Page 20 of Vampire's Hearth

“Rory, are you alright?” Mac’s voice floated from beyond the protective circle.

I swallowed. “Uh, yeah, I’m fine,” I called through the material. What time was it? The light of the day cast a familiar blue hue over me, but the tent was warm, almost uncomfortably so. It must be midmorning. I looked around before remembering I had left my phone in my bag.

The events of yesterday flooded my mind. I looked down at my ankle, wondering if it would hold my weight this morning. I would need to find a bandage to wrap it and some medication. But I had a vampire standing guard outside my circle. My dream radiated through my mind, causing me to clench my thighs together. I found my pants and struggled to get them on in the confined space.

I unzipped the hammock’s cover and stuck my head through the flap. “How are you this morning?”

Mac sat with his back against a large oak tree, his knees bent, staring at me. On the ground next to him, nestled in the leaves, I spotted the top of a white bottle. He shook his head as he stood. “You don’t get to change the subject. Why were you screaming?”

I shrugged a bit as I swung my legs over the edge. I would have to be careful with my landing. Taking my time to judge the distance, I sprang from the bed onto my right foot. “It was just adream,” I said after I landed. I tried to ignore the blood rushing to my cheeks.

Mac smiled. “It must have been some dream. Was I there?”

I shook my head and fixed my gaze into a glare. “Keep dreaming.” Could it have been his doing?

He shrugged. “I’ve never had the power to manipulate dreams,” he said as though he had read my mind.

“Were you out here all night?” I asked, desperate to change the subject.

“Most of it. I left for a while to get you a few things—if you’ll accept my help.” He pointed at a flat rock just outside of the barrier. Sitting on it, as if it were an offering, were bandages and comfrey.

“How did you know that’s what I’d want and not something modern?”

“You’re a witch from an ancient line. I’m sure, as a child, the mothers of the coven took turns teaching you the basic first aid of the earth.”

I limped to the rock and picked up the supplies. “Thank you.” I sat down on the rock, placing the bandage and leaves on my lap.

“I did figure you would go more modern for this, though.” He bent down and picked up the bottle.

He closed the space between us in two steps and held the container in front of him—ibuprofen. I smiled and nodded, accepting the medication. “You’ve thought of everything.”

“Just trying to show you we can work together. Maybe our next goal will be to find the Cure.”

Opening the bottle, I removed three brown pills, popped them into my mouth, and swallowed them without water. My eyes narrowed as I surveyed my leg and the options to wrap it.

“Let me help you,” said Mac, kneeling before me.

“I can—”

“I know you can do it, but I can also help.” He lifted the hem of my black pants to see my ankle. The skin stretched over the large bruise covering the outer part of my foot.

“How are you even out in the sunlight?” My mind whirled as I looked over him.

He shrugged. “I’ve always been able to.” He wasn’t going to tell me more. Mac gingerly placed a layer of gauze around my ankle and foot. The juices from the plant’s leaves ran green over my hand as I smashed them into a poultice, softly muttering the incantation to magnify the herb’s healing power.

His soft hands were careful as he worked with my injury, nothing like one would expect from a vampire. His gentle caresses as he bandaged me made my head spin. I spread the poultice across the gauze.

“Where did you learn to do this?” I asked, focusing on anything but the man in front of me.

He smiled. “Would you believe in a field hospital during the Civil War, not far from here?”

“Is that where you died?”

“I’ve never died,” he said, gazing into my eyes.

“Then how...” I didn’t know how to finish the question. “How old are you?”

His eyes sparkled with mischief. “I was born on the winter solstice in 1176.”

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