“I got it trying to protect you,” she grumbled, averting her gaze, most likely from his obvious seething as it shook him.
Everything flopped suddenly.
“Protect me?” His sight moved to the sword behind her, seeing the blade had the remnants of dried Demon blood on it.
“I broke the salt circle when I dragged you inside it and two of them followed.”
“I told you to get inside!”
“I-I couldn’t just leave you out there,” she stuttered, her face contorting into a deep frown. “They were going to eat you! I couldn’t just let you to die.”
He was about to push more thoughts from his mind to berate her, to tell her of the dangers she’d brought to herself, but they never finished forming into a projected voice. Realisation dawned.
She didn’t want me to die. She risked her life to save me. Him! A Duskwalker. Other offerings had tried to kill him, and yet Reia had gone out of her way, allowed herself to be hurt, to save him.
He huffed, unable to quell the tenderness that radiated in his chest and around his heart. Does she care for me?
Could it be possible?
He ripped back the fur lying over her and sniffed her shoulder to find the light metallic scent of her wound. Then he sniffed around her body, forcing her to let him as he tried to search for anymore. He growled when he reached her ankle, finding the smell there as well as a bandage.
“Never again,” he growled at her. “Your life is precious. It is dangerous out there.”
“I know,” she said softly, turning her gaze once more as he crawled to be above her. “And I’m sorry. I-I won’t leave again, I promise.” All her fight disappeared at her words, all her strength as she fell limply onto the bed. “I’m really tired. I was worried they’d come inside and attack us.”
The darkness under her eyes seemed to deepen.
“You haven’t slept.”
She shook her head.
She said I’d been asleep for two days.
He knew he’d been filled with sleeping venom until his body healed, and then he’d probably been stuck in a sleeping state past that in a haze. He’d only been stung by the arachnid once before, and he hadn’t woken instantaneously then either, like his mind had wanted to stay asleep even though the venom had vanished.
“Can I stay here? I’m too tired to move.”
Deep blue filled his vision as he backed up so that he could draw the furs over her to keep her warm, and her eyes drifted shut before he even finished. He hesitated before he leaned down and nuzzled the end of his snout against her temple.
“Sleep well.”
She was gone, his words unheard as her breathing deepened.
The sounds of Demons scuttling around his home drew his attention away from her, and he left his room to go fix everything to make sure she was safe. However, he looked over his shoulder at the doorway and felt a sense of satisfaction to have Reia asleep in his bed.
She looked so small and helpless in the sheer size of it as it dwarfed her. She barely even took up a quarter of it. Warmth spread at the sight, wishing he could stay there and take in the image for eternity.
Reluctantly pulling away, he went to the cooking area and reached into one of the cabinets to grab his ceramic jar of salt and the digging spike next to it.
The moment he stepped outside, most of the Demons scattered.
“It’s the Mavka, run!”
It always brought him joy to know how terrified they were of him. He’d killed many of them in his eons, and they knew he was one of their biggest predators.
One caught his attention as it ran past the porch.
He could smell the tiniest hint of Reia’s scent coming from its dog-shaped body. He placed the items he’d brought outside on the railing of the porch and immediately sprinted after it with a growl.
Even though it ran on four limbs, Orpheus swiftly caught up to it. Diving, he grabbed it by its leg and yanked it beneath him before it could leave his salt circle, trying to follow the others that went through the gap.
The stupid Demons headbutted the invisible wall over and over, not understanding how to leave even though there was a small stampede of about four who showed the way.
He paid little mind to them since he would eventually usher them out so he could seal them away. He turned his gaze down to the one writhing beneath him, yelping and barking. It had eaten many humans, but it couldn’t speak.
Orpheus grabbed one of its wrists and brought its claws to his snout. A snarl tore through his throat as he opened his mouth to bare his fangs. The dried scent of Reia’s blood stained it.