Where Dark Things Wait: Night Creatures Book One

Chapter Thirty-Three - Friends

They walked to the cafeteria side by side, close enough that their fingers brushed. Their proximity continued to draw curiosity, but as they weren't yet in uniform, Kalyna chose to ignore it. They made it all the way to the line before anyone yelled her name, and Alad waved for her to join him, Zhak, and Isemay further up the queue.

"Get your behind over here, Kallie!" he yelled, while Zhak pinched the bridge of his nose as though embarrassed to be seen with his boyfriend. "We'll even let you bring Eorl."

"That's Staff Sergeant Eorl to you, Sulgansis," Eorl boomed, his expression stern, and several people flinched and ducked their heads.

Alad considered him, then agreed, "Of course, Staff Sergeant. We remember. Now can we see our friend?"

"This is your fault, O'Cuinn-Lyall," Dunstan sighed, then ushered her up the line, past people who seemed happy enough to let them cut in. "I'm going to have to spend the next month as a heartless disciplinarian just so that this bunch of miscreants remember that I own their sorry arses."

He spoke a little louder than strictly necessary, and she had no doubt that most of those around him believed his threat. Although Alad wasn't necessarily one of them.

"Yes, yes. You're the terrifying big bad," the incubus said, then tugged Kallie into a hug that had her stiffening immediately. Whatever the incubus saw in her expression or smelled in her scent made him jump back immediately, stuttering, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to overstep."

Zhak blinked, then his fiery eyes widened in surprise at Alad's uncharacteristic apology.

"It's not you," Kalyna said, just as apologetic. "I just need... a bubble of personal space for a while."

Three sets of eyes swung to where Dunstan still stood close enough to touch her, but none of them pointed out the obvious. Anyway, Alad's brows tugged low over his black eyes and his nose flared as he sorted through their scents; scents that said they hadn't picked up their intimacy, and which probably gave away just how deeply she couldn't bear to be touched by anyone but Eorl.

"I'm so sorry," Alad announced, his overly familiar and puppy-like demeanour failing him. "For whatever happened to you, I'm so sorry."

"That wasn't you either," she noted, but she couldn't stand the solemnity as her friends imagined what might have happened, so she joked, "I'm only sorry I missed your Dungeons & Dragons night... You know, while I was in a dungeon."

It wasn't a well thought out attempt at levity, but Alad took the hint and moved on.

"We're doing either Unstable Unicorns or Exploding Kittens next week. We need a break from our campaign," he explained.

Dunstan looked at her in confusion, asking, "Do you understand that? He's exploding kittens? Is he the unstable unicorn?"

Zhak snorted, then looked beyond shocked as he slammed his hand over his mouth.

"I have no idea. As they have games nights, I'm assuming they're games, but not ones I've heard of," she admitted.

"Card games. Silly card games that don't require biblical rule books and hours of game play. Sometimes we break up the more intense games with silliness instead," Isemay said with a grin as she grabbed a box of cornflakes from counter, a carton of milk from one fridge, along with a bottle of blood from another.

Dunstan took a bottle of blood too, then both he and Isemay grabbed second bottles and deposited them on Kalyna's tray before arching brows at each other. Kalyna stared uncertainly at the blood, then at Dunstan, then at Isemay.

"Am I twice the vampire of either of you?" she asked.

Isemay rolled her green and fuchsia eyes, admitting, "No, but as I can't hear a heart beat, I'd say you're vampire enough. It might help those bruises. It might... supplement other sources."