On the first day, she’d seen that Orpheus had carved a second salt circle just in case. He came inside after a little while, but he didn’t say anything, and she could see his chest was unmoving like he was holding his breath.
He’d grabbed everything he needed. The jar, the spike, the trinkets that they’d made, and then he’d immediately left.
She knew he was also doing the same thing each morning, when she woke to find a bucket of food at the door as if he’d just pushed it inside and left.
Today was the worst day. It was early morning as she sat by the window, wishing she could go sit in the sun.
She was using wads of cloth to stem the bleeding within her underwear, had been doing so from the beginning, but she had to change it regularly. She threw all the bloodied cloth into the blazing fireplace, burning it to destroy the evidence and scent.
She was bleeding heavily, and her cramps were utterly terrible. She’d even started crying over it. She was hormonal and in pain and just started weeping pathetically. She was tired and felt bloated.
Despite the few Demons outside, Orpheus wasn’t chasing them away. He was just sitting between the salt circles, doing nothing but shuddering. Today was the most intense. It was like he could smell her from a distance, and his endurance was waning.
Fuck. How have any of the other woman survived past this? And then it hit her; she doubted any had.
She laughed. That was a rather cruel joke. Be born a woman who had to deal with the annoyance of bleeding once a month, and then oops, a Duskwalker eats you.
He’d once told her that he was no longer looking for a bride, but merely a companion. Was that why he’d allowed men to be offered? They wouldn’t bleed. Perhaps he was hoping he could ease his loneliness with a friend he wouldn’t be tempted to eat once a month if he couldn’t have a bride.
Reia gasped and got to her feet when she saw him clawing at his back, shaking and shuddering wildly.
He’s hurting himself!
Even from a distance, she could see he’d cut open his back by the wide flare of the four long gashes he’d created.
She ran to the door and opened it, shouting, “Orpheus, stop!”
“Inside!” he roared, turning his deep red eyes to her.
She flinched, realising she’d done something extremely stupid. As she was backing away, his body began to morph into his more monstrous form. He leapt away.
Orpheus left. He left the safety of the salt circle, left his duty of protecting the house that had a handful of Demons surrounding it. He left all day and didn’t even return when night fell.
Feeling miserable, she circled up on her fur-covered armchair and brought her knees to her face. Okay, so maybe he was trying his hardest, but this situation was absolutely crummy.
It was even worse now that she couldn’t see him. Instead, all she saw were Demons, hearing them wail over the distance.
I don’t want to be awake anymore, she thought after she cooked and ate her dinner. Maybe I’ll feel better once I sleep.
Reia lay in her bed, staring up at the ceiling while cupping the lower part of her stomach to soothe it, and eventually drifted to sleep.
She expected to wake in the morning, but she knew it was still the dead of night when she felt something wafting over her face.
The deep smell of smoky mahogany wood and pine needles pierced the fog of her sleep, and she wondered if she was dreaming it and the heavy feeling of heat wrapping around her as she slowly came to.
When her eyes finally fluttered open, her room was dark besides the slight glare of red.
Reia hadn’t mistaken that heat, or scent, or the sensation of breaths flittering across her face. Orpheus was above her on his hands and knees, the red glow telling her he wasn’t here to be sweet.
“You can’t help yourself, can you?” She almost laughed.
She knew the reality of the situation, that she was in danger, but the ache in her chest told her the truth of how she felt. I missed him. And even though he was bearing down around her with his jaw slightly parted and his fangs moving closer, she couldn’t help being relieved to have him close.
“No,” he answered, his voice distorted, strained, and growly.
“Are you going to eat me, Orpheus?”
She was staring up at him and didn’t look away or cower when his jaw slowly spread over her neck.
“Yes.”
He came closer, pressing his mouth down until she could feel the four long front fangs slipping around the back of her neck.
“Okay, then.”
There was nothing she could do to stop him either way. But strangely, she also felt like he wouldn’t. Her faith in him was probably misplaced, foolish even, but right then she was just too relieved to care.