The slumber was not deep, however, and it did not last long. I stole just enough rest to not feel like a zombie when I woke up, I guessed a couple of hours later. It took me a few seconds to remember where I was, with muscular arms bound around me, the long strong legs of a man on either side of me, and beyond that a steep drop of God knew how many feet.
I looked up, my eyes meeting Bastien’s gray ones, and it all came flooding back. I offered him a small smile, which he returned, before I let out a yawn.
“You seem rested,” he remarked.
“Yeah, thanks… You didn’t sleep at all, did you?”
He shook his head, chuckling. I would have been horrified if his response had been yes.
I gazed up at the glittering night sky. Although there was a cool wind up here, I was still wearing my uniform jacket, and with Bastien’s body heat radiating into me from all sides, I felt pleasantly warm.
“So when did you last sleep?” I wondered.
“I don’t remember,” he replied.
“You’re like a vampire. After all this running, you barely need to sit down.” Vampire. I winced internally as I said the word. My chest ached as I thought of my mother and father. I’ve got to get back to them. I will get back to them. We just need to find a portal. Of all these tribes we were about to visit, one of them was bound to know of an alternate portal. One of them just has to. I didn’t want to consider the possibility that the portal within the hunters’ compound might be the only one left open.
“I suppose we are alike in that sense,” Bastien replied. “Though I have never personally seen, met, or known a vampire.”
I couldn’t help but tilt my head back and widen my eyes at him. “Really? You’ve never seen a vampire?”
A smile curved his lips. “No. But that should not be so strange to you. This is the realm of werewolves, after all.”
It was. But I’d thought vampires were known to visit here from time to time. I supposed just not in his area.
“Why don’t you tell me about vampires?” he asked, a curious sparkle in his eyes. “Are they all as bloodthirsty as they’re rumored to be?”
I chuckled to myself. “No, not all of them. It just depends which one you meet. Those in The Shade never drink human blood… You wanna know something? My own parents are vampires.”
His brows furrowed. “What? How is that possible?”
I let out a sigh. This was going to be a long story. I recounted the discovery of the cure to him; he was interested in every detail of the history of how it all happened. Then he began to ask me other questions—questions about The Shade. He wanted to know what kinds of creatures lived with us. In addition to our werewolves, I told him about our dragons, our jinn, our fae, our vampires, our humans, and the increasing number of half-breeds who inhabited our island.
I was surprised by his surprise as I described all these species. He had heard of these creatures, but he’d lived such a sheltered life in The Woodlands until now that he had never seen any of them before. I sure found that ironic. Here I, a human girl, found myself educating a werewolf about supernatural creatures. Though, of course I had an unfair advantage being born and bred in The Shade. There really was no place like it. Corrine often referred to it as a supernatural zoo, though my aunt Sofia preferred to describe it as a shelter. A sanctuary for all.
Bastien was truly mesmerized by The Shade and its inhabitants, and by the end of my explanations, I couldn’t help but chuckle at his awed expression.
“A trip to The Shade really would be educational for you,” I said, grinning. “Hopefully after”—if—“you and your people manage to fix this mess, you will pay us a visit.”
The brightness in his eyes faded a little. My words had brought him back to reality, reminded him of the impossibility of the task ahead. I could practically read his thoughts from his expression—a trip to The Shade for him was not likely to happen for a long, long time.
I cleared my throat, wanting to lift the mood again. “So, uh, is there anything else you wanted to know about me or my home?”
He paused, his expression slowly turning thoughtful. Then he asked, “Do you have a husband?”
I scoffed. “No,” I said. “I don’t even have a boyfriend.” I have never had an actual boyfriend, was what I should’ve said.
“Why?” he asked, appearing genuinely puzzled.
“Well, first of all, I’m only nineteen. And second, betrothal from birth is not a practice where I come from.”
His frown deepened. “So?”
“So what?” I asked.
“So how do marriages take place?”
This young man really was from another world. I wondered if all werewolves were so traditional. The werewolves in The Shade certainly didn’t find choosing a life partner for oneself such a foreign concept—but perhaps that was because they were rebels. Outcasts. They had already shunned their life and people in The Woodlands and abandoned their native customs.
“A man and woman choose one another,” I said simply.
“I see.” He paused again. “Some wolf packs in The Woodlands do this too. Not many, though.”
“Aha… I suppose your parents were betrothed to one another from childhood also.”
He nodded.
We lapsed into silence. When Bastien had first pulled me into this position, so… surrounded by him… I had felt awkward and uncomfortable. But now I felt relaxed. As the first signs of morning began to show on the horizon I even dared to reach out and take his hand. Pulling it to me, I was curious to see just how much larger it was compared to mine. I placed my palm against his and practically laughed at the size difference. Then I glanced down at his feet…