18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Kimble

Waking with a roar, Kimble shoved the vampire leaning over him and his flock with enough force to send the male sailing across the room. Scrambling to his feet, he found his flock unconscious on the floor. A quick assessment told him they were alive and asleep. He couldn’t discern any wounds or damage to either of them, but he could smell and see his own blood on the floor where he’d been lying.

Turning to face the other vampire, he prepared to kill the intruder who attacked him and his flock.

In the short time he’d been assessing his flock, the intruder had gotten to his feet and closed the distance between them. When Kimble turned to face him, the male was already in his face. Their eyes met, and Kimble found himself unable to move.

Normally thrall didn’t work on other vampires, but Kimble didn’t have his full magic behind him yet.

“I’m not here to hurt you or your flock,” a familiar voice said. Kimble was sure he’d known this vampire before he went feral. He got the impression of a cordial relationship. They hadn’t been close, but they weren’t enemies either.

“I don’t know how it happened, but I’ve somehow found myself the caretaker of vampires in distress,” Tobias said, sounding both amused and annoyed. “I’m unsure how I feel about all of it, but my helping others makes both my flock happy, so I’ll continue until it proves too troublesome.”

Tobias looked down at Kimble's unconscious flock, making Kimble want to growl and attack. He tried to fight the thrall and managed to move one arm, but that was it. Tobias looked back, easily subduing Kimble.

“The name you currently know me by is Tobias Becker, and you’ve been Maksim Laske for about sixty years now. Don’t attack me, Maksim. It’s my hope you'll come back to yourself before I’m forced to put you down.”

The threat didn’t surprise or shock Kimble. He’d thought the same thing, and Pike had lived in terror of Kimble being hunted. Kimble’s only concern was keeping his flock safe and as long as Tobias was speaking to him, he wasn’t doing anything to Cora or Pike.

He forced himself to calm down and wait for Tobias to release him.

Tobias gave him an approving nod. “That’s better. I’m going to leave now. After I’m gone, put your flock to bed and care for them. Pike will be better quickly, but Cora will need a lot of attention. I’ll have supplies delivered for all three of you. Even with more supply of human blood, you should drink from your bear after he’s recovered. I know you think it will hurt him, but it won’t. His blood will be powerful and help you come back to yourself faster.”

He paused for a moment, as if debating his next words. “Your human needs you to understand her fears, or she won’t agree to bind her soul with you.”

Where was this statement coming from? What had happened to his flock while he’d been unconscious?!

As if he could read Kimble’s mind, Tobias answered his question. “You traded some of your aura for a necklace and that weakened you. I was forced to pull aura from both of your flock to fix you. Even if the necklace granted Cora special powers, it wasn’t worth it. Your actions put your flock in danger. Don’t be that stupid again.”

Shame washed over Kimble. When he’d traded with the bruja, he didn’t think it would cause this much of an issue. Tobias’s presence near his flock while holding Kimble helpless was the reward for his idiocy .

He needed to do better.

He would do better!

“I see you’re starting to understand the severity of the situation,” Tobias said as he stepped back. “I’ll leave now. Don’t forget to pull the glass out of your chest, and don’t attack the people delivering supplies, or I’ll come back and put you down, even if it would make my Briar angry with me.”

With those words, the vampire turned. The moment Tobias’s back was to Kimble, the thrall broke, but Kimble didn’t attack. He followed at a distance as Tobias casually strolled out of the kitchen, then flung open the front door. Taking several running steps, he leapt into the sky and shifted into his bird form, flying out of sight.

Once Tobias was gone, Kimble rushed up and slammed the door shut. Not that it would do any good if the vampire wanted back in, but it made him feel better. He imagined he could hear Tobias’s mocking laughter as he rushed back to his flock in the kitchen.

He’d failed them in so many ways, but that ended now.

***

Pike

Pike woke up with a new appreciation for anyone who’d ever had to deal with a hangover. As a bear shifter, it took a lot to get him drunk, and he’d never bothered drinking enough hard alcohol to get the job done. He’d heard his coworkers complain enough to know that his aching head, dry mouth, sore throat, and roiling stomach were all common symptoms.

Except he wasn’t suffering from a hangover—it was part of his aura being stripped off! Hopefully, he’d never have to experience anything so painful again.

Sitting up with a moan he looked around, surprised to find that he was in Cora’s bed and not the kitchen floor. How long had he been out? He only had long enough to notice Cora sound asleep next to him before a figure sat on the bed on his other side.

“Drink!” The demand was followed by a glass being pressed to his lips. Water splashed on his face before he could take the glass from Kimble’s insistent hand. He downed all of it in a few swallows. The water made his mouth and throat feel better but didn’t do any favors for his stomach .

The moment the glass was empty, Kimble snatched it back and got up, probably to refill it.

“Crackers,” Pike croaked, closing his eyes and rubbing his face with both hands.

“Crack—” Kimble said, then grumbled and tried again. “Crack-crack… cracker. Crackers. Drink and eat. Yes.”

He mumbled those words as he left, and Pike could hear him in the kitchen. Pike blamed how bad he felt as the reason he didn’t realize that Kimble was talking until the vampire was back and holding a large plate piled high with crackers in one hand and the refilled glass of water in the other.

“Eat, eat, eat, and drink. More food, food.”

Pike ignored the plate and glass as he dropped his hands to his lap and stared into Kimble's eyes. “You can talk now?”

“Talk,” Kimble said with a frown. “Try. Try-try-trying.”

