Page 39 of Caelum

She waved a hand, almost as though she’d heard my silent question. “Never mind. What can you remember?”

“That everyone fell asleep. That’s it.”

That had her lips firming into a line before she began to sing. The notes had every hair on my body rising to attention, and a quiver shot down my spine in response to the beautiful song. There was a faint warbling to it that reminded me of birdsong, but equally, there were words that I remembered hearing from before. Even if that wasn’t active memory, it was like I’d heard the song when that was a sheer impossibility.

Stefan had introduced me to YouTube and the millions of songs that were out there now. Having endured hymns all my life, Chet Faker and Sam Smith were a definite improvement.

Still, before now, I’d only ever heard religious songs, and this was definitely not that. It was intongues. I’d never heard that before I’d crossed through the portal into Caelum.

On edge because my memory was playing tricks on me, I noticed I had her attention. One hundred percent.

She broke off, fracturing the beautiful song. “Aren’t you tired?”

“Should I be?”

“Can’t you ever answer a question?”

“Can’t you?”

Merry grunted then turned her back on me to stare out of one of the windows.

The room we were in was considered small for Caelum. It consisted of a round table that was almost as large as the room itself. Odd chairs surrounded it, and I liked the one with the wide back that had wings where I could rest my head while I listened to whatever my tutors were teaching me.

There were paintings of all varieties on the wall. Some in colorful frames with others in ornate gilt. They depicted anything from battle scenes to portraits of beautiful young ladies. Not an ounce of space was free save for where there was a chalkboard. Caelum seemed to have hoarding issues, which I was up-to-date with considering Nestor had insisted we watch something calledHoarding: Buried Alivethe other day while Eren was working out.

On the side wall, there was a view of the ocean that I had to fight every time I came in here. Concentrating on work was hard when all I wanted to do was look beyond the glass.

Watching Merry stare out at the view, I was hesitant to break her train of thought. I knew I was unusual. Not just because of the whole ‘eight souls’ thing, but because I said things that surprised them all.

Not just Nicholas, Damon, and Merry, but Nestor, Eren, and Stefan too.

I didn’t mean to bewilder them, but whenever I asked a question, I seemed to. Sometimes I didn’t even have to open my mouth to perplex them as was the case now.

“What do the boys make you feel?”

The question came out of nowhere, and I shifted uneasily in my seat. “Why do you ask?”

“Because I’m curious. I’m not like Nicholas and Damon, Eve. I won’t just talk to you about theory but about life. About being a woman in this world. A world that isn’t bound by the ties of religion or a man’s whim.”

I frowned at that and then thought about what she was saying. “They confuse me,” I admitted eventually, settling on those three words because while they weren’t the whole truth, some of it was.

“In a good way or a bad way?”

I was surprised that I understood what she meant. “Sometimes, it’s bad.” I licked my lips and pressed a hand to my belly. “When I watch them hitting each other, I get confused. There’s warmth here when I see themfight, watch them try to best each other, but then there’s fear they’ll hurt one another.”

She hummed under her breath. “Any news on Alexandre?”

I shook my head. “No. He’s still sleeping.”

Merry pulled a face. “Damn Hell Hounds punch hard. What is that now, two weeks? Happened the day you arrived, didn’t it?”

“Yes. They’re worried.”

“Understandable. We’re not often ill this long. We heal quickly. That Alexandre hasn’t, doesn’t bode well.”

My eyes flared wide. “You think he might die?”

Merry shrugged. “We live long lives, but we’re not impossible to kill, and Hell Hounds? They’re the strongest of us all.”

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