63. VANYA: MY HOME

He looked like hell.
If it wasn’t for the rapid rise and fall of his chest, I might have thought that he wasn’t breathing. Sweat coated every inch of his skin and made his hair stick to his scalp in wet strands. His face was pale and his skin had a greenish hue to it.
I swallowed and turned my head to look at Devrim. “How long has he been like this?”
“It’s going on four weeks.”
“What’s wrong with him?”
He shrugged. “We don’t know. This is the first time. . .our. . .kind has gotten so sick. We don’t usually get sick. I can’t understand why he’s so sick, Vanya. We thought it might be a side effect of some drugs Mike used but everything has already left his system.”
I looked back at Obsidian in concern. It felt. . .wrong to see him so weak. My hands darted over him and lingered on his hand clenching the sheets tightly. His body shifted and a whimper fell from his lips, but he didn’t wake.
“Can’t you take him to the hospital?”
Devrim growled. “No!”
“Maybe—”
“He’s not going anywhere near fucking humans,” he hissed.
My eyes snapped up to his. “I’m human.”
Devrim turned and cupped my cheek. His eyes softened and his lips curled up into a small smile. “Yes, but you’re our little human. I’ll be right back.”
He pressed a kiss to my forehead and then moved away. I watched as he walked over to the left of the bed and picked up a bucket. Devrim walked into the bathroom and emptied it before washing it out and then entering the room again. He placed the bucket down from where he picked it up and straightened.
With one last glance at Obsidian, I entered the bathroom and searched for a cloth and something I could use as a bowl. After filling it with cold water, I walked back over to Obsidian and placed the bowl down on the bedside table.
I hesitated before I kicked my shoes off and climbed onto the side of the bed to rest on my knees. Wetting the cloth, I rinsed it and then started wiping the sweat from his forehead.
“Vanya?” I looked at Devrim. “Will you be okay here alone?”
“Will you be gone for long?”
He hesitated. “I’m going to the main house to pick up the soup they made for him.”
“W-where’s Ezra?”
“I don’t know. He said he needed some time and took off.” His eyes darted from Obsidian to mine. “You’re still scared of him?”
My eyes dropped to Obsidian’s face. He looked so different while he slept, but there was nothing peaceful about his brows dipped into a frown and the worry lines around his mouth.
“I’m confused,” I told him. “I’m not sure how I feel at the moment.”
Devrim walked over to me but his eyes were focused on Obsidian. He swallowed loudly and leaned forward to move a strand of hair from his forehead. Then finally he looked at me.
“You need to know that he didn’t mean to hurt you, rosebud. He feels guilty about it.”
“H-how do you know that?”
His eyes darted between Obsidian and me for a few seconds before locking with mine again. “He talks about it.”
“Oh.” I looked at Obsidian. “I’ll be okay, just don’t take too long.”
“I won’t,” he muttered as he moved away. “Do you need anything?”
I glanced around the room. “I don’t think you have ice, but maybe you could find some fans? It’ll help with his fever.”
Devrim nodded and after a moment’s hesitation, he walked out of the room, leaving me all alone with a man everyone thought of as a monster. Was he a monster?
I shook away the dark thoughts and focused on the task. I wiped the cloth all over his body to cool him down before making sure that he was comfortable. It took about half an hour for me to understand what Devrim meant about Obsidian talking about things.
He had a high fever and apart from being sick a few times, Obsidian wasn’t very lucid.
My eyes darted around the room as I sat in the chair next to the bed. It’s been a while and Devrim hadn’t returned yet. What if he ran into some trouble? What if something happened to him? I shook my head and looked at Obsidian again. My eyes darted to the empty spot next to him on the bed.
It looked so comfortable. My eyes were starting to droop and the chair wasn’t that comfortable. It’ll only be for a little while.
I walked around the bed and climbed on. After a moment’s hesitation, I crawled closer to him and laid down next to him with my cheek on his chest and an arm wrapped around his waist. My eyes fluttered closed as the warmth of his body seeped into my cold bones.

