Empath (Book 1 of The Empath Trilogy)

  Ch. 33

  When I woke, James was already downstairs. I could hear his low timbre mixing with Henry’s softer tone and Troy’s clipped manner of speech. I followed the medley of wordless tones downstairs, looking for breakfast. The stress of last night had left me ravenous. Curious. Stress usually made me nauseous. The change gave me hardly a second’s pause. One more weird thing in my life wasn’t going to freak me out at this point.

  They were in the dining room, sitting at the table with a map out. James and Henry had their covered mugs; that was James’ doing. I was grateful for the lids hiding the sight of blood so early in the morning. Troy’s empty breakfast plate had been pushed off to the side. I knew he usually liked to eat a big meal and I was bummed I’d overslept that feast, my usual English muffin didn’t sound like enough this morning. James’ smoky blue eyes caught me as I entered the room and warmed when I smiled at him. He smiled back, perfectly relaxed, and I felt that tug inside my center.

  “Good morning Claire.” It never failed to amaze me how he could invoke such a physical reaction from me with the most casual of gestures.

  Still a bit groggy, I pushed my hair back with my hand. I wished for the millionth time that I had gotten my dad’s straight hair.

  The English muffins were next to the toaster, I honed in on them the minute I entered the kitchen. Perfect. I put one in and set the kettle on the stove while I waited for the toaster to pop. The men were still talking in the other room and I was leaning on the counter, dozing, thinking how much it felt like a home with the sound of their voices trailing into the kitchen.

  Feeling mellow, I walked into the dining room a few minutes later with my plate in my hand. James got up and motioned for me to sit in his chair since the fourth place at the table was taken up with atlases and books. He hovered between the others while I ate my breakfast and was almost done when the kettle whistled. Tea in hand, I returned a few minutes later to retake my seat.

  I must have been more tired or distracted than I thought because I noticed that, although I could make out what they were saying, I wasn’t absorbing the details. Instead of grasping what should have been straightforward plans, my lack of focus was blurring every few words so that I could no longer make sense of things. It didn’t matter, their voices were all I wanted to hear, not the words. Knowing we were all here gave me some minor comfort. Rubbing my temple I worried a headache was coming on.

  “Claire.” James left them to approach me while I was finishing my second cup of tea. “Are you feeling alright?” He sounded concerned.

  My voice surprised me. It was flat, my tongue sluggish and hard to maneuver in my mouth. “I’m fine. Did you get everything sorted out?”

  He eyed me strangely. “Yes, we have everything pretty well ironed out, down to some much needed outside help. We were able to find some more locals willing to step in; William was respected.”

  Waving a hand limply in the air I cut him off. “You don’t need to tell me, I heard you. I’m sure it will all work out. When are we leaving?”

  Brow furrowed, he put his hand to my head, tipping my face back so that he could look into my eyes. “If it makes you feel better, we work very well together as a family, our clan and us. This will be over before you know it.”

  I smiled lazily, perfectly accepting. “Okay.”

  His features stiffened as he tipped his face and called out low and urgent over his shoulder. “Henry, come in here.” Those vampires sure were fast, I thought to myself when Henry appeared out of nowhere.

  James spoke too low for me to hear. This time I could barely hear even the hum of his voice. I usually loved to hear him talk about anything at all. Again, he turned my face to his and I saw his lips moving but didn’t register anything he was saying. He looked in my eyes, lifting the lids and turning my head into the light. Henry checked my pulse and poked at me too before mumbling something else to James. He looked a little panicky as he followed Henry to the kitchen. Out of nowhere, I felt incredibly tired. Rising, I started to walk toward the couch. My heart started to pound in my ears and my vision blurred as the floor rose up to meet me.