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He saw the vampire's shoulders tremble from the girl's sobbing. But as Cai's arms constricted around her further and he buried his face in her hair, as if he was winding the two of them into a cocoon, Rand's eyes darkened. For he could tell when his Master's shoulders trembled not just from her tears, but from his own.
Why he should think of him that way right now, Rand wasn't sure. Maybe because Master meant something far more complicated to him right now, impossible to explain, but something he innately knew fit. Maybe because he was the only one who had the right to call Cai that, a unique link they shared, a two-way ownership hidden in the word.
It was difficult, but he stayed on the bank, just watching over them, until at last she was quiet in Cai's arms. When Cai brought her to shore, he was carrying her. She'd finally given out, though Rand didn't know how Cai himself had the strength to carry her, because he wasn't much better off. He stumbled on the bank, but Rand was there. He'd shifted to human and wrapped the girl back up in the blanket.
They sat down on the bank together and held her between them. Their arms were overlapping, Cai's shoulder pressed against Rand's side. Cai curled his fingers around Rand's wrist and brought it to his mouth. When he bit him with the one fang, almost gently, it wasn't to drink. Rand stretched out his fingers, rubbing the pads over the single tear track he saw marking Cai's face.
The vampire's gaze lifted to him, held. He took Rand's hand away, and pressed the open vein of his wrist to Dovia's lips. She drank automatically, trusting as a babe, already half asleep. Numb, her consciousness had fled to relief-inspired oblivion and exhaustion. She was safe. Battered, traumatized, but safe.
When Cai finally closed the wound, Dovia muttered "wolf." A smile touched Cai's lips but didn't reach his eyes. Not even close.
If I didn't enjoy plowing your ass so much, I'd never want you to change out of being a wolf, either. You have this nice stillness. No words. We all talk too much, us humanoid types.
The vampire reached over, stroked a casual knuckle down Rand's face. "Shift back. Your wolf body will keep her warm and she likes it."
That an order, vampire?
Rand wasn't sure what made him press that trigger, but the trace of heat that went through Cai's expression, no matter his exhaustion, made him feel he'd done the right thing. Maybe because he'd wanted to do it for his own reasons, too.
If you like.
Cai adjusted Dovia to give Rand room to shift into a wolf. When he drew close to the girl again, Rand felt oddly content as Dovia curled inside the curve of his body, her hands wrapped in his ruff. Even better, Cai leaned in, sandwiching her between them so he could idly stroke and run his fingers through Rand's fur. In silent stillness, they watched the water flow and the moonlight glitter.
It was enough.
In time, Rand's compulsion to tend the other being that needed his care grew too strong for him to deny himself. He didn't care if Cai mocked his nurturing side. The vampire seemed half asleep, most of his weight leaning against Rand behind Dovia, his head tipped downward. He barely lifted it when Rand made a couple of yipping noises.
Fane emerged almost immediately, with Stalker and Windrunner at his side. Daegan and Gideon came from the other side of the creek, verifying they'd coordinated full perimeter coverage. In wolf speak, Rand asked Fane if he would take Dovia to his house. He was relieved that Fane agreed without hesitation, no apparent discomfort about having Daegan and Gideon as escort without Rand's mitigating presence.
Rand suspected it wasn't so much the male had decided vampires were trustworthy, but he'd accepted he could trust this small group of them. That decision was also heavily influenced by Fane's guilt about the two human women. Rand didn't want to take advantage of that, but he was glad not to have to expend energy convincing Fane the vampires wouldn't be a risk to his family.
When Fane shifted to human and explained the plan to Daegan and Gideon, the two males nodded. Gideon stepped forward to take Dovia.
She barely stirred, which gave Rand further comfort, since he'd been concerned she wouldn't allow him or Cai out of her sight. But she needed female care now, and Fane's wife and daughters would handle that end. Suspecting she was experiencing the first real sleep she'd had since she'd been taken, he hoped she wouldn't rouse until the following twilight. Lynn, Sangra and Cilya could handle the more delicate care she might need, cleaning and tending her so she could wake feeling as normal as possible.
Gideon lifted her in his arms in a protective, gentle manner. But before he followed the shifters and his Master out of the clearing, he paused. His lips twisted in a half-smile as his gaze coursed over Rand's wolf form. It reminded Rand of Jacob's initial reaction to seeing him shift. However, as Gideon met Rand's bi-colored gaze, his own dark blue eyes grew more somber.
