Amber Silverblood: Silverpack

Chapter Seventeen

The next time I woke up, I felt better. I was warm, but not too warm, and it didn't feel like my bed was spinning. After taking a few seconds to gather my senses, I opened my eyes. The lights were turned off, to my relief, but there was still enough light coming in through the window for me to recognize my bedroom. There was something different about it, though...

It took my still-scrambled brain a minute to realize I wasn't alone. A second bed had been put on the other side of the room, and the small lump in the sheets told me Kimberly was curled up in it. I thought back to the first time I'd woken up, and the cryptic warning I'd gotten, and shivered. Did Stark know somebody had sneaked into his house? How had he even gotten in, with Stark's wards all over the place? I needed to tell him.

I raised my hand, which felt surprisingly heavy, and threw my covers off. My body was still pale from the fever I'd caught, but I felt better now than I had before. Swinging my feet over the edge of the bed, I braced myself with my hands on the mattress and stood up. My legs wobbled underneath me for a moment, but then I was able to stand steady. I paused on my way to the door to glance at Kimberly. She laid still, her chest rising and falling steadily, but the coating of sweat on her pale skin told me she wasn't resting peacefully. So I wasn't the only one to catch a fever after all that...

I made for the door again, feeling more confident with every step. There was light coming in from under the door, but I couldn't hear anybody outside it. With my keen hearing, that meant that there probably wasn't anyone within twenty feet of my room. When I opened the door, I caught the sound of voices from further down the hall, but they were hushed so I couldn't make out what they were saying. I stepped out of my room, and...

"Amber's awake," Stark's voice said, rising in volume so that I could hear him without trouble.

I heard something bang, and Mom came running out of her bedroom, buttoning her nightgown as she came.

"Amber!" she exclaimed when she saw me, and all but tackled me with her hug. "Oh my God, I thought I'd lost you!"

"I'm fine, Mom," I said, hugging her back. I didn't tell her, but the sudden motion of almost being bowled over made my head spin again. "I just—"

She pulled back and put her hand on my forehead. "You're still burning up!" she scolded me, as if I were still only Kimberly's age. "What are you doing out of bed?"

"Mom, I swear I'm fine. I..."

My voice trailed off when Stark stepped into the hallway with us, tugging his shirt over his head.

He had come out of my mother's room.

My eyes went wide and I took a step back. "Mom, what's going on?"

Mom looked back at Stark, and her cheeks turned pink. Before she could say anything, though, Stark spoke up.

"Your mom's right, Amber, you shouldn't be out of bed."

He took another step, and his leg gave out under his weight. With a gasp, my mom and I both rushed to help him. Each of us hooking an arm under both of his, together we were able to help him back to his feet. The whole time, he was cursing and cringing with pain.