A Demon's Mate

Chapter 14 - Getting Better

"Does it hurt? Tell me if it hurts." Eli has been bombarding me with questions in the few moments that Ash has been gone.

I convinced him to let me get changed on my own but he still insists on helping which is irritating.

Slowly I pull on a silky camisole, a random pair of pyjama bottoms, underwear and satin dressing gown. Not bothering with a bra or socks, I put on some slippers and tie the robe in a loose knot.

Eli knocks on the door to the closet, "Elle?" He echoes, waiting a beat, "are you sure you don't need help, cause you're taking a hell of a long time in there," he continues insistently.

"No," I groan, opening the door, I walk out to face him, "look, I'm fine and I got changed without your help, so please could you stop asking me if I need help."

He stares at me for a moment, looking hurt, he gives me a curt nod, "ok."

I walk past him and sit on my bed, looking at my arms, grimacing it looks gross and painful but doesn't hurt at all.

Distracting my self I whisper, "spark," summoning a tiny golden star, I roll it along my knuckles, moving it over my thumb to my index, then I send the little pulse to Eli zapping him.

I laugh when he jumps slightly, "ouch, Elle," he whines. Then the room fills with an awkward silence, which Eli breaks with the clearing of his throat then, "Elle, it's ok, you know."

My eyes meet his, I know what he's talking about but I don't say anything, I just look back down at my hands this time fiddling with my fingers.

Noticing my silence, he continues, "We lost James, us both and the rest of the Institute but he wouldn't want us to dwell on his passing, we should stay strong and continue our mission for peace. James put this life's work into us and Thistle so we need to honour him by keeping it alive, granted there are definitely a few changes we need to make,"  now sitting on the bed he nudges me, causing a smile on my face.

"Definitely," I agree, nudging him back, "we should start by not killing vampires, and adding a Starbucks or something."

"Perfect, just what I was thinking, so I promise not to die on you and you better not die on me either," he says with a sad smile, trying to laugh. Taking a breath, he holds my hands in his and continues, "we still have a species to unite and we are in this shit together," tears roll down his face, I give him a watery smile trying to reassure him that I won't leave him, not after death, not until we finish what we need to.

I grip his hands tight, so tight that my forearms burn in pain, "we are in this shit together," I repeat.

The door creeks and our heads turn to Ash, "I hope I'm not disturbing anything," he interrupts with a small smile playing on his lips.

I give him a wide grin in return and answer, "nope, we just finished speaking," I then open my arms and say, "I missed you."

He denies my hug, making me sad but then I remember my arms are wounded and put them down. Seeing my smile fade, Ash places a kiss on my lips and whispers, "I missed you too."

Eli had removed himself from the room saying something about going to see Clyde. After feathering a few more kisses to my lips Ash stepped back introducing Dr Rhodes, "This is Dr Rhodes."

"Please just call me Freya," she says, Freya looked quite young for a doctor, "is she a vampire?" I project to Ash. Hearing my thoughts, he looks at me and responds, "hmm no, she's a healer, her family has worked with the Nightshade's for centuries, Freya is like an on-site doctor for everyone in the castle," he explains.

"It's nice to meet you Freya," I greet as Ash sits on the bed and pulls me into his lap, his arms wrapped around my waist, keeping me warm.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too Princess, now let's get started," Freya announced with a smile, she tied her sandy blonde hair into a neat bun at the bottom of her head and pushed up her thick glasses; taking a closer look at my arms.