And her name is…

Wulfric carries my books and walks bedside me in silence. We don’t pass anyone on our way to the library, and like always it’s empty. I take the books from him to put away properly and start up on my search for information on the next shelf.

He watches me for a few minutes before taking a book off a shelf and sitting in an armchair within my line of sight. It’s right there for me to argue or fight with him on why he’s even here, but the company is kind of… nice. He stays out of my way, and I never see his eyes on me just as he never interrupts my thoughts with conversation.

After I’ve picked through the whole shelf I have a stack of three on the floor that seem promising and I pick them up, intending to bring them back to my room as always. However, when I reach the end of the row of shelves I find myself heading toward one of the chairs instead. I’m not directly beside Wulfric, and there aren’t many options for seating so we’re both within easy talking distance… still we keep silent. We sit in our respective chairs and read silently for over an hour. At one point he glances at my pile and then rises from his chair slowly to walk over to me. I’m expecting something sarcastic or antagonizing but he just opens his own book in the same dialect as the next one in my stack.

“What is this word?” He asks softly and I’m so stunned by the simple question that I just stare into his eyes for a minute, expecting more.

Finally I shake my head, and look down at the page and the word he’s pointing at. “Acclimate,” I return, my voice soft after being quiet for so long.

He nods. “And… this one?” He moves his finger to another word and I run my gaze over the sentence to understand it.

I swallow a lump in my throat. “Progeny.”

He thanks me before returning to his seat. I’m both glad to be able to return to my book and left wanting more from the interaction.

We stay in the room until the clock tolls and reminds us of dinner. I bring the books with me and forget to argue with Wulfric about carrying them myself. Regardless, Helion isn’t there when we arrive and after we’ve all finished eating it’s clear he’s not coming. I can’t say I’m not disappointed, but I’m also not surprised. I bet he has damage control to do, but I also fully expect him to try again to convince me to change my mind. He will start with his words, but they will be amplified by his affinity and I know I need to be careful. I’m not sure how potent his magic can be when he’s really trying.

Nyx leaves before me and I forget to ask for her help with my hands. Training today was hell on the digits and reading in the cold room didn’t help any. Wulfric apparently notices my pain because he collects my books and carries them to my bedroom without me saying anything. When we get there he waits for me to open the door and then follows me in with the stack to deposit them where he grabbed the firs stack. I’m suddenly very alert in the room but Wulfric starts searching it without either of us saying anything. He does a full lap after checking the windows and then comes over to me where I’m standing in the middle.

“Are you going to be okay here?” He asks, picking up my hand.

I smirk away the racing of my heart as I lie. “Why wouldn’t I be?” I remove my hand from his and tuck my hair behind my ears. “They didn’t take the key today, which means they’ve had it a little while and haven’t done anything. So as long as I lock the windows are locked and I bolt the door from the inside, no one can get me.”

“Just…” he places his hand on my shoulder, then removed it without me doing anything. “Mine’s the last room in this hallway, feel free to come down anytime of the night if you .. for any reason.Anyreason.” He holds my eyes and I forget to hold onto the smirk for a second. “I’m a way better cuddler than that thing.”

He gestures his head towards my bed and I turn to look before I remember. “It was a gift from Helion after you arrived. Part of his apology.”

“And you accepted it?”

I shake me head. “I never really liked him.” The admission makes him angry but I don’t want to focus on that cringe worthy fact right now. “That yali was better in the bed than he was anyway, and that’s pretty pathetic.” I look up at Wulfric because he still looks pissed and I can’t have him going after Helion right now. “And, in fairness,youwere better in bed than the stuffed toy.”

He huffs and rolls his eyes at me. “Am.”

“Pardon me?”

He takes my chin quickly and looks me straight on. “Iambetter in bed than that thing, and Iwantyou to come to my room for any reason you see fit to give me.”

I’m lost for a minute. I can feel his breath on my neck and I hope he can’t hear my heart. If he means something else I’m not sure, but my mind went directly to sex. I can’t imagine him meaning anything else.

“If you just want company you can take my bed, I’ll take the couch. But, if you want to know how a real man takes his woman, I can do that too.” His voice comes out husky and it’s on the tip of my tongue to accept but I think of the last time we had sex and I manipulatedhim.

