“Sloane is also always hungry,” Michael supplied from his chair.
“Wereyoustarved as a child?” Tegan asked him.
Sloane looked at her and then looked passed her towards Michael. “Okay, I don’t have a clue if she is serious or not.”
Tegan looked blankly at each of them before she grinned and resumed unpacking. Sloane reached over and picked up her clothes.
“By the Ancients, do you have anything that is not black? Or fatigues?”
“No.”
“Youonly havetraining clothes and gear in here?” Sloane tossed the clothes back at her in disgust. “We need to take you shopping.”
“I train, I patrol, I don’t need to do anything else,” Tegan shrugged as she took out some books.
“You need to live,” Sloane said as he straightened.
“Is this one of your ‘rise’ things?” Tegan asked as she opened a drawer and started folding her clothes away. She placed the books in the drawer too, carefully arranging her clothes over them.
“No. This is my serious-as-Drakyhnthings,” he answered her. “Michael,” Sloane glared at his friend for back up.
“We don’t live as strictly as you do, Tegan,” Michael started, he held his hand up to stop her from interrupting. “We take the threats just as seriously, but there are more of us and we are required to do more than just hunt and patrol.”
Tegan frowned at them both before turning back to her unpacking. “Well, all I’m required to do, is patrol.”
Sloane went to speak again but stopped when Michael rose to his feet. “You must be tired. We should leave you to settle into the room and relax.” He walked over to the adjoining door as Sloane reluctantly got to his feet. “We can talk more in the morning?”
Tegan straightened as she looked at him. She suddenly felt unsure, but she answered firmly, giving nothing away of her nervousness. “Yes.”
“Okay,” Michael smiled at her, hoping to ease her tension. “You are welcome here, Tegan.”
“Thank you.” She tried to return the smile, but she knew hers wasn’t as convincing.
“You won’t need to get up at four-thirty tomorrow,” Sloane said over Michael’s shoulder. He had turned away before he saw her frown.
Michael noticed it however and came back into the room. “We have a gym with treadmills and other equipment if you want to stick to your routine,” he told her softly. “I wouldn’t advise the grounds, or leaving the grounds, without one of us yet.”
“I can take care of myself,” Tegan reminded him.
“I know, it’s not you I am worried about.” Michael nudged her shoulder with his and this time Tegan’s smile was easy and genuine.
“I can use the gym tomorrow,” Tegan conceded.
“Thank you. If you’re lucky, I might even get up to come train with you,” Michael said as he walked away.
“If I’m lucky?” Tegan queried.
“Well, I don’t want to smash your self-esteem on the first day,” he was chuckling softly as he closed the adjoining door behind him.
Tegan sat on the edge of her bed, smiling at his teasing.It was teasing wasn’t it?Tegan looked around the room slowly, finally taking it in, without cousins on her bed or half-brothers on a chair. The walls were neutral in colour, dark brown heavy drapes sat closed over the window. She didn’t bother checking her view, she wouldn’t spend much time in her room. The closet ran the length of the wall, which she went over to and hung up her coat, the drawers built in along with hanging space, keeping everything contained. She opened a door and found the adjoining bathroom and Tegan was delighted to see it didn’t have an interconnecting door to Sloane’s room. She had been worried he would be invading all her space; she checked the interconnecting door and was relieved to see it locked. Her hand hung hesitantly over the lock before she turned and went back to the bed without turning it. Tegan had seen towels in the closet and kicking off her boots, she padded over to the closet, grabbed some towels and then headed into the bathroom with her toiletries and locked the door behind her.
After a long shower, Tegan felt better. She had unbraided her hair in the shower and it hung long and heavy down her back. Wiping the mirror, Tegan combed her hair from her face. She stared back at herself critically, turning her head to the left and the right, checking her features. She looked so much like her father and brother – it was disconcerting. She knew her half-sister was blonde like her mother, Mikayla, had been, but she had never seen a picture of Zahra to know if it was just the colour of her mother’s hair she inherited. Tegan had always believed she looked likehermother, dark hair, almond shaped eyes, high cheekbones, full lips. But Salem and Michael had black hair like hers, so black it had a blue sheen to it. Their cheekbones were just as high, their noses just as straight, their lips just as full. Tegan had her mother’s almond shaped eyes, but her eye colour was bluey-violet, like her father’s and brother’s as she discovered tonight.
“They must have looked like siblings,” she muttered as she combed her hair again before rebraiding it. “Maybe that’s why no one questioned their friendship. They looked so alike no one was paying attention.” She slipped her sleep clothes on, simple cotton shorts and a t-shirt, before going back into the bedroom. She was not surprised to find Sloane lying on her bed.
“Cousin?”
“Did he feed you his blood?”