American Monster

4 - Justus

I waited for her to disappear inside the frat house, forcing myself not to go after her. I would need patience for this Addy. She was jumpy, flinching at any contact. But I did manage to extrapolate one key detail from her current life. Bryce, once a suitor who'd been promised her hand a millennia ago, was dead, giving me hope that this would be our time to break the curse we'd set into motion that fateful night I'd lost my life.

***

I smelled her scent, a woman, permeating every pore of my skin.

My eyes fluttered open, and I looked above me to the candles that hung from iron holders. It swayed slightly, drops of wax clinging to its edges before hardening. Groaning, I struggled to sit up, immediately feeling pain slice through my side.

"Shh... Don't move. You've been wounded." A soft hand ran gently over my arm causing my hair to stand on end as the angelic voice continued. "I was hoping to do this while you were still asleep. I was able to stave off infection, but you've lost a lot of blood."

"Who are you?" I asked, unable to place her accent that caused her tongue to roll like the purr of a feline as she spoke.

"Bite down on this." A leather strap slid between my teeth, preventing me from speaking further.

I moaned in pain as a hot rod of iron was pressed against my wound, the smell of my burning flesh now masking that of the food. I wrapped my fingers around the edges of the wooden table, and it creaked under my grip as I threatened to rip it apart.

"You're lucky he did not hit your heart," she said, her voice fading as she walked away before joining me at my side again.

I spit out the scrap as I struggled to steady my breathing. "He'd have trouble finding one in my chest. ," I replied as sweat ran from my brow back into my hair. A damp cloth soon followed before she let it rest on my forehead. I blinked back the pain as I struggled to focus on her face that I'd watched from the tree line for nights upon end. "I've seen you before."

"I think I would remember a man of your... stature." Her lips curled up into a smile. "Hard to miss someone that would need to duck under the doorway, had you been able to walk on your own volition. Besides, I don't consort with strange men who fight in the shadows."

"It was not much of a fight," I groaned as she poured a ladle full of stew into a bowl and brought it to my side. "It wasn't fair."

"Fair?" Her eyebrow rose as she lifted my head from the wooden table and placed a rolled cloth underneath. "Is there not honor among thieves or is that just something you tell yourselves to feel less guilty?"

"I assure you I am no thief. I do what I have to do to survive." I reached to my side to find my sword missing.

"Are you looking for something?" she asked, holding out a spoonful of meat and carrots.

"Vimy ordswom. My sword," I replied before taking the bite, savoring the taste before swallowing it down. It was the first home-cooked meal I'd had in months, and it was even better than I'd remembered, spiced with exotic flavors.

"It's never polite to pull out your sword in mixed company." She fought against a smirk. "It's there," she said as she nodded across the room to the counter. "You'll get it back when you leave." She held out the spoon again, and her eyebrow rose as she attempted to show her authority.

"What is your name?" I asked as I pushed myself up onto an elbow, groaning as my burnt skin stretched.

"Vimy menaom iunes Adelaide."