Chapter 5
1522 Words
5
I was slow coming to. My muddled mind couldn’t comprehend what had happened, or where I was. I tried to move, but my stiff body wouldn’t comply. My ears, however, were still useful, and I heard two voices drift over to me.
“We discovered the hole in the barrier through which your ‘friend’ entered.” That voice. I knew that voice. Basileus? He didn’t sound happy.
“Were there anymore?” Eric. He sounded tired.
“I believe you would know the answer to that question better than my own guards.”
“I only know what I found.”
Basileus sighed. “Would you mind telling me why you insisted on coming to this party? We both know how disagreeable company is to you and how you would much rather be sitting alone atop a mountain than immersed in the company of others.”
“I appreciate you allowing me to stay here, but I’m unable to answer your question.”
There was a slight pause before Basileus spoke again. “I see. Well, if any other bodies pop up, please inform me a little earlier. My head gardener is absolutely refusing to enter the garden until the entire premises is swept for corpses. Those that don’t move, that is.”
Eric’s voice was touched by bemusement. “I’ll be sure to give you a warning next time.”
“And next time might you give us a warning about the intrusion? My men didn’t find the hole until after you informed us of your little fun in the gardens.”
“I hope there isn’t a next time, but I’ll see what I can do.”
“Hmm.” A door opened and shut.
There was silence for a moment, and then footsteps approached. Panic filled my mind, a primal understanding that I was completely vulnerable. My heart pounded in my chest and adrenaline filled my veins. I forced my eyes open just as the door to the bedroom opened.
Eric paused in the doorway with one hand on the side and his eyes meeting mine. There was uncertainty in them. Uncertainty, and maybe a little fear. Then the emotions were gone, and in their place was a smile I didn’t quite believe.
“You’re awake,” he mused as he stepped inside and closed the door behind himself. “How do you feel?”
I tried to lift my hand to clutch my head, but my arm merely lifted a few inches and dropped limp at my side. I had to swallow a lump the size of a goose egg in my throat before I could speak. “Like a truck hit me and an angry dog came by and tried to finish the job.”
I was disappointed when his smile didn’t take on more genuine humor as he sat on the side of the bed near me. He grasped the edge of the covers that stretched up to my neck. “I’m just going to take a look at your wound.”
Eric drew down the cover and my eyes widened as I beheld a shirt that wasn’t my own. In fact, the black turtleneck looked very familiar. A blush accented my cheeks as my imagination conjured up images of how I happened to be in one of Eric’s shirts.
“Where’s my shirt?” I felt a draft and peeked under the covers to stare down at my bare legs. My eyes bulged out of my head. “And where’s my pants?”
“Your shirt didn’t survive the ordeal. As for your pants-” He nodded at a chair close by where my pants hung over the back. “I cleaned them.”
Adrenaline was my friend of late, and I shot up in bed. Big mistake. The world spun around, and I found myself clutching my head in one hand.
Eric grasped my shoulders. “Don’t move too quickly.”
I shut my eyes and clenched my teeth. “Too late.”
“You should stay in bed for the night.”
His wording caught my attention, and I opened one eye to peek at a nearby window. The weak sunlight that poured into the room wasn’t the greetings of a new day, but the hello of another night. I dropped my hand into my lap and looked up at Eric. “How long have I been out?”
“Just the day,” he assured me as he drew the covers back far enough to reveal where the shirt ended. The hem of the borrowed turtleneck stopped mid-thigh. “Now let me see how your wound is.”
He grabbed the hem, and modesty preservation kicked in. I scooted so quickly away from him that I fell off the other side of the bed. Fortunately, my head cushioned my fall and I merely crumpled to the hard floor in a heap of embarrassment and pain.
“Could this trip get any worse?” I grumbled as I crawled out of the pretzel of my own body.
Eric hurried around the foot of the bed and knelt in front of me. “I told you not to move.”
I glared up at him. “Like hell I’m going to sit there while you undress me again!”
He sighed. “Listen, Adi, I’m just trying to help-”
I stabbed a finger at my clothes. “You can help by handing me my jeans and letting me get back to my own room!”
Eric pursed his lips but stood and strode over to the chair. He snatched the jeans off the back and returned to me, where he held them out for me to take. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
I snatched my jeans and crawled back onto the bed before I shot a look of warning at my ‘host.’ “Out.”
I almost regretted my harsh word when his face fell. He turned and left me, closing the door behind himself. My shoulders slumped and I shut my eyes. “Temper, Adi, temper…”
I sighed and focused on the job at hand, or rather leg. My legs were like jello, but I managed to slip into them with as much dignity as a raccoon caught in the trash. I grasped one of the foot posts of the bed and eased myself onto my legs. They weren’t happy, but they held me up.
I shuffled to the door and slipped into the main room of the apartment. Eric sat in one of the living room chairs with his chin cupped in his fingers. He looked up at my coming and stood. “Did you need help back to your room?”
I did, but I shook my head. “No, I’ll be fine.” I tried to look nonchalant as I shuffled from one support furniture to another. “It’s not too far away.” I paused and furrowed my brow. “Is your room far away from mine?”
The corners of his lips twitched upward. “Halfway across the house.”
My shoulders slumped, but I rallied my spirits. “Maybe I’ll just sit here for a second,” I mused as I slumped into one of the nearby dining chairs.
Eric reluctantly eased himself back into his chair. It was unnerving him watching me. Did that man ever blink?
I cleared my throat. “So, what was that thing last night? Some sort of werewolf with a bad case of the shingles?”
He shook his head. “It was a serpent monster.”
I winced and dropped my eyes to my stomach. “The poisonous kind?”
“There is venom in its teeth and barbs, but fortunately those didn’t touch you.”
I mentally breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good to know.” The tingling sensation in my legs had disappeared, and when I eased myself onto my feet most of the quaking was gone. “I guess I’d better go.”
He moved toward me. “I really should help you-”
“I said I’ll be fine,” I assured him as I reached the front door. Eric stopped, and the room fell into silence. I grasped the knob and closed my eyes. “Listen, I just… I just want to forget this all happened, okay?” I turned to him with a smile that faltered when I noticed the pained look in his eyes, though he tried to hide it behind a rueful smile. “But thanks for saving me. Really. Thank you.”
His shoulders drooped and his face fell. “Please don’t thank me.”
There was a buried meaning in his words, but my frazzled mind didn’t want to piece together a puzzle. Not right now. I opened the door and stepped backward into the doorway. “Anyway, I guess I’ll see you later.”
He pursed his lips but nodded. I slipped out of the room and shut the door behind me. The latch shut with an ominous click.
- Writer
