Word Count: 1357

~Vaela

"I don't like him."

Collapsing down onto the couch, I tug a blanket over myself, glaring at Will. I'm too distracted by this strange feeling of loss that has settled within me. It feels wrong to have left the cave, to have left Hale.

"You're not meant to, he's a Sin," Eyla responds, pushing past him to come sit next to me on the couch.

Will's jaw is set in a firm line, a distasteful look swirling in his eyes. "The fact that he was acting like he was going to see you again, Vaela."

"He's not," I mutter, closing my eyes.

I'm not sure, but irritation is digging itself between my temples, becoming increasingly more painful. I forgot how invasive Will can be, especially when he thinks I need protecting.

"You can admit that's he's hot, and you're intimidated," Eyla notes, grinning. I nudge her with my elbow, knowing exactly what she is doing.

Riling Will up has always been like a hobby to her.

"He's a pureblood. The whole point is they look perfect," Will mutters sourly, pacing back and forth, sometimes pausing to glance out the curtains. "Makes it easier for them to manipulate idiots."

Eyla rolls her eyes. "You're the only idiot here."

"You can go now, Will." I flick my fingers towards the door, raising a brow at him. My headache is worsening with him in the room, getting to the point I'm wincing.

He frowns. "You need my help."

He stands by the door still, as if Hale is going to march straight back in here. I'm considering letting him stay, but only if he lights the fire, because the air in my house is icy cold.

"I'll manage just fine," I mutter bitterly.

"Hale isn't coming back. He's a pureblood. He doesn't want you," Will bites back.

He doesn't look at me. He never does when he says something vicious, meant to shred me apart. I dealt with that for a long time before I decided I couldn't handle it anymore. He wants me to think I'm unattractive. He doesn't want me to desire Hale.

I smirk. "Stop reminding me of why I dumped your ass."

"Ouch, that's got to hurt." Eyla threads her fingers through mine under the blanket, grinning at me.

"I'm not planning on fucking the man, or anything," I reiterate, blinking slowly through the pain ricocheting off the walls of my skull. "And he's not coming back, so drop it."

Eyla frowns, seeming to notice my wincing.

"How do you feel?"

I lay down, resting my head against the arm of the couch, kicking my legs out over her. "Honestly not great. I've got a headache."

"I forgot about those things." Eyla hoists herself off the couch, pushing past an offended Will. "I'll make you some hot tea."

I stare gratefully at her departing figure, before shifting my attention to a sulking Will. He still stares at the door, a strange sense about him.

He finally looks at me, eyes colder than chips of ice. "Well, I'm staying. If any immortal comes in here, you're going to need protection."

I almost snort. Protection? Against a pureblood? What could any of us do if he intended to harm us?

He leaves the room and into the office, seemingly to calm himself down.

"He's going to make me a murderer," I mutter coldly, sitting up as Eyla comes in to hand me a cup of steaming tea.

She flops down next to me. "Just ignore him."

"Every time I look at him, I think of our past." The memories flash in my mind to the beat of the stabbing pain that my head is inflicted with.

There's a sad look in Eyla's eyes as she taps the underside of my cup. "Drink your tea."

The hot water soothes me, curling comfortably in the pit of my stomach. Yet the cold still lingers, haunting me. Sagging into the couch, I curl my fingers around the cup, eyes fluttering shut.

"What if I die, for real?"

"You're not going to," Eyla snaps, pulling the blanket over me more. "We are going to find a Gaze Reader, and we are going to get you help."

I want to believe her.

"This headache is seriously bad." I sit up, clutching either side of my head. The pain is starting to seep from my head down to the rest of my body, a cold sweat gathering on my skin.

"It's all your one's from being immortal catching up to you." Eyla tries to make a joke of it, but the amusement in her tone is strained. She runs a comforting hand down my back, which is trembling.

She thinks I'm going to die.

"I'm going to go lie down, in the dark. Don't let Will come in," I order, getting to my feet.

With numb legs, I hobble may way into my bedroom, letting the door shudder closed. Collapsing into bed, I curl up within my cover, squeezing my eyes shut.

I've never been in this amount of pain. It clutches to every limb in my body, twisting around my head, pressing against my skull. It's all complimented by the cold, accompanied by a persistent nausea gathering in my stomach.

Eventually, when sleep won't take me, I crawl from bed, the cold too much to bear.

The bath takes forever to fill. I don't even bother filling it with lavender scented salts as I usually would, instead opting to shrink under until just my head is above the surface.

Sleep steals me away for only fleeting moments, pain tugging me back before I can settle into a more comfortable state. It doesn't take long for the bath water to go cold, but what forces me from the bath is overwhelming nausea.

I'm sick until I can't stand anymore. At some point Eyla comes in to hold my hair back, not stopping until I've thrown up everything within me, backing away from the toilet.

"Vaela...What do you think is going on?" Eyla questions worriedly, coming back into the bathroom with a cup in her hand.

"Something is wrong. I'm so sick." I clutch my stomach, which twists in pain.

"Here, drink some water," she encourages, pushing it into my hands. It doesn't even reach my lips before I have to set it down again, worried I'm just going to throw it right up again.

"I can't stop throwing up. And my head is spinning and I'm shaking."

"The cold must have done this." Eyla pushes my hair back, cradling my face in her hands as she examines my face, like it may reveal why I've become so gravelly ill. "Let's get you out of that bath."

She grabs a towel, stretching it out.

"I fear if I stand I'll faint," I murmur, vivid spots of colour dancing across my vision, taunting me.

Eyla huffs out a breath, leaning down.

"Hold me, okay?" She instructs, winding her arm around my waist, hoisting me up until I'm on my knees.

Clutching the edges of the towel she wraps around me, I brace myself against her until I'm standing. Once accomplishing the intense mission of stepping from the bath and onto the tile floor, trying not to slip, Eyla leads me to the bed.

Collapsing onto the sheets, I stare up at the ceiling.

"We need Hale," Eyla says after a long while.

" I know," I breathe, my eyes fluttering shut.

Eyla grabs my arm, extending it before pressing my fingers out, dropping the cool surface of the rock onto my hand. She must have wrestled it from my discarded pant pocket.

It takes all my energy to lift my arm up enough to examine the rock. I'm going to be summoning him back here.

"Here goes nothing," I murmur, laying my hand out as I let the rock slip from my fingers. The gentle thud of it against the carpet is laden with silent meaning.

I'm going to see him again.

💗••💗

As always, the story will be available 10 chapters ahead on Radish!!!

You can also find it on GoodNovel (:

~Midika 💜🐼