NOVPUBClaire pushed away from the tree she'd been leaning against throughout the fight. She walked over to where Alex and Orchid lay and crouched beside them.
"Now that this is over with, I assume you'll be willing to fill us in on some of the information we've been missing." Claire said. "We've been flying pretty blind. Having more information about the Great Families would go a long way."
"You couldn't even wait for me to get up to start interrogating me?" Orchid asked, her features twitching in amusement. "At least let the bruises heal first. But yes, I can give you some information. But you may be disappointed. I probably don't know nearly as much as you would like. If you're looking for the Starfallen's secrets—"
"Nothing like that," Claire said with a shake of her head. "Just some information. Basic stuff. You might be surprised to find out just how little we actually know. But I'll show mercy. We can talk about this later. You can rest for a little longer. After the ringing you just got, I imagine you need it."
"How magnanimous of you," Orchid said dryly. She pushed herself upright with a grunt, then clambered to her feet with the help of her staff. "But I don't have time to rest right now. There's too much that has to be done to prepare Mirrorwane. There are only a few days until the town isn't Enshrined anymore. Everyone needs to prepare. And, if I'm staying, that includes me."
"Don't let us stop you," Claire said. "But make sure to have a talk with May at some point. She's perceptive… and not particularly patient. Better find her before she tries to use that Visualization herself."
"She has the guidance she needs already," Orchid said. "There is no concern. I will speak to her soon."
"What, this?," Claire asked innocently as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded slip of paper. "She's going to need something far better than a slip of paper, Orchid. Written instructions are always worse than actually doing it yourself… especially when you never get to read them."
Orchid's eyes narrowed. She snatched the paper from Claire. "When did you get this?"
"About a minute after you left it in May's room," Claire replied. "You're welcome, by the way. May isn't dumb. She would have realized why you were writing a letter to her the moment she saw it. I don't think she would have been too happy with you if she realized you were planning on leaving. I saved you the trouble. You're welcome."
Orchid stared at the letter for a moment. Then she slipped it into her pocket. "I'm not going to say thank you for stealing a letter I left for my student… but you did save me from an awkward situation. Take that how you want to. But I have to ask… would you have given it to her if I'd won?"
The Dhampir just shrugged in response. "I suppose we'll never know."
"You never for a moment thought I'd win the fight, did you?"
"No," Claire replied without missing a beat. "It was never a possibility."
A faint smile pulled at Orchid's features. Then she turned on her heel and walked back in the direction of the town without another word.
Alex watched her leave from his spot on the ground. He was a bit too comfortable just lying back and letting himself recover. The idea of standing back up already was a bit distasteful.
Neither he nor Claire said anything until Orchid had left. Another few seconds passed before Claire flopped down to sit beside his head and let out a relieved breath.
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"Shit. That was closer than I thought. Couldn't you have been a bit more convincing earlier on? I nearly screwed everything up a few times there."
He looked up at her in confusion. "You did? What do you mean?"
Claire sent him a flat look. "Come on. Did you really think I was just going to sit around if Orchid was actually going to kill you? I was waiting to step in the entire time. It's a damn good thing she never looked at me during the fight, or she might have noticed me accidentally pulling my sword halfway free multiple different times."
"You were going to cheat?" Alex wasn't sure if he was affronted or relieved.
"I'd do a whole lot worse than that if it meant keeping you alive."
"I never took you for a romantic," Alex said with a grin. "I appreciate it… so long as you aren't doing that for fights that I pick myself. I wouldn't want the System cutting back on my rewards."
Claire rolled her eyes. "Don't worry. Any idiocy you get yourself wrapped up in is entirely your own. I wouldn't dream of sinking my fangs into it. But when I'm the source of the trouble, I have absolutely no problem playing below the table. The only thing I care about is winning."
Alex pushed himself into a seated position, leaning back on the palms of his hands. "I think I've said before that I'm glad you're on my side, but I'll say it again. Orchid's not stupid, though. I wonder if she knew."
"Probably," Claire said. "But she didn't have a better option. She's already attached to the town. She wanted to lose. We just had to prove to the slightest degree of believability that you could stand a chance against Absolution."
"I caught that much," Alex said. "Thanks for that. Seriously. I'm glad it worked out. It would have been a massive shame if she left. We don't have that many powerful combatants… and I rather like her."
"Because she tried to kill you?" Claire arched an eyebrow. "Wow. You're going to have an easy time of things with the Apocalypse, aren't you? I'd wager the vast majority of women you meet are probably going to at least consider killing you once. Lucky guy."
Alex coughed as he felt his cheeks turn red. "That's not how I meant it. Are you really going to hold that over me? It was a slip of the tongue."
"The tongue speaks what the mind believes." Claire smirked. "But if that's what you're into, I'd be happy to oblige. I'm starving. I wouldn't mind taking a bit more than normal if—"
"Oh, just drink," Alex snapped, glaring at her. "The normal amount if you would. I like the majority of my blood inside me."
Alex shifted his weight forward and started to lift a hand toward Claire, but she leaned in before he could. He stiffened as he felt her breath brush across the nape of his neck. His surprise was enough that he barely even noticed as her fangs sunk into his skin.
It was like a flashbang had gone off in his mind. He could feel Claire pressed against his side and her lips against his skin as she drank — and while he'd almost missed the initial bite, he most certainly felt her drinking.
But, for some reason, it wasn't quite as uncomfortable as he remembered.
Claire drank for several more seconds before extracting her fangs. Her breath tickled his skin once more as she pulled back quickly.
"Sorry," Claire said, her cheeks reddening slightly as she turned her head away. "I was really hungry, and there was already a cut. It wasn't helping. I should have—"
"It's fine," Alex said, blinking his surprise away. He lifted a hand toward his neck but stopped it before it could finish its journey. For some reason, his heart was beating almost as fast now as it had been during the fight. "Don't worry about it. Has it been a while since you last ate?"
"Since I last ate anything good, yeah. Monsters don't quite hit the spot like you do," Claire said. She extended a hand down toward him. "Something about all that insane challenge you're addicted to makes you taste delicious."
Alex accepted Claire's hand and let her pull him to his feet. Even though he was pretty sure she hadn't drunk all that much of his blood, the world spun for a moment as he rose. He shook himself off.
"Now who's flirting by accident?" Alex asked through a chuckle.
"Who said it was an accident?" Claire turned quickly in the direction of Mirrorwane and started off toward the town at a brisk pace. "Now, come on. We've got work to do."
"Yeah, we…" Alex trailed off mid-nod as he processed the first part of Claire's sentence. "Wait, what?"
Claire didn't respond. She'd already vanished through the trees.
Alex stared at the spot where she'd stood a moment before. His hand rose to touch the spot where her teeth had met his neck. He stood there for a second longer. Then a small grin tugged at the corner of his lips.
"Huh," Alex said.
Then he jogged out of the clearing to catch up with Claire.
