XXXII
LOUD. BRIGHT. OVERWHELMING. Elysie's senses were in overdrive as her fingers smoothed over the soft silk covers she was lying on, the same covers she touched when she was first brought into the Doctor's office what felt like months ago.
It was as if she were a newborn relishing in their senses for the first time, awakening from a dream that left her reality much brighter and more interesting. Elysie could pick out the individual threads in the white sheet resting over her body, she could see a small particle of dust on the floor underneath the wood door, and she was able to pick out every individual hair on the King's head.
"It pleases me that your recovery time was much shorter than the last," Nicon said to her as they met eyes. Elysie's were calm but disapproving and all Nicon's held was relief.
"I wouldn't have had anything to recover from if you hadn't bit me." She knew it was unfair to condemn Nicon for he had only been protecting her, but in the back of her mind she couldn't help but imagine he could've approached it differently.
Elysie wanted to ask if Syd was all right but couldn't find the voice to do so. She didn't know how Nicon would react. Instead, she inquired about the bite. "When you said it couldn't happen again, what did you mean?"
Nicon understood the underlying concerns in her questions. She wanted to know if Nicon had kept to his promise and cast Syd away to spend a month in the dungeon. She was there for a night, partially blind and partially unconscious, and yet Elysie knew it was not a place she would ever like to return to.
"I marked you because I was losing control, Elysie. I was succumbing to the desires of my wolf, of the deepest, darkest part of myself. I almost let him surface." With every word, Nicon's tone drifted more and more until his sentences carried such a threat Elysie had backed up against the edge of her bed. Her palms were sweating, she could feel every droplet as if she were reaching out and touching a leaf that had collected morning dew. She could smell the words as if they were smells themselves, radiating off of Nicon in thick waves. Elysie could not string her thoughts together to describe how she was feeling, but it was euphoric.
When she knew she should have felt threatened, she could only feel safe. Where she should have been worried, she could only feel joy. The bite had done more to Elysie than change her abilities. She didn't feel weak anymore. She was seeing everything through a new lens.
And Elysie liked it.
"Syd should not spend a month in that dungeon," she said after a thick silence had drifted upon them.
"He isn't. Quentin and Victoria have invited him to reside with them." Nicon backed away from the mattress and stood in the center of the small room with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Who are they?" Elysie asked.
"Friends of his."
"Why doesn't he just live in Killian's quarters until he returns. I know the two are close?"
Nicon's face remained stoic. Elysie didn't like not being able to tell what the man was thinking. It irked her to no end that she could watch his thoughts dance in his eyes, but he would not speak a word of them.
"What are you thinking?" she asked, instead.
Nicon took a seat on the edge of her mattress and Elysie folded her legs underneath her to make room for him. Reaching a hand out to her, she was momentarily confused by his display of open affection.
Placing her hand gingerly in his, his thumb softly moved in smooth circles over her skin. It was comforting and it had Elysie worried.
"Killian did not return from his last assignment, Elysie. I am deeply sorry."
Elysie had hoped that the pounding of her nervous heart had distorted Nicon's words, but his expression made it clear that it did not.
"He's dead." It wasn't a question, but Nicon still nodded his head regretfully and pulled the girl into a hug. "I'm sorry for being so upset," she said as her eyes burned with tears, "Because I know you were closest with him."
"Your heightened senses will make everything you feel projected, your heart pounding, your crying, your sadness. It's okay to grieve, we all have."
"How long ago?"
"A week."
She didn't have it in her to be angry with him for hiding it from her. They were all grieving, some in more private ways than others.
"How is Syd?" She had been hesitant to ask, but she needed to know.
"He's upset. We're all upset. But, we'll persevere. We always do."
Elysie was not accustomed to death. She only had one family member to worry about, and Syd had promised to deliver her letter. Hearing the news of Killian's passing, she was gradually becoming angrier. "What about the funeral?"
"We've already had it."
"Am I allowed to visit his grave?" Nicon couldn't say no, her eyes were bloodshot and watery from holding back tears and he could smell her sadness. He didn't need to be a Shifter to realize she was upset.
"As soon as you adjust."
"Am I allowed to meet other Shifters?"
Nicon sighed and ran a hand through his hair; something Elysie had never seen the man do. He was normally so collected. "Elysie – you are not fully one of us, that is something you will have to understand. But yes, you may meet other Shifters."
She smiled at him, pushing her hair out of her eyes. "Don't I have to – bite you?" A small smile formed on Nicon's lips as he watched the girl squirm uncomfortably at the thought.
"I'm afraid so. You have time, Elysie. It does not have to happen tonight."
Holding her tongue from asking any more questions, Elysie nodded her head. "Okay."
For a brief moment, Nicon considered apologizing. He considered asking to be forgiven for changing her, but could not find the words. He considered kissing her, but couldn't find it in him to do it in such a distasteful place. As he left his mate to drift off to sleep, his mind flooded with thoughts of what to do to Syd.
