The Sun's Shadow

Chapter Six

It was her ultimate appraisal of him as 'safe', all because he could speak coherently and wasn't drooling for her blood, that would make him note how innocent she truly was. Not eager to give her any reason to be frightened, he relaxed in the uncomfortable chair beside her bed and did most of the talking.

She'd chime in with weak attempts at the hand gestures he had once studied, but ultimately she grew tired of having to raise her arms.

So he shifted to reading her eyes and the expressive looks they showed. Now that he could never rid her from his thoughts, he had to know one important thing about her.

"What's your name?"

She hesitated and provided only her first name, something he noticed but didn't question.

"Eledorah? Mm, it's beautiful but long. May I call you Ele for short?"

A nickname was something she was never afforded, only ever having her family refer to her and usually using her name to scold her. Never had friends bestow a far simpler name so that they may chat in leisure, loosening the chains of their full names that tied them to family bonds.

Once more, she nodded, and he speculated this girl had never said no to a damned thing in her life.

"You can always say no to me, do you understand? If there's ever a thing you don't like," He rolled his eyes at his own dark thoughts. "You know, from this point forward... Then you better tell me and I won't push you on it. Deal?"

Now he really sounded like a friend- Forming deals so that he may later break them down the line. Secretly, she knew there would never be a day that she could befriend a pureblood vampire unless her gut instincts went against it to help another. Always the savior, never the saved.

Instead of nodding her reply, she signed 'Yes, your highness' and he responded poorly to that. Except he kept his displease hidden.

In an effort to distract himself from troubled notions that made his skull dizzy, he motioned to her body and asked something he was sure she'd reject. "May I see where your wings used to be? I've only ever seen pictures... I'd like to imagine them on you."

She blushed at the intimate challenge that she knew was only a part of his games to see how far she'd fall to please him. Failing in the face of a complicated proposal, she made the first move by shrugging her shoulders so that the cloak covering her bare back may settle just below her ribcage. Now on display, twitching from the cold air that crept up her spine, were the nubs atop her shoulder blades once proudly supporting her pure-red wings.

He circled her, holding back his surprise only until she could no longer she his face. But she could still hear the intake of breath and the way his belly rumbled with unsuppressed anger.

"It was the same bastards who attempted to kill my siblings?" This time, the subtle tilt of her head up and down evoked the monster she first encountered. He calmed it swiftly so that she wouldn't get the wrong impression. The curse inside him was vanquished, but the strength and raw tenacity remained.

Cutting through the silence, he vowed, "I'll kill them. Any last one that dares look upon your severed wings and gloat in their arrogance."

He brushed the back of his hand against the place where her wings should be and sighed. Damage had been done externally and now internally to the poor girl.

"Please know that wasn't directed at you. I asked my mom what I was like because I don't remember a second of it. Nearly an entire year of my life, wasted in darkness. I think she sugar coated it. Your response paints a different story than the one she told me. So now tell me, and be honest, what was I like?"