***

My peaceful sleep slowly started to fade as voices penetrated my brain. Not only was I aware of the fact that Devrim had returned, but I was also deeply aware of the arm wrapped around my waist, holding me to Obsidian’s frim body.
“Did you force her?”
There was a scoff. “No, I didn’t force her to come here, Obsidian.”
He was awake? How long has he been awake? I fought the urge to tense. The last thing I wanted was for them to be aware of the fact that I was awake too. I wanted to know what they were talking about.
“How are you feeling?”
“Better,” Obsidian rasped.
“So the healer was right.”
Obsidian didn’t answer immediately. He was silent for so long that I thought he had fallen asleep again. “Yes, he was right.”
“You’re going to have to tell her that, you know,” Devrim muttered.
“Why me?”
“Because you started the shit.” The chair creaked when Devrim moved. “You know, for someone who knows so much about control, you have little when—”
“Shut up, Devrim,” Obsidian growled.
Devrim chuckled, making me smile. I had no idea what they were talking about but it felt good just listening to their voices.
Obsidian’s hand slid up my side and then down again to rest on my hip. His hand stilled but his thumb kept moving back and forth.
“She lost weight,” he muttered.
“I saw.”
“Have you fed her?” he asked Devrim.
“It was the plan but I came back and found her asleep.”
“You didn’t place her on the bed with me?” Obsidian asked. “She climbed up on her own?”
“Yes.”
“Oh.”
Devrim suddenly laughed, which broke the long minutes of silence that followed after Obsidian’s last words. Devrim’s laughter increased and slowly died down.
“You should see yourself right now,” Devrim muttered. “Hell, I never knew you’d be so. . .what’s the word?”
“I’m not too sick to kick your ass,” Obsidian warned.
Devrim chuckled. “Yeah? I’m not so sure about that, baby. I had to carry you to the bathroom so you could take a leak.”
Obsidian’s chest rumbled. “Take a leak. . .where did you learn that?”
“Some of Ezra’s books. I had to do something while I sat by your bedside and emptied the—”
“I get it,” Obsidian silenced him. “Where’s Ezra?”
Devrim stayed silent for a few seconds. “I don’t know. He said he needed some time.”
“Time? How do you not know where he is? You should’ve forbidden him from going. Mike is dead but it’s not safe for him to—Why are you looking at me like that?”
The chair creaked again and a moment later I felt the bed move. Fingers brushed along my arm resting on Obsidian’s abdomen, making me twitch. The fingers froze and then disappeared.
“For someone who had a knife pressed against his throat not so long ago, you sure care a lot about where he is,” Devrim muttered.
“It’s not the same,” Obsidian rasped.
“How is it not the same?”
“I had a knife pressed to your throat too, on many occasions.” Obsidian sighed. “It’s not the same.”
“I still don’t get how it’s not the same.”
Obsidian growled. “Don’t you have anything to do?”
“No.” Devrim’s hand returned to my arm. “I’m too tired. You should eat something; it’ll help you feel better.”
“Later.” Obsidian’s leg brushed against mine. “You need to go find Ezra.”
“You just can’t let him—”
“No,” he interrupted Devrim. “He could be in danger and we wouldn’t know it. Just because Mike is dead, it doesn’t mean that the danger is over. He could be kidnapped like I was, and you know Ezra—”
“I know, you don’t need to explain it.” Devrim sighed loudly. “Fine, I’ll go search for him.”
“Take the brothers with you.”
“Of course.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“Forget it, you’re staying here and sorting things out with our mate.”
Obsidian started purring, making curiosity fill me. I opened my eyes and just about stopped the gasp from falling from my lips. They were kissing and I was close enough to see everything. The way their lips moved together, so unlike anything I’ve ever seen before, but instead of it being a turnoff, it had the opposite effect.
It was so fucking hot.
My eyes slammed closed when Devrim pulled away.
“I’ll see you later,” he rasped. “Don’t fuck things up with Vanya, okay?”
“Okay.”
“I told her that you knew about the cameras.”
“Why the hell would you do that?” Obsidian growled.
Devrim sighed. “Because you’re going to fuck things up again. I read that truth, communication and something else are very important in human relationships. I know that we’re not human but Vanya is so we need to—”
“I get it,” Obsidian interrupted.
“Good.”
The bed move but so did Obsidian.
“Dev?” There was a strange note in his voice. “Do you think that Ezra hates me?”
“Why would he hate you?”
Obsidian was silent for a while. “For w-who I am?”
“Nobody can hate you for who you are, baby,” Devrim said. “If they don’t accept you for you then they should go fuck off.”
“He doesn’t like it when we’re together,” Obsidian whispered.
“He’ll come around.” Devrim kissed him again. “Eat and make sure Vanya eats something.”