Beyond The Walls (NOW ON AMAZON!!!)

A Confession

Jamila had said goodnight a while ago and retired to their shared tent, but Hadley couldn't sleep. The talk with Tristan the night before had not only cleared up a lot of her questions about Ruq's absence when she'd needed her the most; it had also made Hadley appreciate the vampire a lot more. Made these last few days with her even more achingly painful.

Ruq couldn't follow Hadley to the ship that would be her and her daughter's safe haven. Not just because it was a human haven, but also because she couldn't leave her Enclave unprotected from Sleritu. And Hadley couldn't go back to Lujeo's Enclave with her. Like Kade said, the Wildlings would relentlessly hunt her down in a bid to reach the one they called Barret Fisher, turning the Enclave into just another prison for Hadley, Jamila and her daughter.

Kade had estimated this journey would take much less than two weeks if the weather held up and no obstacles presented themselves, and Hadley had found herself cursing the perfect weather that was suddenly their constant companion and the quiet woods allowing for rapid travel. She wasn't ready to say goodbye to the vampire. Didn't think she ever would be.

"Hi." Hadley said, walking up to Ruq.

The vampire was part of the vampire circle surrounding the camp, quietly and carefully watching the trees, guarding the sleeping humans. Ruq turned to face Hadley, a little surprised to see her. Hadley hadn't yet re-opened her mind to Ruq. She was a mess of emotions, and she wasn't exactly ready to share them yet. Ruqwik hadn't pushed her to open up either, something Hadley was deeply grateful for.

Ruq called to the two vampires flanking her, informing them that she would be gone for a while and instructing them to shift positions to cover her watch, and let the others know to do the same.

She then turned her focus back to Hadley. "You should be asleep. You and your friends have another long day ahead tomorrow."

Hadley looked around at the camp. At the tents arranged in a circle and then at Ruq's vampires, who were all shifting to equal distances around the circle.

"Not just us," Hadley said, looking back at Ruqwik. None of the vampires had taken a break. Not once since they'd started this journey. It had made it difficult to get a chance to talk with Ruq. "You and your people too. You need to rest."

"We're fine." Ruq replied. That wasn't completely true. Hadley had noticed – and was more than a little concerned with – the green and blue rings forming at the edge of her red irises and the green rings in the other vampires' eyes.

"I talked to Kade and Brielle. We agreed to put together transfusion kits for you and the others," Hadley said. She stepped out of the camp circle and walked into the trees. She wouldn't go far enough that she couldn't see the glow of the campfire, but she wanted a little privacy. Ruq followed her. "We'll start using them tomorrow. To make sure you're all fed."

"You didn't have to do that, Hadley. But thank you."

They walked to a small clearing between the trees. The sky was clear and the moon bright enough for its light to reach past the canopy. Hadley shrugged.

"Just a little payback for saving us," she said. She turned away from the canopy to face the vampire. "For saving me."

"It's not a big deal," Ruqwik replied. "I would have done the same for anyone else."

"Really?" Hadley asked with a coy smile. "So, it has nothing to do with how you feel about me?"

Hadley brought down her mental walls, opening herself up to the vampire, messy emotions in full display. But she wasn't afraid to share anymore and even wondered why she ever was. She reached for Ruqwik's mind. Went deeper than she'd ever dared.