Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 584: Not right

Her gentle steps announced her arrival before her figure appeared through the door. Silas turned to meet her gaze as soon as she walked in.

The smile that decorated her features did not deepen, nor did it vanish as Arabella moved closer to him.

He too returned the warm expression when asking, "Did that little demon finally set you free?"

"He actually left a while ago. I simply needed to have a talk with mother," she stopped by his side, watching as he twiddled the metal gouge in hand.

his diamonds flickered away from hers very momentarily before going back to find her, "I honestly thought he’d stay the night,"

"Thank you for being kind to him, by the way," she played with her fingers and only kept her hands to herself, "You know he means no harm,"

"I do," Silas placed the cloth and tool down only to then take her hands into his and spin around on his chair to face her, "But as you noted today, I must still keep an eye on him. He tends to forget you are not like him,"

Much like her feeble smile, the chuckle that managed to escape her was just as weak.

"Should I run you a bath?" his attention was solely on the green gemstones that stared back at him.

"No, I’d like to do so by myself," her head tilted slightly, "I think It’ll help me feel less...," she shrugged and trailed off, never finishing her sentence.

The vampire did not push and instead asked a different question, "What about your clothes? Would you like help with that at least?"

She looked thoughtful for a moment, paying closer attention to the way their fingers rubbed and played with each other, "I will call for you when time comes, can I?"

"You can," he nodded.

"Will you be working on a new piece or finalizing the old canvas?"

The untouched piece of wood on the table was an indicator that he was about to work on something different. She, null doubt, only asked that way for... Well, the vampire was out of reasons for her not to be direct.

"Yes, I thought I’d start something new and keep my mind on it for a while until I am ready to finish the canvas,"

A few seconds of her just staring blankly at the table passed before he decided to grab her heed once more, "Arabella," her eyes snapped onto him, he asked, "How are you feeling?"

"I... I am not sure," she chuckled and shook her head, "I am going to go ahead and run that bath then,"

And with that, she whisked her hands out of his grasp and practically fluttered towards the curtains, vanishing behind them.

Once out of his sight, it struck him how swift and cold her touch was.

It was as though she was in a hurry to separate from him or be anywhere else he was not.

That short exchange with her was as pleasant as pulling teeth right out of her mouth.

Thinking things over and over as time went on, Silas would have taken those hooks in his body any day rather than watch her lose a piece of herself every time an ordeal struck them.

Her heart remained steady. No spiking or dropping below average speed. The vampire followed the soft thumping of the mushy organ in her chest until the first splash of water hit the tub.

Then... Nothing other than that same drumming, inhales and exhales that followed each other like clockwork.

No shifting of fabric, no motion to cut the air, no words...

Utterly curious, Silas stood off his chair very quietly and made his way to the bathroom only to find her frozen, hair shielding her face from his gaze as she stared down at the water filling the tub as though it was the most interesting thing in the world.

Instead of breaking her out of that seemingly comfortable trance, he simply watched as his heart threw a tantrum of its own.

She was functional. She smiled and responded when spoken to, but something in her was different... New.

It did make a lot of sense when he remembered that unlike him, she had to endure and feel every second of that torture, whereas for him it mostly seemed like a blip in time.

Getting impaled and poisoned sure did hurt at first, but as soon as his consciousness succumbed to the calling of limbo, none of it remained.

The small bit of it she had agreed to describe the previous night had him reeling his stomach in and soothing the blood that boiled in his streams.

It cut even deeper to know that all he could afford was to imagine the details of what they had put her through.

"Oh, you are there," her little murmur got Silas by surprise.

"I am sorry," he moved away from the door frame, "It was not my intention to just stand there and watch,"

"That’s alright," she nodded, turning back towards the growing number of bubbles in the bath, "I keep losing sight of time and space too it seems," her voice was so frail, he feared it’d shatter.

Silas cut the distance between them and thankfully, Arabella neither flinched nor stepped back. She just accepted her fate, allowing him to stand an inch from her.

Their breaths intertwined as they gazed at each other’s features. Physically, she looked the healthiest she could have been, but her traits... Something about them wasn’t right.

"I think the bath is ready," was all that he managed to whisper at first, unable to look away from her, "Do you need my help undressing?"

"If you want to, yes. It would be very kind of you," she whispered back.

"Turn around for me," he did his very best to keep his voice on the lowest and softest of ends.

Without a word, Arabella turned around, gathered her hair before moving it over her shoulder and in front of her chest.

Neither of them shared a word after that. Whether it was for the lack of them or otherwise did not truly matter at that moment.