I could kill him and probably would if it wasn’t a losing battle. As it was, I still owed him even after his meddling.

The effects of the spell left me quite suddenly, but as a half human, Trembley would feel the side effects for days to come. A full human who’d been under that sort of influence would have to be held down to keep them from harming themselves afterwards. I could only hope she would sink into a depression for a day or two until her normal mental equilibrium bounced back. In the meantime, I would do what I could to comfort her in this state. However, Harding needed to know about this now. If we needed to make a move against Sarah while Trembley was in in this state, it might go sideways if she attempted to hurt herself or succumb to any pretense of outside help to avoid the emptiness she was no doubt living in. In other words, she’d be an easy target in this state. Willing to do anything to make whatever she was feeling stop.

I gently removed my arm from her waist and climbed out of bed. Sleep was good right now, but I still didn’t want her to wake in strange room and be startled so I left a note for her not to worry on the bedside table. If I was being honest, I also didn’t want to wake her up. She looked so at ease compared with last night. Her face had crumpled and her body became so tense I thought she might break in half if anyone touched her or said the wrong thing. It was also the first time in a long time that I had shared a bed with anyone else. I forgot how nice… how at peace it could feel.

Outside the bedroom, life matters returned. The sun was beginning to set, so now would be the ideal time to reach out to Harding. He handled matters better first thing in the evening. He was a “morning person” as it were.

To avoid waking Trembley, I walked outside as I pressed Harding’s name in my contacts. The sun was low enough to avoid being painful. As expected, the phone rang out only twice before I heard my sire’s familiar voice on the other end.

“Norman, it’s a bit early for you,” he chuckled. Morning people are truly irritating. Fortunately, most vampires would rather wait until it’s pitch black before climbing out of the grave. Harding’s always been over eager to conquer life, though. It only makes sense he could never wait to start the day.

“Yes, I would rather be sleeping, but I have news to share. We may need a few days here before Trembley is ready to be informed of current events.”

“What happened?” he asked with all notes of chipper gone from his voice.

“I brought her with me to Club Taste last night.” There was really nothing else to add. I should have anticipated Barrett’s games and left Trembley here, but it was done now. All I could do was confess my sins and see what was to be done about it.

“I’m going to skip right over how incredibly stupid that decision was and jump to asking what did Barrett do to the girl?”

“He released some sort of dopamine inducing spell. I stopped it early on, but the effects are evident. As it is, I’m going to have to keep a close eye on her for the few days until she gets back to normal. It’s so weird to see all fight gone from her. Even the way she carries herself is different. Usually, she’s ready to pounce, and it’s a miracle if she stops speaking. Right now listless is the kindest way I can describe her.”

“This isn’t the greatest news, but it may have come at a momentous time.”

“What do you mean?” I asked clearly in the wrong about his reaction.

“According to you, she’s been hoping for any scrap of news, and you expected her fly at the nearest opportunity. Well, now she doesn’t want to do anything, which gives us time to deal with a possible leak in Sarah’s operation.”

“What leak?” This was news, and I’d just spoken with Harding a little while before heading out last night. He’d made no mention of a leak then, and I highly doubted he was able to uncover one while asleep.

“Don’t pace yourself through the Earth,” he said critically. “I can practically hear you digging a circle in the ground through sheer frustration alone. I didn’t tell you because we don’t actually know anything yet.”

“But what were we hoping to find out?” he was right even my teeth were grinding at this development. I’m not usually kept in the dark. It wasn’t safe to deal with Sarah’s people as Harding knew. He shouldn’t be tackling these threats without me there.

“And I know I don’t have to remind you, but you are not my protection, Norman. I am several hundred years older than you, and if I weren’t, there are dozens of our people here that I completely trust to have my back. Seriously, man, I know your trust is limited, but don’t you know by now death comes for us all. But in my case, it will come the moment I’m ready and not before then.” He started to laugh before continuing on, “Really, though, if you continue to visit Barrett, it’ll be coming for you much sooner than me. I tell you what, I’m going to send a delivery by later today with Ian. Just stay with the girl and get her well. We’ll need her trust if we are going to continue with the plan I have in mind.”

With that, he hung up without waiting for any further word from me. The frustration from the last 24 hours welled up in me causing a loud yell to escape. Too late I realized what I had done. I hadn’t lied. We were many miles from anyone else, but in my foolishness, I had probably woken Trembley.

As if on cue, only seconds after my blunder a scream emanated from the house. I rushed back inside and immediately to my bedroom. When I opened the door, she was sitting up in bed shaking and distraught. Her eyes locked on my own and she took a long, deep breath as if she’d been suffocating.

“I’m sorry,” she sputtered while haphazardly climbing out of the bed. “I woke up and had no idea where I was. The last thing I remember was my dream where I was being chased and this woman came out behind a group of trees and let out a blood-curtling scream. I thought I was being killed I guess.”

