Page 15 of Liberty

Chapter 7

LIBERTY

My consciousness wasawake before my body fully got the memo. I felt the excruciating pain every time I breathed, then it vanished, slowly pulling from my body until I felt nothing at all. Was I dead? That had to be the only explanation. Yet, I didn’t feel dead; I felt very much alive, even as I struggled to force my eyelids open. I heard sounds, felt the presence of others, but I couldn’t get my mind to connect fully. The pressure on my skin was released, and I hadn’t even realized it was there until it was gone.

“I think she’s waking,” someone said, and the deep baritone seemed familiar and yet, strange.

My eyes stung as I managed to get them open, then I immediately closed them as the light pierced my irises. Another voice commanded that the lights get lowered, and without question, someone obeyed, lowering the lights enough for me to open my eyes.

“Am I dead?” The words croaked from my throat.

“Not even close, mo chuisle.”

Behind him, someone scoffed, “Jesus, she’s not even awake for an entire minute, and he’s laying on the endearments. I should have learned more languages in my time.”

“You would need to be smarter than a fly for that,” someone countered.

“Where am –” I started to ask, but then memories of the alley flashed through my brain, and I panicked. Last I remembered, I lay on an alley floor, blood oozing from my neck where Daniel had just bitten me when three men – no. Not men. Three beings came to my rescue. My hand went to my neck, to the exact spot he had bitten me. “Oh, God. I’m one of them now, aren’t I? I’ve died and come back as a monster.”

Beside me, a voice whispered, “We aren’t monsters.”

Did I just offend someone who preys on humans to live? Great. Chalk a tally under my name. A throat cleared, “You’re not dead. You’re not turned. You just passed out.”

“I never pass out.” My fingers tested my skin. Why was there not even a single mark where he bit me?

“Yeah, us either.”

I finally braved a look to the side, seeing the same three figures from the alley. My pulse picked up at the sight of them, then slowed to a steady thrum when it landed on the man sitting in the chair next to me. I’d never seen him before tonight, and even then, it might not have been in the most favorable of circumstances, yet his presence calmed me, made my nerves feel at ease.

“Who are you?” One of the men standing asked. He was tall and not nearly as muscled as the man sitting in front of me, but you could tell he was used to hard labor. His black hair was a week or two past needing a trim, and his dark eyes watched every move, accessing.

“I should ask you the same question.” I tried to sit up, but it was a struggle. The man in the chair leaned forward, helping me and adjusting the surrounding pillows.

“I’m Ellis,” the man replied when I was finally situated. He said the fact like it should mean something to me, but I’d never met the man in my life.

“Sterling.” I followed the voice to the man with meticulous brown hair, slacks, and a button-up dress shirt. Hmm, the name fit.

I looked toward the chair. “And you?”

He cleared his throat, looking almost nervous now that I was looking directly at him, “Oak.”

My eyebrows pulled together. “Oak? As in . . .”

Sterling chimed in, “For his rigid personality.”

Oak ignored the taunt. “As in, they found me at the base of an oak tree, next to my dead parents. I didn’t have a name. They called me Oak.”

Well, that was unexpected. But he didn’t seem bothered by those facts. Actually, I kind of liked it. It seemed fitting. I nodded. “Oak.”

They all stared at me, expectantly, and I didn’t know what to say. Was this like some vampire trick? Sort of like if you invite them into your house they attack? If I give my name, will they suddenly have power over me?

“Where are we?” I asked, trying to avoid it altogether.

“The Hatter Estate,” Sterling answered, before crossing his arm over his chest. Vampire or not, I had to admit that the way his dress shirt sleeve was rolled and the tightness on the bicep when he crossed his arms was distractingly hot. But then, his words registered, and panic set in.

No, no, no. They couldn’t know. Could they? “Why did you bring me here?”

My words were short, almost panicked. It was Ellis who answered, “This is where we are staying, at least for another few days.”