Page 62 of Bitten & Burned

“Blackthorn should have been safe,” Quil reminded.

“Yeah. It was supposed to be, until I learned… Silas told me he was the one who set all the wards there,” I replied hollowly.

“He did?” Quil asked, surprised. “Well, shit. Nobody knew that, Rowena. How could you think it’s your fault?”

All I could see was Vael pacing through my apartment the night before everything had happened. How he’d warned me against going alone.

“Vael knew.”

“He idles at overprotective; he didn’t know outright.”

“Still, I should have listened. He has been right about everything else…”

“So?” Quil asked, reaching for both of my hands now. “He talks so much, he’s bound to be right sometimes.”

“He doesn’t care that he was right, Mishka…” Dmitri added. “He cares that you are safe now.”

I looked at Dmitri. “Can’t he do both?” I asked.

Dmitri scratched the back of his neck, clearly looking for something to say, but Quil spoke over him, and he looked relieved.

“Are you hungry, Rowena?”

My stomach growled loudly as if answering for itself.

Quil smirked a little and turned to go find his clothes. It was at that point I realized… Quil was still naked. As was I.

I blinked, but Dmitri didn’t seem phased. Again, I supposed Dmitri had done the same to Quil after we’d first lain together, but all this posturing was… well, exhausting.

Quil got dressed quickly enough, pulling up his leathers and lacing his boots. Weapons got stashed in several places.

“Pheasant, right?” he asked, eyes locking on mine.

“Whatever you find is fine, as long as it’s not rabbit,” I said.

“Pheasant, right?” he repeated.

I nodded.

He leaned down to press his lips to my temple, his fingers combing through my hair. “Don’t let him spoil you too much.’

“I’ll be back. Take care of her,” he directed to Dmitri.

And then, he was gone.

I looked to Dmitri, pulling the furs up around myself.

“You had us all worried, Rowena…” Dmitri murmured, sliding down to the ground beside me. “I couldn’t think… couldn’t breathe. I thought… we all thought…” He swallowed. “I… I don’t want to lose you. Not when I only just found you.”

“Dmitri…”

“And Anton… he… paced. Back and forth. For hours. He didn’t sleep.

He looked as if he wished to tear the walls apart from the inside…

the only reason he isn’t here beside me is that Cassian had to nearly physically restrain him.

Someone had to stay back at the manor to be certain it wouldn’t be attacked again. ”

Tears sprang to my eyes. Gods, I’d been so stupid. I should have stayed back at the apartment with Vael and Quil. Waited for them.

“This is all my fault,” I said softly.

“What is?”

“I… I insisted I’d be safe. I told them I knew Blackthorn like the back of my hand, that the wards would be enough. And then, Silas… I deserved what happened; it was so utterly stupid of me.”

Dmitri’s shoulders drooped. “Rowena…” He pulled me close, his big arms enveloping me and holding me close. “You didn’t deserve what happened. No one would.”

“I did… Vael was…” I trailed off. “He was right. And I was a fool. Am a fool. And I can’t stop thinking about how Quil looked in that tower. How he came for me. No matter how unworthy I am of his love and protection… I just… walked into danger. I actually thought I was safe. I thought…”

Dmitri hugged me tighter. “Hush now.”

I shook my head, “I… I made all of you worry, and I don’t… I’m so sorry.”

Tears fell unbidden, my nose ran, and I began sobbing uncontrollably. All I could think of was how hurt the others must have been.

“Oh, Dmitri, I don’t deserve any of you. I’m ungrateful, stubborn, and I won’t admit when I was wrong. I am wrong!” I sobbed.

He hugged me close. He rocked me slightly, just back and forth. I found myself calming down despite everything. I wanted to keep crying. I wanted to punish myself for what I’d done. Gods, I didn’t know why they even wanted me. I was more trouble than I was worth.

“You are not nearly enough trouble,” Dmitri murmured. I frowned at him. How had he—

“You seem to be having difficulties leaving thoughts unexpressed,” he whispered, kissing the tip of my nose.

“Your worth is immeasurable. And, therefore, you aren’t nearly enough trouble, Rowena.

None of us is upset with you. Only relieved.

I… don’t know what we would have done if something had happened. Something worse.”

“I’ll stay with one of you from now on,” I promised. “I can’t take Silas on. He’s got a hold on me.”

“Are you alright, Mishka? Did he hurt you? Are you still hurting?”

I nodded, sniffing. “I couldn’t move until Quil got there and destroyed the amulet.”

“I’m glad he destroyed it,” Dmitri muttered. “Drummond… he’s…” he sighed, the rigidity melting from his shoulders as he reached for me. “He’s already a dead man. Once I have him…” He trailed off with a breath, turning to kiss my temple, to brush my hair out of my face.

I curled into him, resting my head against him.

