Soul Forge (Book One of the Soul Forge series)

Chapter Twenty Five...

Elda struggled with the thrall for hours. The whole time, Vel watched her with eyes as black as night. The strange heat in her chest subsided a little, but the fog didn't lift and neither did the nausea. She wanted to sleep, but with the demon soul studying her every move it was impossible.

"You'll never kick the thrall if you don't sleep," Vel pointed out. He'd spent the night leaning against the wall by a small window, not moving, not looking away from her.

"If you weren't so damn creepy I might be able to sleep," she scowled, her tongue heavier than lead.

"If you didn't get your idiot ass bitten I wouldn't be here," he shot back.

"It wasn't my ass that was bitten, dummy," she mumbled blearily. "It was my neck. Shows who the real idiot is."

"Still you."

"I'm not an idiot."

"Oh sure, Princess Moron of I-have-no-fucking-sense-land. You were asked to do one thing. All you had to do was not let anyone touch you. It took you less than five minutes to do the opposite."

"You try dodging a flying bar stool."

"How does dodging a bar stool end with you becoming a Vampire's midnight snack?" Vel asked, finally pushing away from the wall and running a hand through his hair.

"If I annoy you so much why are you even here?" Elda asked, sitting up slowly to avoid making the room spin. She tried to scowl but her face muscles wouldn't obey her. Her thoughts moved as though they were swimming through thick mud, taking a long time to form and even longer to come out of her mouth.

"Somebody has to babysit you."

"Sypher could have helped me."

"That fool couldn't fight his way out of a flour sack. How the fuck can I expect him to control your compulsive stupidity?"

"Why would he be in a flour sack?" Elda frowned groggily.

"Spirits, give me fucking strength," Vel muttered, pressing a hand to his face. "Move over."

"What?"

"Move your ass over." When she didn't listen to him, he arched an eyebrow. "You really want to ignore me when I'm in a rotten mood?" She stuck her tongue out at him. "You asked for it." Elda squeaked when he climbed in beside her, slotting himself into the thin space between her and the edge of the mattress.

"What are you doing?" His chest was pressed against her side.

"I told you to move over."

"But the bed is warm on this side," she complained.

"Fine," Vel muttered, and she knew even without a discernible pupil that he was rolling his eyes. He shifted so he was above her and she froze, her heart thundering against her ribs. "Next time I tell you to do something I'd appreciate it if you'd listen to me." He spoke through clenched teeth, but his lips were next to her ear and the low purr of his deep voice reignited the heat in her chest. "Now go to sleep."

He moved away from her and took the cold side of the bed, but the furnace inside her didn't abate. She tried to ignore it but the lingering thrall made it almost impossible. The demon soul sighed irritably and reached out to pull her against him, holding her the same way Sypher had after her premonition in Gira's villa.

"You're being nice," she whispered, realising that he was actively trying to be less menacing. His scent of petrichor, vetiver and leather wrapped around her like a blanket, making her eyelids feel heavy.

"Less talking, more sleeping."

"Last time you were out you pinned me against a wall by my throat," she mumbled. "Now you're cuddling me."