Chapter 427 Damien

Chapter 427 Damien
Damien - Finding Out Part 1

By the third morning, I know something isn't right.

The first day, we'd all brushed it off.

She'd come back from training with Luke looking a little pale, laughed it away, and blamed the heat.

The second day, she'd barely made it out of bed before she'd had to rush to the bathroom.

Now, on the third...

She doesn't even make it to training.

I finish barking instructions at a line of recruits just as Rowan crosses the training yard toward me. He's still wearing his training clothes, his dark hair tied back, the leather muzzle once again strapped securely over the lower half of his face.

He doesn't look worried easily.

He does now.

"What happened?" I ask before he even reaches me.

He signs as we walk, quick, efficient movements.

She threw up again.

I frown.

"Still?"

He nods.

She tried to eat breakfast. Couldn't keep it down.

"Fuck."

He signs again.

She says she's starving. Then the smell of food makes her sick.

That gets my attention.

"That's odd."

Rowan nods once.

She looks exhausted.

I glance toward the Verrath wing.

"You've been with her?"

He nods.

All morning.

"What does Ezra think?"

A tired look crosses Rowan's face.

He signs more slowly this time.

Ezra's buried in council meetings. He's taking the afternoon off to stay with her. He asked me to send for a healer.

"I'll go."

Rowan studies me for a second before nodding.

Good. I'll cover training.

I clap his shoulder.

"Thanks."

He stops me before I can leave.

Do you think...

He hesitates.

Can she still get human illnesses?

I think about it.

She's immortal now.

Not a demi-god.

Not human.

Something in between.

"I don't know."

It's strange to admit.

There aren't books about this.

No records.

No previous Vaelithra who died, came back immortal because of Rowan's voice, then traveled halfway across the world on fun little trips.

"Maybe."

I shrug.

"We traveled for a month."

Greece.

Italy.

Japan.

Korea.

Airports.

Crowds.

Thousands of humans.

"Maybe she picked something up."

Rowan nods.

That's what I thought.

"I'll stay with her."

He squeezes my forearm before heading toward the recruits.

I don't miss the way he glances back toward the wing once before forcing himself to continue.

Luke is standing outside Avery's room when I get there.

Still in his training clothes.

His blond hair is damp from what I assume was a rushed shower, but he hasn't gone back on patrol yet.

He's pacing.

The moment he sees me, he straightens.

"Commander."

"How is she?"

He scratches the back of his neck.

"Still asleep, I think."

"You've been standing here?"

"I figured..." He shrugs awkwardly. "Just in case."

I nod once.

"She'll be alright."

"I know."

He says it quickly.

Almost like he's trying to convince himself.

"I just..."

His eyes drift toward the closed bedroom door.

"She looked pretty miserable."

A smile tugs at my mouth despite myself.

"Starting to care now, are we?"

He huffs a quiet laugh.

"I'll stay out here."

"I appreciate it."

I clap his shoulder before opening the door.

The room is quiet.

Warm afternoon sunlight spills through the balcony doors, painting golden rectangles across the wooden floor.

Avery isn't asleep after all.

She's curled up against the pillows with a book open in her lap.

The second she sees me...

Her lower lip wobbles.

Well.

Fuck.

Nothing breaks me faster than that.

I cross the room in three long strides.

"Hey, Tiny."

I sit beside her, brushing loose strands of golden hair away from her face.

"What's wrong?"

Her eyes immediately fill.

"I'm so hungry."

"...Okay."

"But every time I think about food..."

She grimaces.

"I want to throw up."

I can't help chuckling.

"That is a very unfortunate combination."

She lets out the tiniest laugh before burying her face against my chest.

"I know."

"I want pancakes."

"Mhm."

"But if someone brings me pancakes..."

"I know."

"I'll cry."

I wrap both arms around her, settling her sideways across my lap.

She melts against me immediately.

Gods.

She's so warm.

"So," I murmur. "Do you think you're going to be sick again?"

She shakes her head against my chest.

"Not right now."

"Good."

I kiss the top of her head.

"Then no more worrying."

She sighs.

"I can't help it."

"I know."

"You'll worry enough for both of us."

"I will."

"So I don't have to."

"Exactly."

She smiles weakly.

I stroke my fingers slowly through her hair.

"Try to sleep."

"I don't think I can."

"You can."

"I'm uncomfortable."

"I know."

I keep rubbing slow circles across her back.

Another kiss to her hair.

Another.

Eventually...

Her breathing evens.

The book slips from her fingers onto the mattress.

She's asleep.

I stay exactly where I am.

Holding her.

Listening to the soft rhythm of her breathing.

The room becomes impossibly still.

No footsteps outside.

No voices.

Just us.

With my hearing...

Silence is never really silent.

I hear birds outside the balcony.

Leaves rustling.

The distant clang of swords from the training grounds.

My own heartbeat.

Steady.

Strong.

Then...

Hers.

I smile.

Slow.

Calm.

Perfect.

...

Wait.

My brow furrows.

There's another heartbeat.

Fast.

Much faster than hers.

Tiny.

Rapid enough that at first I think it's a bird outside.

I sharpen my hearing instinctively.

Everything else fades.

Birds.

Wind.

Training.

Gone.

Just heartbeats.

Mine.

Avery's.

And...

Another.

Quick.

Fragile.

Relentless.

Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump.

I freeze.

Kuro?

I lift my head, scanning the room.

No fox.

He's not curled by the fireplace.

Not beneath the bed.

Not on the balcony.

"...Kuro?"

Nothing.

The heartbeat continues.

Too close.

Much too close.

Carefully—so carefully—I ease Avery off my lap and onto the pillows.

She murmurs softly but doesn't wake.

The sound grows louder.

I look under the bed.

Nothing.

The wardrobe.

Nothing.

Bathroom.

Empty.

My pulse begins to pound.

Where the fuck...

The heartbeat doesn't move.

It stays exactly where she is.

Cold realization crawls up my spine.

Slowly...

I turn back toward the bed.

Toward Avery.

Toward the gentle rise and fall of her sleeping form beneath the blankets.

"No..."

I whisper.

I take one careful step closer.

The heartbeat grows louder.

Another.

Louder still.

I kneel beside the bed.

Hold my breath.

Very, very slowly...

I lower my head until my ear is only inches from her stomach.

Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump.

Tiny.

Incredibly fast.

Wildly, impossibly fast.

My entire body goes rigid.

Holy...

Holy fucking shit.

The heartbeat...

...is coming from inside her.