Page 6 of Across the Sapphire Sea
Elias grimaced. He got the sense this would soon become a stale argument, but it wasn’t like Valeri to let something go when he thought he was right.
“The prevailing winds of the Baltic blow from the southwest,” said Ash, perhaps to keep Laurence from rehashing this point himself and stave off another sparring match between the adversaries. “They’ll push us straight to our destination under the watchful eye of the captain. Tiring our witches for the sake of a few less days at sea is counterproductive. We’ll need Aella, Laurence, and Remy at full strength when we make landfall.”
Valeri opened his mouth in rebuttal, but Remy chimed in first. “Valeri, could you please go over what you’ve learned of the cure to the aging sickness thus far? I’m afraid the details are still foggy.”
Whatever Valeri had been planning to say was abandoned in favor of lording his firsthand information over the others. “The vampires of the court of ancients are rumored to be twice as old as Mahu’s two thousand-some years, yet they remain healthy and sane. As far as it’s known among our kind, they’re the oldest vampires in existence. The secret lies with them at the Arctic Circle north of Rovaniemi.”
“But is that all you know?” Remy probed.
Elias didn’t blame him. He only knew a little of what Valeri held back and suspected there was more Valeri wasn’t saying, some crucial detail he didn’t want to reveal. The secrecy drove Elias mad.
Valeri gave a careless shrug. “Is that not enough for you? The location of the ancient creatures who hold the secret? What more should I have discovered while exiled and alone, tell me that?”
Elias suppressed the urge to point out that Valeri had not been alone. Elias had been there all along, even if his sire insisted on keeping secrets from him.
“My apologies,” said Remy with diplomacy. “No one denies the importance of your contribution. We only seek to go in with as much foresight as we can muster between us. No one wants to fail Mahu.”
Elias startled as Valeri took his wrist and rose suddenly. “If that’s all, we’ll retire for the day.” He urged Elias from the room without giving the others the courtesy of waiting for a reply.
Back in their cabin, Elias tugged his wrist from Valeri’s fingers and muttered, “You were rude to them. I asked you to get along, and you were rude.”
Valeri whirled on him. “Now you’re going to harass me too? I must tolerate their condescension, but I’d hoped for your support.”
Elias held both hands up. “I didn’t mean to upset you. It’s only that the voyage would be more pleasant if we weren’t all at odds.”
Valeri shrugged out of his black leather doublet and toed off his boots. “You’re dreaming if you think any part of this mission will be pleasant with Laurence and his boy-witch along.”
“His name is Remy.”And he’s older than me. Neither of them were boys, but he’d learned to pick his battles with Valeri. He sat to remove his own boots and prepare for bed. “And he seems perfectly nice.”
Valeri took one step forward, which was all that was necessary to loom over Elias in their tiny cabin. “Keep away from them. Nothing good will come from you believing their drivel.”
“You doubt my ability to think for myself?” Elias inflected his tone as if the words formed a question, but really it was a statement because he knew them to be true. He wasn’t in the mood for Valeri’s bickering. Casually, he peeled off his shirt.
“Your trusting nature leaves you vulnerable. If you’d stop relentlessly questioning my authority for even one night, you’d realize I only want what’s best for you.”
Elias unfastened and removed his breeches, leaving him in only his smallclothes. “Have you ever considered asking me what I think is best for me?”
Valeri huffed and stripped to his smalls as well. “Enlighten me, Elias, with your twenty-three years of wisdom to my one hundred and sixty-three. Pray tell, what’s best for you?” He stood, naked chest puffed, daring Elias to challenge him again.
Elias let out a breath and crawled into bed. There was no winning when Valeri was like this. He arranged the layers of heavy wool covers over his legs, then turned down the side for Valeri. “You are best for me, of course. Come to bed.”
It was no great hardship to invite Valeri to lie with him. His stomach was still queasy and he wanted the comfort of his lover’s arms, even if his words sometimes hurt Elias’s feelings.
Valeri joined him on the thick pallet barely wide enough for two grown men, but they would make do. Lying on his back he opened an arm for Elias to curl up against his side. Elias lined them up from ankles to hips, throwing a leg over Valeri’s thigh and resting his head on his chest. He relished the weight of Valeri’s arm over his back, the hand holding his waist. It was the cozy way of sleeping they’d settled into from the beginning of their relationship. No matter how turbulent things got between them, the position brought Elias comfort.
Body to body like this, Elias could feel Valeri’s every breath. The motion of it lulled him into a peaceful doze. He brought his hand up to Valeri’s face to touch the soft hairs behind his ears. Curling the locks through his fingers, Elias sighed and closed his eyes. Perhaps tomorrow night would be better. His body would acclimate to the ocean’s current, and the six of them would find a way to get along.
One could dream.
Valeri took his wrist.
Elias’s eyes fluttered open. “What?”
Removing his hand from the curls, Valeri set it on his chest instead. “You should quit that habit. It’s childish.”
Elias tucked his hand beneath his chin and mumbled an apology. “I thought you liked it. I won’t do it anymore. Sorry.”
He squeezed his eyes shut and willed himself not to cry. Twirling hair wasn’t important, but he loved Valeri, and though he knew Valeri loved him too, in his own way, his sire wasn’t an easy man to get along with.
