Page 8 of A Touch Of Death

He gives me an encouraging tilt to his lips and nods towards the man at the stove. His hair in the colour of wine, brighter streaks of red flashing when he moves further into the light of the kitchen. He wears it the same way as Spencer. It’s short at the sides and long at the top, only his hair is wavy and sits longer at the top of his head than Spencer’s, falling over his left eye. His body is muscled, but not overwhelmingly so. The black shirt hides the muscles in his back, but I can see very defined and well-built muscles in his arms as he moves. Using my aura, I check him over. A deep red hue surrounds him with little spots of black woven throughout. Huh, an incubus.

I look over to the dark haired man and raise an eyebrow. He nods and smiles in confirmation. I nod and release the breath I hadn't realised I'd been holding. My shoulders sag, and the shirt droops lower, coming precariously close to revealing a lot more than my shoulder and collarbone. A stupid thought, really, considering they must have already seen me naked if they saved me. Great. They've seen me completely exposed, and I don't even know their names, other than Spencer. I heard him mention a Zayn, but which man is that?

"That would be me, Zayn Rivera. Pleasure to meet you, though I'm sorry about the circumstances." He holds a hand out for me to take, and I slide mine in his only after a slight pause. His palm is warm and soft, a contradiction to how the movies portray a vampire’s heat and skin. "The incubus is Ezra Barnes. You've met Spencer Gray already, and Nix will be out of his room in a minute."

Ah, Nix is the shifter. Zayn nods his head and shakes my hand. He pulls away, almost reluctantly, and turns his seat so he faces me more. I look him over subtly, noting the sharp jaw, dimpled chin, and high cheekbones. On closer inspection, I notice his eyes are a deep green, like pools of emeralds that I could easily wade in. They're beautiful.

"Thank you," he answers my unspoken compliment with a restrained smile, and I can feel a blush riding up to my cheeks. Zayn doesn't blush, but he suddenly becomes shy, turning his head away. I catch the bashful grin before he turns, though.

Realising I haven't told them my name, but I now know theirs, I offer, "My name's Novia. Novia Sage Bourne. Thank you all for rescuing me."

Chapter 5

Novia

A deepvoice from behind me responds, "You're welcome, Novia Sage Bourne." The man walks from behind me and stops when he's standing next to me. Warmth hits me immediately, a soothing feeling accompanied by the heat of the man’s body. My eyes widen when I catch a good look at him. This man was the tiny Fennec Fox in the room? Holy shit.

I hear a snort before Zayn tries to cover it with a cough, and remember my thoughts aren't safe from this man. Ignoring my slip, I run my eyes over the shifter. The man isallmuscle. His arms bulge out of his grey shirt - a shirt identical to the one that covers my body. His chest is wide, and the shirt is tight enough that I spy the outline of a set of abs underneath. He's tall, too. I have to strain my neck to look at his face.He must stand at six foot four.My eyes take in his face, spotting the two scars that cross his right eyebrow. His chocolate brown hair is long and pulled into a bun at the crown of his head. There's a day’s worth of dark stubble across his jaw and mouth and a slight scar above his lip that the hair doesn't quite cover. His deep ocean blue eyes eyes watch me with a sparkle of amusement. But I'm past caring right now. How did a man this size turn into a tiny little fox? He's fucking huge.

"What does she think?" he faux whispers, aiming the question at Zayn the mind reading vampire.

Snickering under his breath, Zayn replies, "She's wondering how someone of your size could possibly turn into a fox so small. She sounds impressed yet completely baffled."

The giant besides me laughs, and it sends tingles running through me. My heart instantly warms at the deep baritone of his laugh, and I can't help but grin in return. He holds his large hand out for me to take, and I do. As he shakes my hand, he says, "I'm Phoenix Nelson, but you can call me Nix."

He gives me a wide grin before releasing my hand and moving behind the counter, peering over theincubus'shoulder. With his back turned, I check his aura. A deep green haze with flecks of a lighter green and an unusual teal colour confirm my shifter theory even though his little fox trick was already enough for me to recognise what he is.