Kimble’s new speech pattern wasn’t a stutter, it was more like a skipping sound bite. Pike didn’t mind, Kimble had said more new words in the last few minutes than he had in months!

Discomfort forgotten, Pike beamed at Kimble. “You’re doing great!”

To his surprise, Kimble didn’t return the smile. If anything, his frown grew more severe.

“No good,” he declared. “Very no-no-no good.”

Pike didn’t understand. “You’re wrong. This is very good.” Pike took the plate and glass from him. After setting them on the nightstand, he drew Kimble into his arms. The vampire collapsed against him with a sigh. Pike held him close and put his mouth near his ear.

“I’m so proud of you!” he whispered. “These new words make me very happy.”

Kimble made an unhappy sound but didn’t try to pull away. He might be frustrated with the slow progress, but Pike was overjoyed. Earlier that night, Pike thought he was going to lose Kimble and now he looked healed, healthy, and was even showing signs of coming back to himself.

“Best. Day. Ever,” Pike said, with a happy sigh.

A moan from Cora broke the happy mood. Both men pulled away from the hug to look over at her. She was propped up on one elbow, her pale face scrunched up in pain, and looking up at them through squinted eyes .

“Fuck,” she mumbled in a hoarse voice. “Did I drink or am I sick?”

“There wasn’t any alcohol involved, but you are sick in a way,” Pike said and grabbed the glass of water as Kimble rushed over to help sit her up. He took great pains to fluff several pillows before easing her back against the bed’s headboard.

Pike waited until the vampire was done before offering the glass of water to Cora. She accepted it with a grateful expression and drank half of it before handing it back.

“I think my head’s going to explode,” she moaned, letting her head fall back against a pillow. “I need some Tylenol. What time is it anyway?”

“I think it’s about three in the morning,” Pike said. “Do you keep your medications in the bathroom?”

Cora didn’t open her eyes when she answered. “Yeah, left-hand drawer.”

Kimble had taken up a similar position with Cora as he’d had with Pike earlier, sitting on the edge of the bed with the plate of crackers. As Pike watched, he pressed one to Cora’s mouth.

She tried to bat his hand away. “Stop it. I’m not hungry.”

“Eat,” Kimble insisted and tried again. “Please. Cora needs food.”

Cora had a similar reaction as Pike to Kimble’s expanded vocabulary. She didn’t sit up, but her eyes opened wide, and she grabbed Kimble’s hand to move it away from her mouth.

“You’re talking,” she said in a loud whisper. “You used my name. You’ve never said my name before!”

Kimble’s pleading expression turned ashamed, and he looked down at his lap, his shoulders hunching. “Bad-bad-bad me. Sorry.”

Cora looked at Pike, her expression confused and bordering on angry. “Has he been able to do this the whole time? Has he been faking being worse than he is?”

Pike shook his head. “No, he really was that bad. But whatever happened with sharing our auras must’ve not only healed him but gone a long way to helping him get better.”

“Auras,” Cora said with a grimace. “That’s why I feel like shit. I remember some of it now, but it’s all fuzzy. I haven’t felt this bad since the last time I got sick and that was years ago. ”

“Cora eat, please?” Kimble begged, still looking down. He pulled her hand off his and turned it over to place the single cracker on her palm. “Please, please?”

Cora accepted the cracker and cupped Kimble’s cheek with her free hand. “I’ll eat, but you have to promise no more trading your aura for a necklace, no matter how pretty it is, okay?”

“Idiot,” Kimble mumbled, looking close to tears. “Idiot and bad. Dumb-dumb-dumb. Will be better.”

“Hey, easy there,” Cora murmured. “No more guilt. Shit’s hard enough. We’re all just trying to do our best, and we’re going to make mistakes. You wanted to give me a gift. I get that. It was sweet, and I love it, but what I want more is for you to be healthy. Yeah?”

It was obvious she was doing her best to keep the pain off her face as she spoke. That reminded Pike he was supposed to be getting her medicine. He heard Kimble say something and Cora responded as he searched the bathroom drawer. Once he found the bottle, he returned and shook out two tablets for Cora.

She managed to eat the cracker Kimble had given her and was now fending off a second one with a genuine smile.

“Let these take effect then I’ll eat more,” she promised, popping the pills in her mouth and swallowing them dry.

“Ewww,” Pike said, his face contorted in disgust, making Cora chuckle.

“Whatever,” she mumbled, letting her head rest back on the pillows. “I want matzo ball soup. I always have matzo ball soup when I’m sick.”

“No problem,” Pike answered without hesitation. He had no idea what “matzo” was, but he’d find out and make it into balls for her.

“Thanks,” she whispered, then patted the bed next to her. “Kimble can cuddle me while you cook.”

“Aren’t we demanding,” Pike teased as Kimble moved to snuggle next to her.

“I’m sick,” she answered with a smirk. “That means that I’m a princess and get whatever I want. When you’re sick, I’ll do the same for you.”

He didn’t point out that shifters almost never get sick, and he was already feeling almost fully recovered from their earlier ordeal. Instead he bowed .

“Anything my queen wishes,” he said, then swept out of the room with his nose in the air like a stiff-backed butler from an old movie. He was rewarded with a soft chuckle from Cora.

To his relief, it turned out matzo ball soup was easy to make because Cora had a jar of it in her pantry. According to the label it was even kosher, whatever that meant.

He didn’t like that his mate felt ill, but he couldn’t help but hum and dance a little as he heated up the soup on the stove. Kimble was getting better, Cora had already forgiven him, and everyone was alive.

Considering the year he’d had; this was as good as he could ever hope for!