She sat up and rearranged the pillows and flopped back down to stare at the ceiling. The house was quiet, creaking just slightly once in a while as it settled. The breeze outside her window rustled the leaves and somewhere out there an owl called out. She snorted a soft laugh. At least now she understood why they heard wolf howls once in a while when they were up here.
A quiet tapping at her door startled her out of her spinning thoughts.
"Hello? Come in." She sat up and made sure that she was decent now that the door was already opening. Baggy t shirt, check. Yoga pants on? Check. Blankets that were pulled up to her waist? Check. Okay, nothing embarrassing was showing, unless she counted the Wonder Woman logo emblazoned across the front of her shirt.
She didn't.
"I saw the light on under your door and thought I would make certain that you are well," Aldric stepped into the room and stopped just past the threshold. He was holding some books under one arm. Paperbacks that Crissy would no doubt have picked up for herself.
"I'm having a little trouble sleeping, and honestly I don't think I can turn out the lights tonight," Faith said. Aldric nodded sympathetically.
"I, um. I brought you a few books. In case," he said. "I thought, maybe... perhaps you were uncomfortable. Or troubled after today. Perhaps a book would help."
Faith blinked at him. Was he... was he nervous? It was adorable.
"You can come in," she said. She pulled her feet up to sit cross legged under the blanket and patted the side of the bed. "Honestly, I could use the company. I don't bite."
She grinned as the words tumbled out of her mouth and Aldric's eyes widened.
"Well, I suppose I could, but I'm not as well equipped as you are."
His eyes actually grew bigger. "Are you... teasing?"
"Maybe a little. You look so uncomfortable," she said. She shrugged and patted the bed again.
"I am not accustomed to people who know what I am being comfortable with me in their space. Or with them coming into mine. Marc does, occasionally, as does Tamika, but they are my closest friends," Aldric stepped closer. He moved so fluidly that Faith could understand where the myth of vampires gliding along came from. “Otherwise the clan mostly sees me in communal spaces, or in one of the offices.”
"Well, I guess I figure that you wouldn't have gone to such lengths to help us out if you were going to attack me later," Faith shrugged again, then slumped. "I hope Kaylee is having a better time sleeping."
"I looked in on my way past Jake's room. Kaylee is in the trundle bed curled around one of his teddy bears, and Jake is curled around her, and they are both sleeping peacefully. It looks like he saw her having trouble and climbed from his bed to comfort her. Werewolves are very tactile with people they see as family. Packmates."
Faith smiled slightly at the thought of the kids puppy-piled to stave off nightmares. "I'm a little jealous. Think they'd mind if I joined them?"
Aldric sat carefully on the edge of the bed. "Jake may not be comfortable. He does not know you as well. Children bond easily with other children, no matter what species they are. New adults are always more difficult for them, I have found. Miss Kaylee is quite unusual in that, but perhaps the circumstances of our meeting helped her trust us.”
"True enough. And for the best, probably," she sighed.
"Here." Aldric held out the books. They were, as it turned out, vampire adventure and romance novels, and she couldn't stop the laugh that burst from her if she had tried. When she looked up at Aldric, his face was bright red and he was staring at the wall over her head.
"Is this a hint or something? Are you flirting with me, Aldric?" she giggled. God, it felt good to relax and laugh. She owed him thanks for that as much as for saving her life.
"I like them," he muttered, turning to look at the door now. "They're enjoyable and ridiculous and require little thought."
"Hey," she said, her amusement dying down a bit to a simmer. She reached out and laid a hand on his arm and felt the warmth of his skin and the small ripples of his forearm muscles as he fidgeted with his fingers. "Thank you. They're perfect. Crissy would probably love them so much you'd never get them back."
She smiled at him when he turned back, but the mention of her sister brought all her anxiety back to her attention, and she felt her smile wobble and tears start to sting her eyes. "I hope she's okay. What if she's not? Maybe she's out there in the forest, lost and cold and scared. Or one of those other guys grabbed her for some reason. Or whatever got that guy we found. What if she's dead? What would I do if my sister is dead? Oh my god. How would I tell Kaylee?“
Faith was sobbing now and she couldn't stop it. She had managed to hold herself together all day, staying strong for Kaylee, trying to figure out their new reality full of werewolves and vampires and monsters that were real and not just boogeymen in the minds of children. Aldric gently took the books from her hands and put them on the bedside table, then reached over and drew her into his shoulder, wrapping his arms around her and stroking her back with gentle, soothing movements.
"I'm certain she is alive, Magaestra. If she is as strong as you and Kaylee are, then I am sure of that much. I will make certain that