I come back into focus when the incubus growls, "Stop hovering behind me, you animal. You'll get food the same time as everyone else. Standing behind me and watching my every move won't make me go any fucking faster. Go do something useful for a change."

My eyebrows shoot up my forehead, and I quickly glance at Zayn before looking back at the incubus and shifter.

Nix's boisterous laugh pours from him, and my heart tilts on its axis again. Seriously, what the hell is that about? I scrunch my eyebrows, then quickly remember the vampire next to me has a window to my thoughts, so I cap them before I give myself away. Nix moves away from Ezra, walking around the counter after giving Spencer a clap on the back.

He's suddenly right beside me again, warmth emanating from his extremely well-built body. He takes a breath, but before a word can leave his full lips, Zayn blurts, "So Novia, are you feeling any better?"

The air leaves Nixin a huff, and his body deflates like a balloon. He turns to glare at Zayn but quickly moves to face me again. I can feel two more sets of eyes on me, and a tingle races up my spine. I shuffle awkwardly on my seat and twistto face Zayn directly.

"A little better." I have to swallow a couple of times when my voice comes out with yet another rasp. "My throat is a little sore, and my feet hurt, but I'll be good as new before you know it. Nothing I haven't dealt with before, and certainly no worse."

I offer him a brittle smile despite the memories ofworseflickering through my brain before I can stop them. Memories of being strapped to a hard, uncomfortable table without a stitch of clothing covering my body while humans in hazmat suits and masks experimented on me. They wore their suits like armour, as though I could infect them with my race. Fucking idiots. Memories of being used as a pin cushion, poked and prodded with various metal instruments that were designed to cause pain. Sliced and carved by sharp knives to test my healing abilities every single day, never leaving a scar afterwards since my skin stitched itself back together. My body always looked as flawless as it had before they began their experiments, only I was always drenched in my own blood by the time they finished.

A deep, menacing growl penetrates the gruesome images of my shredded skin and their butchering tools, and I notice Zayn watching me intently, a fierce look on his face. He looks ready to take on a horde of beasts by himself, tearing them all apart with his bare hands. Fuck. Cap your shit, Novia. No one needs to be a witness to what you suffered, you stupid girl.

"Sorry," I whisper, ducking my head to stare at the countertop beside me. A glass of cool water appears right under my nose, condensation drips down the side of the glass with slow movements. My gaze flickers up, catching Ezra moving his hand away and heading back towards the stove. I whisper my thanks and carefully grasp the glass in my now shaking hands.

I can feel Zayn's eyes boring into me, but in an attempt to ignore it, Iguzzle downthe water. I don't realise how dehydrated I'd become until I find the glass completely empty while I catch my breath. A hand gently removes the glass from my hand and replaces it with another full glass of water. I sip this one slower, no less thankful for the cooling liquid that instantly soothes my throat.

Everyone is silent, and the atmosphere turns tense and awkward. I continue to avoid Zayn's gaze, but his anger is palpable. I can almost taste it in the air. Nix shuffles awkwardly on his feet beside me, crossing and uncrossing his arms. With a quick peek, I catch his head swinging from me to Zayn and back again.

Thankfully, Ezra breaks the silence when he slowly slides a plate onto the counter in front of me. The smell hits me first before I realise what's even on there. The sweet scent of pancakes tickles my nose followed by the sickly smell of syrup. I look over the plate to see it stacked high with fluffy pancakes. Bacon and eggs sit next to it, and a little glass china boat filled with maple syrup sits right next to the plate.

A startling grumbling noise sounds in the room, and it takes me too long to realise it’s my belly. After years of being only fed enough to stay alive, my stomach must have grown used to the hunger pains and the meager scraps we were fed. It's been too long since I saw so much food on one plate. Five years. Five fucking years of being fed morsels of whatever was lying around.

My eyes grow warm as tears obscure my vision while I stare stupidly at the food. A large, warm hand on my back startles me, and I blink back the rest of the tears that haven't already fallen. When I’m able to see again, I clearmy throat and look around, only to find everyone looking at me with various expressions of sadness, anger, and sympathy.

I face the vampire. "You saw that?"

He nods.

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