“Are you cold?” he murmured, his fingers grazing my arm. I gazed up into his beautiful face. Ice blue eyes stared back at me. Calm and kind, even with the fire behind them that I knew smoldered still. The fire that wouldn’t let Silas Drummond escape his fate.

“I’m actually quite comfortable now,” I whispered.

He inhaled deeply. “You smell like… Quil.”

“It’s his cave.”

“Indeed you are,” he murmured, finding my lips. “I’m happy for you. Both of you. He… he needed this.”

His lips pressed softly to mine.

“So did I,” I admitted.

Quil came back a few hours later. He had two pheasants and a quail, already cleaned and dressed.

“Breakfast,” he said softly. I couldn’t help but notice they were already drained of blood.

“I’m starving,” I said softly.

Quil met my gaze, but his expression was warm; there was almost a smile on his face as he went to stoke the fire. “Just as soon as I cook these, sweetheart.”

The pheasant took a bit to cook all the way through, with Quil roasting them with a spit over the fire and turning them every so often.

In the time they took to cook, I dressed. I had nothing clean: just my ruined clothing from the night before. It was covered in blood and sweat and who knew what else.

“This is ready,” Quil called, pulling the pheasants from the fire. He began to carve one and handed a drumstick to me. I began to eat and moaned at the food on my lips.

I inhaled deeply, catching the now familiar scent of moss and wet stone that defined the cave’s atmosphere.

As I sat back in the furs to eat, beyond the muted roar of the waterfall, I could hear the pelting of thousands of tiny drops on stone outside—different from the constant thunder of the falls.

The rain’s rhythm stood out precisely because it wasn’t the usual sound of rushing water.

Just under that, however, came the dull rumble of voices—Dmitri and Quil, speaking in hushed tones near the cave’s entrance. I moved closer to hear them better.

“It’s raining now,” Dmitri was saying. “It’ll be harder for anything to carry our scent. Perfect time to head back to Halemont.”

Quil nodded once, seeming to relent, but unable to stop himself from sharing a caveat. “Of course, it is our home, so I doubt anyone would have to guess where to find us.”

“Halemont is safer. All of us will be there, and, as far as the rest of the Ashbornes go, Silas must have called them back. There hasn’t been a sighting in days. No need for you all to go back to Caer Voss.”

“I’m not sure if that makes me feel better,” Quil replied. “I’d rather know where they are than not.”

The thought of returning to Halemont made me the nearest I’d been to giddy since all this mess had started. I wanted to see all of my vampires. I wanted them to see me—see I was alright. I just wanted to be somewhere familiar. Somewhere safe.

“Still,” Dmitri continued, “five of us are undoubtedly safer than two.”

“Safe is relative,” Quil said flatly.

“Halemont will be armed to the teeth. Literally.”

“Which is why they won’t attack us there again. They’ll lure us out. I know Ashborne tactics, and this is a classic one. It’s not much better here, but they at least don’t know about this place.”

“Yet,” Dmitri added. He continued, “Besides, they might attack us again. We still have Rellin. They’ll be wanting him back.”

Quil scoffed. “Rellin is as disposable as they come. Should have ended him. I told Vael to end him.”

“I know, but Vael also said to wait and see if we could get anything else out of him.”

“I doubt he knows more than he’s told us. They’re all hopped up on bloodroot and paranoia. It’s going to be difficult to get him to give us anything else.”

“He’s coming down off the bloodroot,” Dmitri said. “He’s making more sense. He might remember more.”

Quil shook his head. “Don’t hold your breath. He’s a waste of air and guts.”

I sniffed, and they both looked at me. Pulling my knees up to my chest, I said, “Don’t you want to know what I think? Or do I not matter in this?”

“Of course you matter,” Dmitri said. Quil turned, his eyes softer as he gazed at me.

“I want to go home,” I said softly. Before, home had been Caer Voss. But now, I realized, that wasn’t true any longer. Something had shifted in the past few weeks. “And Halemont is my home now.”

They were silent for a few moments.

“Alright,” Quil said, taking a few steps toward me. “I suppose we pack and go. It’s a hike from here—not a long one, but a couple of hours—will you be alright?”

“I want to go home. I’ll do anything to get what I want.”

Quil huffed out a laugh at that. “Alright, sweetheart. Then we pack light and we head out.”

Dmitri stepped forward and wrapped his cloak around my shoulders, pulling the oversized hood up to cover my head. It was warm, thick, and smelled of him—and was more than enough to keep me dry in the rain.

Wrapped in Dmitri’s cloak, I moved closer to the door. Quil was already there; he nudged my arm with his thumb, his touch brushing over the back of my hand. I caught his gaze and held it.

Outside, the rain fell in buckets, large drops slapping against the cloak and soaking Quil immediately. It would be a long journey in these conditions—but I was determined, and therefore so were Quil and Dmitri.