Chapter 97 Nocturnal
❀ Maeve ❀
My eyes blinked open, my breaths coming quick and deep in my chest.
The mansion was silent as a grave, then I remembered the rooms were built to be soundproof.
I remained still, noting the larger-than-life presence in bed beside me.
His face was cradled in the crook of my neck, one arm draped over my stomach.
But I didn’t dare turn to look at his face, because he slept light and would awaken.
That’s if my thudding heart didn’t rouse him with how loudly it beat.
I took the time to sit with the dreams I’d had. Flashes of memory playing in no discernible order.
In one I was a teenager, the next, a toddler.
But the one that impacted me the most, which I’d somehow blocked from my mind and forgotten, was the one where I’d burned.
Nikolai’s half-draped body on mine anchored me in a way I appreciated, for the dream could be said to be a nightmare if it weren’t real.
I’d been a preteen, that ripe age for boundless curiosity and quick feet.
Mother had warned me time and time again to never go outside.
When I asked why, her only answer was that bad wolves prowled the woods of Blackbridge.
Every day she left for the markets or the stream, I’d sit hidden in a closet, rocking myself with a straw teddy clutched in my little hands.
I’d done my best to keep to the rules, but then the squirrel happened—
“Did you know, sometimes I could be right?” I told Mother as she made our afternoon meal.
She glanced at me with a ready sigh on her lips. “And what should I listen to you about now?”
“Please, Mother, just a second outside!”
She dropped the ladle on the counter, turning to scold me.
I blurted, “I know the wolves are dangerous, but listen, I noticed they rarely come during the day. The howls only happen at night. So you should let me out… pleassseee….”
“Maeve.” Her voice was sharp, her head downturned. “Do you think I’m happy keeping you locked up in the house constantly?”
“No, but—”
“This is serious. You know Blackbridge isn’t as safe as Ironwolf Pack. I have no wolf, so I can’t even defend us if a wolf attacks.”
“It would be for just a second… please!”
“No!” she snapped.
All went quiet.
She went back to cooking, and I slumped in the corner, disbelieving how poorly my request had gone.
Since I’d been just a baby, I’d never left the house.
Soft scratching sounded at the front door. It was our only visitor, an inquisitive squirrel I only peeled at at night.
Then my small hands fisted.
I glanced at Mother with a childish dislike.
Why could she go outside anytime she wanted and I couldn’t? Why hadn’t the wolves found her? I was good at being silent, good at hiding. I could go outside without drawing their attention.
When she retreated into the pantry, I saw my chance.
Before she could turn back around, I burst out of the cottage on my small legs, startling the squirrel.
Laughter on my tongue, I chased it.
The sun was high in the sky.
Birds sang. Creatures skittered.
But when the sun touched my skin,
I began to burn—
My scream carried through the skies as I fell to my knees. A thousand needle-prickles scourged my skin.
I wrapped my arms around myself and rolled in the grass, desperately patting down my body as the most unbelievable thoughts played in my head.
I was on fire.
But how?
The door slammed open. I dimly heard Mother’s scream.
She scooped me up, running back to the house with my body writhing in her arms.
She dropped me into the bathing tub and filled it with water.
Frantic, murmuring words I was sure were scoldings, she poured different oils into the water to soothe my burns.
My skin was cracked, smoking. My eyes stung with intense pain—
I dragged myself back to the present with a ragged breath.
Thanks to Mother’s efforts, I’d healed within days, a fear of the sun cemented in my veins.
But it hadn’t ended there.
Every day from the moment I healed completely, she forced me outside for a few minutes in the early dawn and at sunset to build an immunity.
I hurt and burned every single day for weeks. But eventually, instead of whimpering in the light, I began to explore the yard.
A full year in, and I learned to anticipate my time with the sun more than I dreaded it.
I dragged in another ragged breath, slightly shifting Nikolai’s arm on my body.
I tensed, but he did not wake.
How had I forgotten an entire part of my childhood? Had my mind blocked out the trauma to protect me?
So Gwen had known what I was, and had hidden it until fate intervened.
On one hand, I was grateful for her care, since the picture of how I came to be in her possession wasn’t clear.
On the other, resentment flared in inconsistent bursts.
Had she tired of her self-inflicted responsibility? Had she known about the curse and abandoned me because of it?
Gods knew how many other secrets were still hidden from me, impeding my judgment and keeping me unbalanced—
I jerked.
Nikolai’s fingers were moving, tracing soft circles on my ribs.
“How long have you been awake?” I finally turned to face him.
As expected, he barely looked fresh from sleep. He was alert and attentive, glowing red gaze pulling me in.
“Long enough to hear your thoughts.” He kissed my shoulder. The contact sent a delicious thrill through me.
“Am I that obvious?” My body relaxed, his scent working overtime like a drug.
He gave a wordless nod.
His fingers caressed, breaths tickling my shoulder.
“I had a nightmare,” I began. “But it was more like a memory I’d locked away. There’s no doubt about it, I’m a vampire. I wasn’t even born immune to sunlight at first.”
At that, he sat up.
He pulled me into a sitting position between his legs, facing him.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, and his circled my waist.
“Let’s just call it sun therapy.”
A vein ticked in his temple. “What?”
“It’s fine. I’m glad for it. And I think my wolf half helped, or else I would’ve died from it.”
“Gwen did this?” he insisted, his body tense with anger.
I sighed, resting my head on his chest. “Yes.”
He said nothing.
I knew he was weighing the validity of his anger toward her actions, but even I could admit she’d done right by me.
If only she’d come clean when I’d grown instead of throwing me to the wolves, literally.
But then again, even that choice had led to me finding my throne.
A burst of confidence rushed through me.
“Will I have to wait until tonight for my training?”
Unless there was a sun-proof training yard.
He held me tighter, as if unwilling to give up our intimate position.
Perhaps he was regretting offering to train me. Too bad, because he wasn’t getting out of it anytime soon.
“It’s currently night,” he finally replied.
I froze in his arms.
Leaning back, I stared incredulously. “Are you trying to tell me I slept all day?”
“Mmh hmmm…” he murmured, rubbing his face against my neck like a cat.
Jaw slack, I blinked at this new development.
Was I adjusting to a vampire clock because of the company,
or was my vampire side finally bleeding through?
And was that… good, or bad?