"Don't know how much of this you get when you're four-legged, but if it was me, I'd want some time to care for my Master one-on-one, too," he said. "You're new to it, but don't let it freak you out. There's no one who can understand him, be in his head, more than you. No one he'll ever be able to trust the same way. That's why they have us. And why we have something inside of us that needs that, just as much."
Daegan had reappeared at the forest edge, his gaze resting on his servant. Though his expression didn't change, there was an energy between him and Gideon that said the two of them would always be visible to one another, in ways that no darkness could ever hide.
Daegan and Gideon disappeared into the woods. Rand's sharp ears detected the formation, the wolves and the vampire falling into position to run point around Gideon and the girl. They'd be all right.
Rand needed the mental reassurance. Despite his reasons for remaining behind, protective instincts kicked back in as soon as Dovia was out of his immediate reach. That urge was tangled up with some quick flashes of his own children, of Sylvan's, and things he really didn't want in his head right now.
Fortunately, another more recent memory took him back in the right direction. Cai, staring up at the mote of light leaving his hand. A baby's soul he'd planted and then plucked, returning it to its Maker.
Cai had roused sometime during the shift of guard duty, but he hadn't said anything. Merely stayed where he was, leaning against Rand. His gaze followed the track of the waterfall, lifting briefly when the wind touched the trees over them. The movement showed Rand a glimpse of his eyes, flickering shadows and moonlight flashes against the irises framed by his thick-lashed eyes.
He liked the vampire's quietness. It seemed an acknowledgement of things they didn't even have to word-think to understand one another's feelings on it. Rand was also starting to understand the rise and retreat of the vampire's emotions when things became too much, enough that he wasn't surprised when Cai abruptly rose.
"You've given a lot of blood tonight," he said. "I'm going to go get you dinner."
You're too tired. Rabbit have to be old, slow. Tough meat.
"Better shot at it than you, crashing through the undergrowth on three legs." Cai tugged one of his ears. Rand nipped at him and the corner of the male's mouth lifted slightly.
If Rand had been in human form, he might have stroked a knuckle down Cai's face, his jaw. Spoken aloud and told him we're okay.
"Yeah. We are." The vampire sent him a weary, twisted smile. Turning on his heel, he moved toward the woods. He was steadier on his feet, but not moving with his usual lithe grace. It'd been a rough night on all of them.
Rand knew Cai was looking for space. He should give it to him, no matter how concerned he was about the vampire's state of mind, the weakened state of his body.
So he sat on the bank of the pool for another full minute. He remembered the single tear track he'd traced on Cai's cheek, along the straight line of his nose. How many times had it been broken when he was with the Trads, at the hands of someone like Goddard? Or out in the world, because he refused to bend toward any authority? Actively went out of his way to oppose it, whether sensible or not.
Before he realized h
e'd made the decision, Rand left the secluded glade and moved into the surrounding forest. He couldn't move fast, but having three legs did help. He and Cai were a dangerous pair right now--if there'd been an impending threat from an army of turtles.
Cai was deep in his head, because for once he didn't seem aware of Rand's approach until Rand was almost upon him. Rand drew his attention by shifting to human. Conveniently, he'd done it next to a tree, so he could brace himself for support if needed.
Cai turned and looked at him. A long, silent, weighted moment. "Come here, vampire," Rand invited.
Cai's firm lips twisted, though his dark eyes became darker. His emotions had all those layers right now, making him harder for Rand to read, but Rand picked up enough to know his presence wasn't unwelcome. Far from it.
"Is that an order?" he responded.
Rand lifted a brow, and repeated the vampire's earlier words. "If you like."
When Cai didn't immediately move, Rand moved a step toward him. One halting, limping step that told him he was going to be on all fours again fast, though it was likely to be palms and knees. Well, in the right mood, Cai might find that convenient.
Cai made a face at him as he closed the distance, putting a bracing hand on Rand's waist as Rand clamped a palm on the vampire's shoulder to steady himself. His bare shoulder.
Yeah, they were both beat to hell, but they were alive.
"Fucking alive," Cai added, that appealing hint of a smile on his mouth, though it was marked by other things that could tear Rand's heart into pieces. They both understood loss far too well, didn't they?
