Uprooted by Gillian St. Kevern

Author:Gillian St. Kevern
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance, vampires, gay, lgbt, paranormal, bisexual, demons
Publisher: NineStar Press

Chapter Twelve

Light fell on him, a stabbing sword across his arm. Ben rolled, dodging his assailant―and found himself inches away from falling off the edge of his bed. “Not again.”

The location changed, but the nightmare never ended. Ben shut his eyes. His fists were buried in the black silk sheets of his New Camden apartment’s master bed. His elbows, supporting his body, trembled, and his chest heaved. His skin was clammy as if he was still dead.

What is wrong with me? Ben’s breathing was harsh. He sounded like he was choking, gasping for air. What good is being alive if I die every time I wake up?

The cold went deep. The single ray of light escaping through drawn curtains to fall across the bed couldn’t touch it. Ben slumped onto his back, placing his hand on his chest. Cold. He hadn’t felt this cold since he’d left Saltaire’s house. More like Saltaire’s crypt. For a moment, Ben felt again the approach of dawn settling over his body with an inexorable chill, the life fading from his body as the vampire faded. Cold fingers dragging him underground to a cold, damp grave―

I’m alive. Ben took a deep breath. He swung his feet over the end of the bed and before he could think twice, strode to the window. He threw back the curtains, standing barefoot in the light.

Before him, New Camden went about its morning routine with the prosaicness of a weekday morning. A steady passage of cars and pedestrians streamed past each other below. The humming of motors and occasional horn or screeching tires had a subdued quality about them the night lacked. Ben leaned in to the window, looking down at the city.

“I’m alive.” He wrapped his arms around himself, unable to shake off the chill surrounding him. “I am. Alive.”

No matter how many times he said it, the only time he believed it―really felt alive―was with Nate.

And Nate was sixteen hours away in Little River.

Ben drew a shaky breath, feeling fear catch in his throat. He breathed out and in again, using the steady rhythm of his breathing to push back his panic. Alive. A vampire breathed shallowly, purely on reflex. These breaths went in. Ben wrapped the fingers of one hand against his wrist, squeezing it tightly until his trapped pulse beat against his skin. Alive. I’m alive.

Even if I don’t feel it.

I might as well be dead. Ben released his wrist. What use was a heart that beat mechanically? His chest felt hollow and cold as the crypt he’d escaped. Not even Ethan had managed to get a rise out of him―

Ethan. Ben rubbed his forehead. That had been an odd encounter. He was still unsure what to make of it.

Ethan took Ben’s request to drive him to catch the bus with the stoic indifference that was his trademark. Nate hadn’t liked it, but Ben knew better than to give Nate another chance to talk him out of going. He was already regretting his decision, mourning the lost closeness between them.

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