Kalyll woke up at the sound and was immediately on his feet, crouching in an attack stance, darkened eyes roving over the space.
I threw a dirty glance in Silver and Cylea’s direction. She shrugged and mouthed, “Sorry.”
Palms up, I spoke to Kalyll. “It’s all right. Everything is all right. Why don’t you sit back down?”
He looked at me, chest heaving, hands fisted in front of him.
I smiled. “A book fell in the water. That’s all.”
He frowned, as if processing my words.
“It’s a shame,” I went on, trying to distract him with senseless talk. “I hate it when books get damaged. I even hate it when people dog-ear the pages. It’s a crime. I want to yell at them. I mean… haven’t they heard of bookmarks?”
His eyes cleared. He staggered backward, his back hitting the wall. Cylea exchanged a glance with Silver, then gave me a surprised once-over. They were acting as if this was all me and not the marsh flower elixir. Maybe because they could only think of Arabis controlling him with her voice, but they were so wrong.
Kalyll slid down the wall and sat on the ground. “I was asleep?”
“You were.”
“Something you haven’t done in weeks,” Cylea said.
“Is that true?” I asked.
Kalyll nodded. “The beast doesn’t rest, and I’ve been busy. No time to waste my few waking hours in bed.”
“Is it safe if I come close to take your vitals once more?” I asked.
“How long has it been since I took that last dose?”
“About one and a half hours, so judging by how long the first one lasted, I think everything will be safe until seven, but you know better.”
“I feel… I think it’s safe as well.”
“Good.”
I kneeled by his side and got to work, telling myself that it was unprofessional to enjoy the feel of his skin against my fingers and the way his eyes examined my face and seemed to linger on my lips, though surely, I was imagining that.
“I am embarrassed,” he said, in a whisper so low that I doubted Silver and Cylea could hear, especially since they were arguing in not-so-hushed tones about the book.
“You shouldn’t be,” I said as I wrapped my hand around the front of his elbow to take his blood pressure. “You were deep in sleep and the sudden splash startled you.”
He shook his head. “No, not about that, but about hurting you and… the things I said to you.”
Pausing, my hand still around his arm, my eyes locked with his as I glanced up. “Please, don’t worry. I know it’s not you.”
“Is it not?”
I frowned, confused.
“Is it not the darkest side of me?”
Honestly, I had no idea. I didn’t know the nature of what he called a curse on his blood. Was it a different entity living inside of him? Was it something else?
“I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe we can talk a bit more tomorrow. There’s so much you haven’t told me about how this began. If I’m to help you further, I need to understand everything.”
He grunted, letting me know he didn’t like that idea. Instead, he said, “Do something for me.”
“What?”