Flame of Frost (The Caelestian Chronicles: Book #1)

Chapter 16 - Flashback

I jolt awake, my heart thundering against my rib cage, my throat burns as if I had been screaming for a long time. Frantically, I check my arms and legs for bleeding gashes, that's when I notice his mess of dark hair reflecting the moonlight coming from the window in the dark room.

Sitting on the floor with his head resting on his arm against the bed, his skin seems to shine silver under the pale moonlight.
My gaze slides down to his thick, dark lashes, his soft pink lips, to his sturdy jawline and pointed chin.

Looking at him makes me feel calmer for the moment, his beautiful face distracts me blissfully from the terrifying dream. I have to coax myself to look away, for it's a bit rude to stare.

My eyes catch another oddity in my room. A glass bowl filled to the brim with water and a piece of cloth soaking in it rests atop the bedside table. A half filled water bottle is kept beside it. Suddenly aware of my scraped throat, I reach past the bowl and grab the bottle. The glass bowl wobbles threateningly near the table's edge and I put a hand beneath it, huffing a sigh as it stables itself.

"You're awake," Austin mutters sluggishly in his deep voice, raising his head.

"I'm clearly not." I roll my eyes.

He smirks, staring at me with his glittering sea blue eyes. "You were running a fever."

"Is that why you are here?" I ask.

Getting up from the floor, he stretches, letting out a long yawn and nods. He then plonks down on the bed. "Do you want to eat something?"

"I don't feel like eating right now," I answer truthfully.

He reaches in and touches my forehead with his icy hands, which warms me from my head to tips of my toes. "Your temperature is lower now, I'll bring you something to eat."

He draws back, one of his silky locks falls into his eyes. I have the sudden urge to reach in and brush it back. To refrain from doing it, I clutch the blanket tightly.

"Why are you shivering so much?" Austin asks incredulously, running his hand through his dishevelled hair and brushing them back from his eyes. "Are you cold?"

"I... uh..." I attempt to form a sentence that justifies my shivering without the mention of the nightmare, though I try to stabilise myself.

"You can't be cold... then you're hungry for sure."

"No, I'm not." I frown. "What do you mean by I can't be cold?"

He shrugs. "You've got ice powers, you can't really be cold."

Flinching on the reminder, I check my clothes and find that I am back to normal. "Are my eyes still—?"

His lips perk up into a ghost of a smile and he nods. I drag my hand across my face irritably.

"They aren't as bad as you think," he adds. "In fact, they are pretty."

"I think liked my earlier eyes better," I murmur.

"They were prettier," he mutters absently.

I'm thankful for the darkness for he can't see me blush like a fool.
Eager to change the topic, I say, "I thought vampires don't sleep."

"They don't," says Austin.

"Then how did you?"

"We can sleep, we just don't need to. I like to sleep, it makes me feel human, even if it's only for a bit."

"Is it possible for you to sleep?"

"It's hard, yes, but not impossible. You see, the basic principle of sleeping is to revive your energy after you get tired of working, we never get tired."