\u201cAre you going to give me that same promise that you\u2019re going to sleep?\u201d Jacqueline asked, a trace of weary amusement in her voice as the door clicked shut behind Marin and Neve.<\/p>\n
Phelan let his eyes slide shut as he sank against his pillows with a slight shiver.\u00a0 His back ached bone-deep, the wounds throbbing with each heartbeat.\u00a0 \u201cWould you believe me if I did?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI might,\u201d she said softly, smoothing his sweat-damp hair back from his face as she reached down to adjust his blankets.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019d like to sleep myself sometime tonight, but I\u2019m not going to leave you until you\u2019ve rested and someone relieves me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou should sleep, too,\u201d he murmured.\u00a0 \u201cYou were long on the road with the others.\u201d\u00a0 With me, probably sleeping even less than they did on the road, if any of you slept at all.<\/i>\u00a0 He didn\u2019t really remember much of what had happened after Cameron and Jacqueline had suddenly showed up at his camp and after the Dirae<\/i> had raked him.\u00a0 It must have been days on the road before they made it back home again.\u00a0 \u201cSomeone else can sit with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want someone else to sit with you right now,\u201d she said.\u00a0 She turned down the lamp to its very dimmest flame.\u00a0 \u201cIf I was okay with that, I\u2019d have let J.T. send me to bed.\u00a0 He tried.\u00a0 You were still asleep.\u00a0 I told him I\u2019d take the first watch until someone came to relieve me.\u00a0 I imagine it\u2019ll be Kel or Matt or someone in a few hours, then I\u2019ll crawl into my bunk and sleep for a few hours\u2014that is if I can sleep without worrying that you\u2019ll somehow get worse if I\u2019m not here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou and J.T. did more than you needed to if you\u2019re worried about me surviving the night,\u201d Phelan said quietly, shifting on the bunk.\u00a0 \u201cI can feel it\u00a0 Wounds the Dirae<\/i> leave make you soul-sick, but I can tell that Jay did something to help with that\u2014or you did.\u00a0 It\u2019s hard to tell which.\u201d\u00a0 Maybe it was both, each in their own way.<\/i>\u00a0 His eyelids were heavy.\u00a0 Sleep was coming whether he wanted to surrender to it or not.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll survive the night,\u201d he said around a thickening tongue.\u00a0 \u201cAnd I\u2019ll see you in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her lips brushed his temple.\u00a0 \u201cSweet dreams, Phelan.\u201d<\/p>\n
He tried to wish her the same, but sleep took him before the words could cross his lips.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cAre you going to give me that same promise that you\u2019re going to sleep?\u201d Jacqueline asked, a trace of weary amusement in her voice as the door clicked shut behind Marin and Neve. Phelan let his eyes slide shut as … Continue reading