Page 218 of Caelum

“Yes. You’ve scared us to death, Eve,” Eren grated out from beside me.

She slowly turned her head and whispered, “Eren.”

“Yes. Me.” His lips twitched. “At least you don’t have amnesia.”

I snorted. “Let’s be thankful for small mercies.”

“I feel…” A long pause. “Funny.” She moved her hand slowly, and it looked as though it might have weighed a good forty pounds for how hard it was for her to raise it. When she finally managed it and cupped my cheek, she narrowed her eyes at me. “Hate me?”

Jerking in surprise, I asked, “Hate you? Why would I hate you?”

“Like Dre. Grumpy. With… me.” That last word was a slur.

I cut Eren a look. “One more round under the water?”

He nodded, his brow again taut with concern—she sounded and looked as though she were drifting back to sleep.

I hated myself for it, but I moved us back under the water, and then as she began struggling against the intense cold, I let go. This time, she did fall to the ground. Like a sack of potatoes. I almost caught her, but her limbs were flailing, and it made it so I couldn’t grab a firm hold of her.

Squatting down in front of her, I maintained a distance, even though her hands sought me out and her eyes pleaded with me to touch her.

Her reaction scared me because I wanted her touch as much as she wanted to give it to me, but for whatever reason, when we were touching, she could sleep but awoke when we weren’t.

Fighting my inclinations, I whispered, “I don’t hate you. I just need you to wake up, Eve. We need you awake and aware.”

Her head bowed and her hands dropped as she lay there in a splattered heap on the shower floor. The water bounced off the sparkling silver drain, and around her, it puddled, making the patterned mosaic floor tiles easier to behold.

“What do we do now?” I questioned Eren, unsure why I was asking at all because he knew as little as me.

He squatted next to me. “Pray she gets herself together?”

“Stopped praying a long time ago,” I told him, my voice hoarse.

“Me too,” he admitted grimly.

I raked a hand through my wet hair. “Should we set her in a bath of cold water? That way she wouldn’t be like…” Well, the splat on the shower floor.

“No,” Eve moaned, startling us both. “Just. Gimme. Minute.”

We shot each other a look and waited a minute. When she began to move again, this time with more purpose, I really was close to praying she was awake.

Slowly, so fucking slowly that I wanted to wind up the clock, she managed to roll onto her knees. When the joints connected with the tiles, both Eren and I winced, then we watched as she pushed her hands onto the ground in front of her and shoved herself into a straighter position, where her butt was resting on her ankles.

She was shaking, and I knew it was from a combination of the intense cold of the water and exertion. Whatever the tattoo had done to her, it had drained her reserves to a ridiculous extent, and considering how much electrical power it would require to make those damn leaves glow the way they did, it was no wonder her brain was going haywire. There were synapses in the brain that functioned with a form of electricity, but nothing like this light. Her body wasn’t made for such a feat, and until this moment, I’d thought that was why she was weak.

Now, I was wondering if the fact she needed to Choose me was one of the major parts of the problem.

That she needed my touch, needed the connection with me to stay awake, told me she needed a deeper bond with me.

Trouble was, how did we help her Choose me?

“What did she do to you, Eren? How did she bring your Lorelei out?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Why?”

“Maybe she should do that to me. Maybe that would help stabilize her somewhere. With all eight of us united, maybe that will help her? As it stands, I’m the weak link and it leaves a gap in her defenses if she’s supposed to have the seven of us backing her.”

“She looked into my eyes and did something. Drew the Lorelei forward.” Another shrug. “I don’t really know how to explain it.”

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