Page 235 of Caelum

“What’s wrong?”

Eren’s whisper had me shifting slightly on the bed. “Nothing.”

“Bad dreams?”

“I should have had some, shouldn’t I?” But I hadn’t. What kind of monster did that make me? As I stared at the amber glow from the window, I asked, “What is that?”

“The light?” When I hummed, he said, “It’s a streetlamp.”

Something that everyone the world over took for granted, except for me. I’d noticed them earlier when we’d gone hunting Ghouls, but it was only now that I was in bed, resting, when I realized how invasive they were.

Maybe for humans they were effective. But for me? I could appreciate their use, but I didn’t like how they bled into the room, cutting away the complete totality of the dark.

“Want me to close the curtains?” he whispered, and I shook my head.

“You’re not my slave, Eren.”

“I’ll die your sex slave, Eve,” Samuel teased, his voice sleepy but choked with amusement.

I narrowed my eyes at him and whacked him on the belly. “No dying allowed.”

His lips curved. “I’ll try my best.”

“So long asyoudo,” Eren tacked on wryly. “No more going Lara Croft on us, yeah?”

“Tomb Raider.” I clicked my fingers. “I liked that movie.”

Sam tensed. “Which one? The Angelina Jolie one or the new one?”

I hummed. “The Angelina Jolie one.” I couldn’t withhold the grin. “Daniel Craig was in that one, and he’s cute.”

Growling under his breath, Sam rolled on top of me, making me squeal with laughter. As I stared up at him, stared into his beautiful face with a mouth that looked like it was constantly sneering, and a brow that was continuously puckered, it was hard to remember that a few weeks back, I’d tried to break his nose.

Reaching up, I tapped said nose and inquired, “Did I break it?”

“When you hit me?” He shook his head. “Nope.”

“Shame.”

He bit off a laugh. “Bloodthirsty wench.”

“If you’re going to punch, aim true and hard,” I informed him.

“Who said that?” Eren asked around a laugh, his head tilting to the side as he looked at both of us. “Coach?”

I snorted. “That chauvinist? Nope. Me. I said it.”

“Look at you. The world’s next Confucius.”

“Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart,” I quoted, the words slipping from my memory as easily as the sun shone over Caelum. “Actually, they’re pretty similar. I mean, his is a lot less violent, but then, I doubt he was a creature.”

“Who knows? He could have been. Back then, we didn’t have the best records. He could have been a contender,” Samuel joked.

“More movie trivia?” I groaned then reached up and covered my face with a forearm. “I have a distinct lack of a database on movie trivia.”

“You say that like you’re a computer,” Eren teased, his hand coming up to tangle with the fingers attached to the arm I was using to hide from them.

“I think I am sometimes. With the way I remember stuff, it makes me feel like one.”

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