Beyond The Walls (NOW ON AMAZON!!!)

Curiosity

"What's all this?" Ruqwik asked, walking up to where Hadley stood at the edge of camp.

Hadley was, yet again, watching everyone else dance around a massive bonfire, unable to lose herself in the exuberance. She hadn't spoken to the vampire from the moment she'd woken up beside her in that tent, and would have continued the silent treatment, except that this was the most relaxed she'd felt in a few days. Things were looking up and the end was in sight. She would finally be able to rest. She figured she'd give the vampire a bit of a break.

"The girls wanted to do this before we moved on to find the Wildlings," Hadley said.

"To dance like witches around a bonfire?" Ruqwik questioned with a raised brow. "Is it because Brownie finally re-joined us? Drew is certainly over the moon about that, but I didn't think everyone else would be just as excited."

"Witches?"

"They were a thing once," Ruqwik said with a smile in her voice.

Hadley looked up at her. Ruqwik's eyes were red, with thin rings of blue and green around them. They were filled with humour as she watched the girls sing and dance. Hadley looked away, knowing that the look in the vampire's eyes would have once plucked at something in her, but now didn't. This constant, blunt indifference was still taking some getting used to. Crystal and Billy started a funny dance that the others promptly copied, causing laughter to spread around the camp.

"Jamila seems happy." Hadley said.

"You say that like it's a bad thing." Ruqwik replied.

"She shouldn't be. Not after what happened to her in that basement." Hadley said as a matter of fact, her eyes glued to the dancing girls. "Are you doing that?"

Ruqwik took a moment to answer.

"Would you prefer that I didn't?"

"Will it last?"

"She's working through the trauma. I'm just easing the passage."

"Does she know?"

Ruqwik made Hadley turn to face her. "Is that what you think of me? That I would be in her mind without her consent?"

Hadley scoffed. "Wouldn't be the first time."

"That was different! I tried not to, Hadley. But Mrs. Smith... the Venom was the only way to... I couldn't let her..."

Hadley was taken aback by the incoherent plea in the vampire's voice, but she stayed silent and turned her eyes back to the girls dancing. Drew and Brownie joined the circus, Brownie's happy yips and jumps completing the quaint scene.

Ruqwik sighed, giving up on trying to defend her egregious actions, as she should. There was no excuse for what she'd done to Hadley.

"So, what exactly are we celebrating?" Ruqwik asked.

"Conception Day," Hadley replied, forcing a smile when Jamila turned to wave at her.

Hadley didn't know how much Ruqwik knew about what went on in the Compound. Didn't know if the vampire knew how big of a deal this was. It was a belated celebration, of course, thanks to the horrors of the past few weeks. But the girls had been right to insist. It had been a week since they split from Teroi and the others and left the hot springs.

In addition to constant fatigue and every strong scent twisting her stomach into knots, Hadley had been feeling the stress of not finding the Wildlings despite following Aunt Zee's map to the letter. Jamila was the one who finally convinced her to give them a break from all the hacking they'd been doing for days through the thick brush. Billy, Crystal and Jael then suggested the celebration.