Pippa glanced up at him, picking up the undercurrents. She pressed her lips together and let out a small growl. She looked at both and said one word. “Davy.”
Roane and her brother received the message. The small flare-up dampened immediately, but it was still there. It was a back burner turned to simmer. It was still hot and still dangerous if left ignored.
Saren narrowed her eyes. She harrumphed. “Foolish human emotions.”
No one responded, but she stood, and as she stepped away from the fire, she vanished.
Roane continued to stare across the dancing flames at the werewolf. Neither looked away.
DAVY
I woke up on a bed and lifted my head, or I would’ve. My neck wouldn’t move. Stabbing pain sliced through me, and I cried out. My body instantly locked up, and I started trembling, sending even more stabbing pain through me.
“Davy.”
Gavin rushed inside, the sound of something was shoved aside, like a tarp. He added, “You’re awake? Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m—” I couldn’t talk. My teeth were grinding together.
He laid a hand on my arm and said, “You’ve been out for three days. Rest.”
“Wha-a-at happened?”
“You.”
Me? I frowned at him, trying to remember. The Immortal was with me, she told me to sleep, and I was watching from above. “Lucan was going to catch us.”
“You teleported Tracey and yourself. We only just found you guys yesterday. Tracey was exhausted by the time we did. She’d been standing guard over you.”
“Teleported?”
He nodded, grim. “You sent the both of you to the highest mountain. We’re twenty miles from the Mori camp. Wren’s the one that kept us going to find you. She said she could feel Tracey and used her scent. She tracked you guys.”
He thought I did this. I didn’t. The Immortal did it, and I tried to sense her right now, but I couldn’t. It was like she wasn’t even inside of me. All I felt was nothing. Exhaustion. Pain. That was it.
Gavin added, “It must’ve taken it out of you.”
“Yeah.” I looked away. “It must’ve.”
He gestured around, but I could only see above. It was a dark wall of rock. Gavin said, “We brought you into this cave. We used a tarp we found by a riverbed not far from here. It’s used to block out the cold for you.”
For you. Those two words—they were all vampires. The cold didn’t matter to them, but I was human. I was The Immortal, or I thought I still was.
“Is she awake?”
I tensed, hearing Wren outside. She was angry. I could feel it coming off her in waves.
Gavin studied me. “Are you up for her?”
No. I said, “I need answers.”
He nodded, then left my side. The tarp was lifted and he spoke to them, “She’s in pain. I don’t think she can take too much.”
“She’s The Immortal. She can take more than any of us.” She shoved at the tarp, coming inside. I didn’t move my head over. My neck would’ve seized up again, but her anger became stronger. As she stood over me, glaring down, it was blanketing on top of me, and I struggled to push through it all.
This wasn’t normal. This was my empathic side. This was how it had been when I still struggled to control my senses. Since becoming The Immortal, I hadn’t had this problem. Everything was easily controlled, even kept at bay so I could pull it forth as I pleased. This . . . something was wrong.
“What happened back there?”