Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
“Right hand—yes, like that. Now up, elbow—no, your other—yes.”
I jabbed my elbow back, narrowly missing Noah’s face, but it allowed me enough room to break his hold. Or perhaps he let go. I stumbled away, hands braced on my knees as I gasped for air. Sweat trickled down my neck and I cursed the skirts of the pale blue day dress sticking to my legs.
It had been a week since the dinner at Lord Azad’s estate and a week of Gerald offering gifts as apologies for his behavior.
I’d grown tired of the displays and Jules had started to take whatever Gerald had for me before he could slip through the velvet curtain.
It was mostly lavish bouquets and small tins of sweets, but they made my stomach turn regardless.
I was grateful it was my night off; though I’d originally balked at such a concept, Jules was firm on it.
In fact, she’d prefer I took more than one day off a week.
There’d been no more word from Lord Azad, though the flower arrangement in my rooms had not wilted or dried in the time since. And I’d spent almost every dawn staring at my ceiling, willing away the memory of his hand on the back of my neck, the rumble of the growl in his chest.
“I have to say, I don’t quite see the point,” Lilith wheezed from where she was splayed out across our front hallway. “If someone like a vampire attacks us, we’re as good as dead.”
Noah shook back his hair. Barely even a glimmer of sweat was visible on his light brown skin or the paler demon sigil on his brow. “With that sort of mindset, you are as good as dead.”
“We cannot all be born fighters,” I rasped, staggering over to the stool by the window.
Vyenurs were born from the earth, clawing their way through the soil fully grown and brimming with the knowledge of those who came before.
There was no teaching a Vyenur how to fight, but they did hone their skills.
They also had no need for swords or daggers, though they used them to great advantage.
Those who found favor with the Covenant were gifted weapons imbued with magic—those especially were deadly.
However, to find yourself with one of those weapons would mean you’d exacted ghastly deeds on the Covenant’s behalf.
“No, not everyone is a born fighter,” he agreed.
“So, my comment stands,” Lilith groaned, rolling on her side to push up to a seat.
Noah crossed our small living area and crouched beside her.
“A vampire will believe you have no skill to defend yourself, that you are merely a witch with a scant amount of power to her name.” He touched a knuckle beneath her chin.
“Prove them wrong and the surprise might be enough to save you one day.”
She grasped his hand and nodded. He stood, pulling her along with him. “There is no excuse for weakness when you have the means to be strong,” he recited.
It was the same sentiment he’d been repeating since we’d first met.
Only a week or so after I’d moved in, there had been a particularly tense night at Risqeu.
A vampire male had felt he’d not fed enough, though he’d almost drained Cheyenne dry.
He’d fought Jules and Solange as they’d used their wards to eject him from the den, but he’d been snarling and pacing the boundary line for the rest of the night.
None of us had been able to leave until sunrise.
Jules said a friend had dealt with the immortal so he would not return, and now I wondered if perhaps Lord Azad had been that friend.
When I’d told Noah what happened, he’d insisted on teaching Lilith and me how to defend ourselves. Six months on and, though he chided us for our lack of stamina we were improving.
“What will you do tonight?” Lilith asked, flopping onto the stool next to mine and using her sleeve to pat her face.
I shrugged, accepting the cup of water Noah offered. “The music shop, then I need to send off this month’s letter to my family.”
I also needed to send a letter to my brother—an actual letter instead of the farce I sent to our parents.
Lilith pursed her lips in a way that made her look exactly like Jules. “But you’ll keep enough for yourself to buy a new dress, right? You said last week the lace cuffs on your velvet one were all but disintegrated.”
Discomfort squirmed through my stomach. She was right, I did need to buy a new dress—more than one, to be honest. I bit the inside of my cheek, and Lilith sighed heavily. “I don’t understand—”
“You don’t have to,” I snapped, shoulders hiking toward my ears.
Her hand wrapped around my forearm. “But I want to, Addie.”
Shaking her off, I stood and pressed my fingertips to my eyelids. Lilith’s obvious concern sapped the ire from me and left only a bone-aching weariness in its wake. “I am saving a little for myself each month. Perhaps next—”
“Next?!” Lilith cried.
“Lils, enough,” Noah snapped, his hand curling around my shoulder.
I sighed, dropped my hands with a slap to my skirts and stared out the window. Our little apartment sat on one of the oldest streets in Oylen. I stared at the ancient metalwork adorning the building across from us, my knuckles bleached white where I gripped my dress.
“Are you not at all concerned—”
“I am,” Noah cut across Lilith. “And I also respect there are aspects of Adrienne’s life that I will not understand, as I have not lived it alongside her. It is not our place to judge.”
Heat crept up my throat and over my cheeks to burn the bridge of my nose. Lilith huffed, grabbing her shawl. “Fine. Fine,” she muttered, taking a few steps toward the door before turning around and planting a kiss on my cheek. “I love you, you know.”
I sighed, resting my temple against her forehead. “I know. I love you too.”
That was Lilith. Desperate for information.
Though her temper might flare at times, it was always in the name of those she loved.
I did not begrudge her frustration, though I would have rather crawled into a nest of venefica than explain why I could never afford new clothes.
Risqeu lan Serang paid me enough that I should have been able to cover my half of the rent, food, and any other simple provisions I required.
But I’d been going without for long enough that it did not feel like a hardship.
After another huff, Lilith rose to her tiptoes to kiss Noah’s cheek as well. He returned it with a smack before she glided out of the apartment and onto the street. We were quiet for a time as we watched her mane of curls bounce toward the river, burnished by the setting sun.
“She means well,” he murmured, shaking my shoulder.
I nodded, patting his hand. “I know.”
He pressed a kiss to my hair. “Enjoy tonight. Perhaps Monsieur Belovuk will allow you to play his new pianoforte for a time.”
My lips twisted into a smile and I nodded. “Perhaps.”