Heirot

Laya leaned her head back. "We can stay here then, it will be easier if we stay here... We won't have to travel." Laya looked down at Adonis. Her mind flashed back to what had happened moments ago. She pressed her fingers to her lips, still unable to believe that Adonis, who loathed humans so much, would actually kiss one. Had he really wanted to protect her that much?

"I will thank him from the bottom of my heart," Laya told him.

"Okay," Telanis obliged gently. "Do you want to stay outside, or in your room? I can build a fire in the yard, but...it will take some time for the blood to weaken indoors." He hesitated before saying, "Also...I understand if you'd rather....be alone," he sought the words with difficulty, recalling that soaring heat that he'd felt from her, the vampire, and her brother just before he'd arrived home. The feeling hadn't been entirely good, but it hadn't been misery either. He specifically resisted the need to know what had happened before he arrived. Had she and Adonis...?"

Laya glanced up at him. "I can wait until the blood isn't so strong," she replied.

She watched his expression as he spoke to her. "No... its not that... I'm fine. I want you here," she told him softly. Laya looked down to the spot next to her. She scooted over a little and patted for him to sit down next to her. "Its just some things happened that I wish wouldn't have for the sake of staying alive. Adonis... He was very nice to me and I know he didn't mean to frighten me."

Telanis moved to sit next to her in the place she'd invited him to, grateful for her welcome. "I felt you, both, from the middle of the forest. I've never felt you that strongly, and I haven't felt Adonis in years," he tried to explain. "But you're safe now. Everything will be fine." He put his arm lightly around her shoulder to warm her. "You must be freezing," he noted as he felt the cold skin of her arm.

Laya nodded as she leaned into him, bringing her cold legs up to wrap her arms around them. "You're not mad at us?" Laya asked him softly. "The vampire wanted us to... do what you and I do." Laya blinked. "We didn't though," she added quickly. "We just had to make him think we would, else he would have hurt me and killed Adonis."

Telanis blinked and looked at her. "Why would I be angry?" he asked with honest confusion. "I mean...I don't like what the vampire tried to do, especially because those types of feelings have been used to hurt you in the past. And, I think, probably Adonis also. But it's not a bad thing, by itself. You've said so yourself," he pointed out.

Laya looked at him. She knew she shouldn't have been shocked, because Telanis was not like any other man... he wasn't actually a man. She was happy he wasn't angry. It made her feel better. She smiled and leaned up to kiss his cheek. "I love you. You are the kindest being I've ever met."

Laya shivered and snuggled closer to him, not as bothered by his nudity now that her nerves were calming. The mere fact that he was Telanis helped immensely.

Telanis held her a little tighter and rested his chin on top of her hair. "I love you, too." His silver voice was warm with compassion. He glanced to his brother and took a deep, tired breath. He glanced around the shed and spotted some gear lying in the back. He rose stiffly from Laya's side and explored the items available, locating a dusty old saddle blanket. He pulled it down off its peg and carried it over to his wounded human. "Would this help for now?" he asked her, kneeling to snuggle close to her and spread the musky pad over her shivering legs.

Laya smiled and smoothed her hands over the blanket. It was old and tattered and she remembered quickly that it was her fathers. The blanket was frayed in places where the buckles of the saddle had caught the strands and pulled them.

She looked down at Adonis and watched him. "I wish that he could have something like what we have. Someone someone kind," she told Telanis. "He tries to be mean, but deep down he's very soft and caring."

She blinked her eyes wearily and tilted her face into Telanis's warm skin.

"He has us," Telanis said, optimistic despite his exhaustion. "Try to rest, if you can. We'll go back in once the house...settles."

Laya nodded. "He does have us," she agreed.

Laya twisted so that her back rested comfortable against him, and she pulled his arm around her tightly, hugging it to her. It didn't take long at all before she was fast a sleep, breathing gently.

Telanis waited for her to sleep and then rested his head back against the wooden wall. Everyone else was out...he decided he'd do the same.

It was several hours later that he finally sparked awake. The light outside the shed had died with the setting sun, but the unicorn had no trouble seeing the quiet yard beyond the door. He glanced down at Laya resting against him, feeling relatively calm knowing he had her close and safe. His eyes drifted to Adonis next. His brother hadn't moved from the place he'd put him. The unicorn slipped quietly away from Laya and stood up. He surveyed his wounded family with a backward glance and made his way out across the yard to the house, knowing there was a lot to be done before he or Adonis could be comfortable in that place again. He reached the front door, braced himself, and went inside.

An hour or so later, Adonis groaned softly and opened his eyes to the dark shed. The room swam around and twisted itself as his warped senses struggled back into gear. He didn't know where he was or what had happened. The most vivid memory from their fight earlier hurled itself front and center, without the context to soften it. He'd tried to rape Laya. He'd been....of his own will...on top of...about to... He sucked in a frantic breath and every nerve in his body stiffened.

Laya shivered where she lay curled next to a wall and shelf of garden tools, the saddle blanket pulled over her bare legs. She swallowed as her eyes fluttered open slowly. She still felt so tired, and she knew that was from the fact her blood had gushed forth like a geyser when the vampire had sliced her chest open. She thought she heard Adonis move. Without shifting she glanced her eyes over at him, she couldn't see him in the darkness of the shed. Frankly, she couldn't see anything.

She hoped it was Adonis, and not something awful. Its then she realized that Telanis was gone.

Her heart skipped. "Telanis?" she asked faintly to the night, and waited impatiently for his reply.

Adonis hadn't realized that he wasn't alone. His racing mind recognized her voice and her words slowly, like his senses weren't quite giving him all the right information. She was here. Telanis wasn't. That much he realized without even scanning the room. He forced the terror out of his tone, not now, not until he'd figured this out. "No," he said, his throat rusty. "It's me."

Laya felt across the floor, searching for him. "Are you alright?" she asked him softly. "Are you feeling okay?" Her toes were numb. Her fingers and arms were freezing. The temperature had dropped dramatically now that night had come. "I don't know where Telanis went."

Her numb fingers bumped up against a can, and she patted the floor in the opposite direction.