“I’m good,” I chuckle, pushing him towards the door. “But last door, got you.”

He smiles at me, mutters a good night or sleep well sort of messages and leaves. I make two full laps of the room checking every corner and every lock everything up before setting my cups in front of the door. The wardrobe gives me a new sense of dread and I open it just long enough to get a nightgown. I prefer a tank top and pants most nights, but I don’t see them immediately and the darkness gives me a feeling of dread that I’d forgotten about. I take the dress to the bathroom and shower slowly and deliberately. I’m able to lose myself in the warm water and the fresh scents for a little while, but when I’m done and step back into the bedroom, now ready for bed, everything comes rushing back.

I sit in the bed and start reading the books I’ve gathered, picking up a thriller book of fiction first. There’s a mystery, everyone locked in a house together with one killer and people are dropping like flies. The female lead ends up hiding in a room when she thinks the killer is following her, but it turns out to be the hunk of man who heard her scream and went looking. He lifts her off the floor from where she was hiding and takes her to his room, telling her how important it is to keep precious things safe. He tucks her hair away from her face and she kisses him before she registers what she’s doing. I close the book, feeling a dampness between my legs I don’t appreciate right now.

I switch back to the history books and there’s some mention of the kingdoms being reformed with the joining of two powerful Sioga descendants. I can’t help but roll my eyes. I’ve been reading book after book and every time someone tried to reform the kingdoms the only change is the boundaries and how much money the people in power have. I read the first book and then grab the second but my hands are trembling. I’m tired and they’re sore from the day but I force them to hold the next book. By the time I’m halfway through it I can’t even hold it up any more. I can’t sleep either though, and get up to start pacing the room.

At every pass I glance out the window, and at first no one is there. By the third time there is someone outside, but they could easily be out for a walk I don’t look for a few laps of my room and when I do again I can swear I can see more than one person in the shadows by the trees.

They can’t get in.I remind myself but it doesn’t ease my tension.

I continue pacing but can’t bring myself to look outside again. It is well into the night and my lights are dimmed but I still can’t calm myself down enough to sleep. A faint tap at the window startles me and I stare at it for several minutes. There’s more tapping and a faint scrapping than I try to convince myself is a tree branch in the wind but my racing heart knows the truth. Before I have time to rethink my actions I’ve grabbed the key off the side table and open the door quickly to exit. I lock it carefully behind me and stand in the hallway for only a second before I’m moving.

The shattering glass was just my cups that I didn’t move. No one was trying to get in my room.

This time I have a harder time convincing myself of what I’m not even sure is a lie. My feet stop in front of Wulfric’s door and I knock. Everything I’ve done feels like an impulse but it’s taken too long to execute and I start to second guess my actions in the silence after my hand leaves the door.

This is stupid.

I start to turn to leave, the library has that secret room I could conceivably sleep in with very few people even knowing about it, when I hear the door knob turn I nearly sprint away. The only thing keeping my feet rooted in place, despite that urge to run, is knowing he could still see me when he opened the door with the long, straight, hallway. I’m still turned like I mean to go when he appears.

He’s only wearing a pair of short, and my eyes quickly capture the lines of the muscles on his arms, chest and legs. His hair is a rumpled mess that I long to straighten out but resist, which brings my attention to the tiredness present in the appearance of his normally alert eyes. He takes in my appearance all at once the way I do his, and quickly looks more awake, looking down the hallway like he expects I’m running from someone.

“Theo, what’s wrong?” His voice is rough and almost desperate, like he is begging me to answer.

I shake my head quickly. “It’s nothing, I’m silly, I should go,” I say quickly and turn further away.

He grabs my arm and prevents me from going. “You can be honest with me.”

I don’t look at him as I sigh and then whisperer, “I can’t sleep.”

“What else?” He questions, tugging my closer to his door.

I lower my head. “I think there were people outside my window.”

With that he pulls me into his room and closes the door behind us. The room is dark and he presses me gently back against the cool door. His hands runs up the back of my head into my hair and presses a kiss to my forehead before resting his own forehead against mine.

“I’m glad you came,” he tells me gently and then releases my head and takes my hand, leading me through the dark room like he can see every step we make.