She didn’t want to face him, not yet at any rate. There were no windows here below the ground so she stared into the empty fire grate and waited until he woke up. Over an hour later, she felt him touch her mind. She allowed him some of what she was. He had panicked slightly when he discovered she was no longer beside him and wanted to give him this one bit of comfort before she told him she had to leave. “I’m going to have to leave here soon. It’s not safe. They’re almost here, my family. They’ll come for me now that they’ve found where I am. I’ve been hiding from them for nearly nine years now, you see, not using the curse that I have. But there was no way I could let the baby die, so I led them here, led them to all of you. I’m sorry, so sorry about that. I...we shouldn’t have had sex. I shouldn’t have let you bite me, but it felt so good, wonderful really. Now I’ll have to go, lead them away from you and the others. I have to keep you safe, all of you.”
