Christmas Griffin - Zoe Chant Page 0,51

Delphine guided him through the foyer to the stairs, and he didn’t make it easy for her. His feet wanted to give up and let him fall where he was standing. Eventually, however, they made it to the third floor and a small, tidy room that looked out over the street.

Delphine helped him onto the bed and fetched a glass of water. He drank it, gratefully, knowing he should be saying something but unable to form words.

“Hell,” he managed at last. “Your Aunt Grizelda’s a goddamn menace.”

Delphine hiccup-laughed. “She’s a level four,” she said, and he must have looked either confused or about to pass out, because she added: “There are five levels. One is easy to deal with, five is hardest.”

“Who’s a five, then?”

“Grandfather and Grandmother.” She stepped away again, and when she returned, she laid a cool, damp cloth on his forehead. “I can go, if you’d rather be on your own.”

“No. God, Delphine. Stay here with me.” Away from them.

She slipped into the bed, wrapping herself around him. Every movement made Hardwick’s head throb, but he eased himself into a better position to put his arms around her. She lay her head against his shoulder, so close he could feel her heartbeat, and he tried to tell himself it made the pain less.

The ache in his head didn’t agree.

“Is it better up here, or do we need to go somewhere else?” she asked.

Somewhere else. His mind went straight to the rustic cabin, and he groaned. That wasn’t an option, even if sleeping in a pile of snow suddenly felt like the only thing that would stop his head from hurting. He turned the damp cloth on his forehead over and lay the cooler side over his eyes.

“Maybe a walk,” Delphine suggested, “to get away from everyone.”

Out on the streets wouldn’t be an improvement. The town was full of happy families, happily lying their way through the holiday.

“Here’s fine,” he said. “I can’t hear anyone. This place must have good sound insulation. If they have shifters staying here often, that’s probably a good thing. Their guests would go mad, being able to hear every conversation in the building.”

“Still... It’s worse, isn’t it?” she whispered. “Worse than you expected, I mean.”

“Yeah.”

She pressed her forehead against his shoulder. “Is there anything I can do?”

“Just stay here with me.”

He curled one arm up to caress the back of her head. She made a soft, vulnerable noise and kissed his neck. He focused on that: her closeness, her gentleness, the warmth of her body against his.

Not the way part of the pain hazing his thoughts was because of her and had been ever since she saw her family appear in the sky.

“Hardwick—”

He flinched. He didn’t mean to, but he’d let his guard down too much. She wasn’t even lying. His body was reacting on automatic.

Delphine pushed herself up onto her elbows and looked down at him, her eyes shadowed.

“Delphine, I—”

“It’s me, isn’t it?”

He sighed. “I know you’re not doing it on purpose.”

“But I’m still doing it. I’m only laying here, and even though I’m with you, I’m still thinking: what if one of my relatives comes through that door? What if they don’t, but they still try to call out to me telepathically? Half my brain is constantly on the alert, working through ways to fix any possible situation, and... and it hurts you.”

“It shouldn’t.” He couldn’t bear the look in her eyes. He looked away. “Not if you don’t lie out loud. I shouldn’t react to you just thinking things.”

“But you are.” She sat up and swung her legs off the side of the bed. “You’re meant to be detoxing.”

“I’m—”

“You’re sick. And me being here isn’t helping.”

Hardwick pushed himself upright. “It isn’t your fault.”

“But it is, isn’t it? And even if it’s not my fault, I can’t stay here if I’m hurting you.” She almost managed to hide the effort it took to keep herself together, and then something snapped, and she sagged. “Sorry. I shouldn’t even be trying to hide how I feel about this, should I? Fine. It sucks. I hate it. I hate that I can’t be the person you need me to be.”

“Why can’t you?”

She looked trapped. Hardwick tried again.

“I know they’re your family. But they’re terrible people.”

“Only most of them.” She gave a bitter laugh. “Some of them are only awful. One or two are pretty nice.”

“So, keep those ones around. You don’t need to live under your grandparents’ thumb just because you share a family