It wasn’t a blood-curtling scream, but I was embarrased nontheless. I had hoped to let her mind recover during sleep, but it seemed a good night’s sleep might be hard to come by for her for a while. Slowly, I stepped toward the bed to avoid spooking her further.

“I’m sorry about that. I received a bit of frustrating news and decided to air my grievances to the birds and squirrels.”

“Oh…” was all she said in response. “I hope I didn’t drive you out of your own bed. Thank you for letting me stay by the way. I remember coming in here now.” Her face was still downtrodden. I couldn’t imagine what her mind was doing right now. If the past had taught me anything, it was when all hope felt gone the bad memories played on a loop.

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” I told her point blank. “None of this is your fault. I should have known better than to bring you there. Barrett likes to play tricks on everyone.” I sat down still maintaining a slow pace so she wouldn’t feel trapped or hunted, which is probably a feeling she lives with most days. Still her eyes stayed locked on the doorway.

“Trembley, you are safe here. I promise. Not just for Harding’s sake. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

She faced me, and for a second, a glimmer of her usual self flashed across her face. “What makes you think I need you to protect me?”

“Whatever you need me to be, I’ll do it.”

The next few days were a hurdle, but not the unsurmountable one I was expecting. Trembley proved she was made of stronger stuff. The waking hours proved useful for training. I tested her skills to give her a way to burn what seemed like a self-inflicting energy. She wanted to hurt. At least this way, I could mitigate any injuries that were done. However, it turned out, I didn’t have to hold back much. She proved she could handle herself.

In combat, she was well versed in most of the weapons I had available. A couple of ancient ones alluded her knowledge, but even those she adapted to quickly. Her size was both her biggest and weakest advantage in one-on-one combat. With someone my size, she might struggle, but her creativeness proved useful. However, anytime she got the slightest leeway, I would find a dagger lodged in my chest. Thankfully, we sparred with steel weapons. The wooden stakes were safely locked away, and the silver was sparsely used. Of couse, silver couldn’t kill me as I’m not a werewolf but damn did it sting.

We also used our downtime to practice hunting scenarios. Her half-human nose wasn’t blessed with a supernatural sense, so she had to make up for it with her enhanced eyesight, hearing, and reflexes. What was really a surprise was her endurance. As a vampire, I don’t tire easily, but I found myself winded a time or two while she chased me. The chit did not give up. I don’t know if it was her father’s insistence on training her since she could walk or pure stubbornness. If I had to bet, it would probably be on the latter.

After a week of this intensity, she didn’t come to my room to sleep. Worried she might not have been doing as well as I hoped, I went to check on her. There she lay in her bed. No tossing or turning but peacefully asleep. I knew I should have gone back to my room, but in only seven days, I had grown accustomed to her body pressed against mine each night. The space felt empty and cold without her there. Without a further thought, I climbed in the bed beside her as we had slept the past several nights. To my surprise, she rolled over and her sleepy eyes looked up at me and a second later her lips gently pressed against mine. It wasn’t a long kiss, but it touched me to my core. Igniting feelings I hadn’t let myself feel in centuries. She then wrapped her arm around me as she nuzzled her head into the crook of my arm and fell back to sleep. For the world, I could have stayed like that forever.

The next morning I feared what regrets she would have. I shouldn’t have come in here. She was asleep and probably had no idea what had happened.

“Hey,” she said groggily upon wakening. Then she did the most miraculous thing and smiled at me. Hey not get out or what the hell are you doing here. What was happening? Why I was I so worked up over this girl? There was no shortage of girls over the years, but for this one, I would give up a million chances at seeing the sun again for one more hey.

“I’m sorry I didn’t visit last night,” she yawned out. “You really kicked my butt with that 8-hour hunt. I passed out before I realized it.”

“You don’t mind that I’m here?” Was this really happening right now? Was I really this nervous about her answer? Harding would howl with amusement if he could see me.

Her smile disappeared as she looked me over with that calculating stare I had grown accustomed to since she had come to stay. “Why would I mind?” she asked. “You’ve shared your bed with me every night for the last week. It’s only fitting that I share mine.”

Oh so this was just a feeling of debt. I should probably let her know there was no need– “I mean,” she cut off my train of thought, “I was starting to feel like there was something here. Don’t get me wrong. You drove me absolutely batshit the first week or so, but I don’t know something felt different this week. I know I wasn’t completely me, but you kept me from giving up.”

I wasn’t crazy. This was happening. All right maybe I was crazy for even entertaining this thought. This girl was already being used as a pawn for Sarah, and if I have feelings for her, it would just put a bigger target on her back. Even with all that rationality, I could only think about her lips last night, and before I knew it, I was kissing them once more.

Thank you darling for reading! I appreciate the time you took out of your day to catch up on this story.

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