I stepped into his personal space and cupped my hands around his face. The effect was immediate. The energy flowed from me to him as a warm, pleasant sensation. I didn’t know how it worked exactly, or if he could take too much of my energy and kill me, but I knew it made him better.
His trembling subsided with each second that passed. He finally stopped shaking and took a long, deep breath. A little apprehensive, I pulled my hands away and put some distance between us.
Victor stood. “Thanks.” He looked better. He wasn't pale anymore, his chest and shoulders no longer sagged, and his eyes shone. He was gorgeous, as always.
“You’re welcome.” I curled my fingers around a strand of my hair. “If it was this bad, why didn’t you come sooner?”
He looked away. “I wanted to avoid drawing attention. The demons are probably here because of me. They sensed my aura and came.”
Could it be? I thought they were coming because of my aura. But if the demons were here because of Victor’s aura this time, what could explain the other times?
His eyes returned to me, and I held my breath once more.
How could this man, who had been shaking like a scared child a few moments ago, be a freaking almighty god? I couldn’t believe it. I had three months to absorb and believe, but I still couldn’t wrap my mind around it. When I closed my eyes, it was easy to tell myself that what happened had been a dream.
A dream. Hallucinations. Maybe visions. Maybe Ceris hadn’t taken the Destiny Gift away, and this time I was living within a vision, trapped forever.
“How have you been?” he asked.
I frowned. After all these months, that was what he asked me? “Good,” I said, my voice more bitter than I intended.
His gaze ran the length of me before settling on my eyes again. “You look good.”
What was that supposed to mean? I looked down. My hair was messy from running, my face was probably flushed, my clothes were battered and dirty after all I had been through this morning, and one of the heels of my boots had been glued on with crazy glue. Oh, and there was the brand new splat of blood on my boot. I felt anything but good.
“How’s your family?” he asked, surprising me.
“Good,” I lied.
“And Raisa and Olivia?”
What was with him and small talk? “They’re good too.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “Look, Nadine, we should probably ta—”
“If there isn’t anything else I can help you with, I should probably get back to work,” I said, putting as much confidence as I could in my tone. It wasn’t easy.
The shine in his eyes changed. “No, no. I’m fine now. Thanks again.”
“Sure.”
Holding my head high, I strolled out of the room. Once in the corridor, I let out a huge breath and fought against the sudden tears. Why was I feeling disappointed and frustrated? He didn’t owe me anything. He had left with his mate, and said mate had fabricated my feelings for him. Nothing that happened between us had been real, and I should be over it.
I shook my head. Apparently, I wasn’t really over it.
I entered the restroom, washed my face, and then dropped down on the couch in the locker room.
Before my mind could drift and my muscles relax, my cell phone vibrated with a new text message. It was from my boss. Where are you? She sounded mad even if I couldn’t hear her voice or see her face. I knew she was mad.
Cursing I pushed up from the couch and rushed out.
This day couldn’t get any worse.
The bus ride back to campus that evening had no incidents, thank goodness. It dropped me inside the north gates, and I walked the couple of blocks to my dorm, located on the east side of campus.
Last semester, Raisa and I had shared an apartment outside the walls, but this semester, the university’s policy had changed. All students were required to live in the dorms inside its walls for security reasons. Olivia, however, was long gone. When things started to get worse, her parents told her to come home. Raisa’s parents were trying to convince her to do the same. My parents tried to convince me too, but I wouldn’t budge. There weren’t many jobs available where they lived, if there were any, and I would be one more mouth to feed. I couldn’t give up yet.
I glanced up at the electrified cables they had put atop of the walls, creating a wrought dome that fried the demons wherever they touched it. It was like living in a prison, but if it meant the university could keep us safe so I could finish my degree and help my family, I was okay with it.
The dorm building wasn’t too bad. Most students were scared shitless, and a few had left. There were parties, but not too many anymore, not since the world kept getting worse and worse.
I opened the door to my room and sighed. The room was tiny compared to our old apartment, but that was the only truly bad thing about living here. One room with dull white walls; a boring window that opened to the courtyard at the heart of the other dorm buildings; two squeaking twin beds; two desks that looked like they would break if we put one more book on them; two chairs; a decaying sofa; two tall shelves that passed as closets; a counter with our coffee machine and such; and a bathroom with plastic curtains and stained tiles and a sink, but at least we didn’t have to share it with anyone else.
I closed the door, and threw my coat and my tote on my bed. I thought about taking my boots off and throwing myself on my bed too, but I would have to leave for class soon. If I got comfortable now, I knew I wouldn’t go.
I turned on the coffee machine, and Raisa stepped out of the bathroom.
“Hey, you,” she said, her hazel eyes inquisitive. She had a towel draped around her, and her short brown hair was wet, dripping all over the linoleum floor. “I saw the bats’ attack around the hospital. Was it too bad?”
“The usual. Lots of hurt people and lots of people we couldn’t help.”
“I’m sorry,” she said.
I nodded, and she disappeared inside the bathroom again. She turned on the blow-dryer, and I leaned against the window while waiting for the coffee machine.
The raven was perched on the limb of a dying tree. Thank goodness, it was all right. I hadn’t forgotten it had saved me from a demon, but with all the chaos inside the hospital, I couldn’t really stop and wonder about it. Besides his presence wasn’t news. Rok had been following me since I came back from that boring Croatian island. Each time my eyes landed on the bird, my thoughts turned to Micah and mixed feelings invaded me. I was angry with him for leaving me alone on that damned island. I thought of all he had done: sticking up for me, defending me from demons, killing Brock so my identity and family would be safe. I didn’t understand.
I scoffed, trying to suppress such thoughts. However, the more I tried to put my mind on something else, the more it went back to him. I was angry with him, even though he didn’t owe me anything. He was a god, an almighty god that would probably stomp on a human like me at the first opportunity. But if that were true, why would he send Rok to keep tabs on me? The only reason I could imagine he had was to know if I ran away right when he needed my healing.
My healing … I had seen Victor today. Oh my God, I had seen Victor today.