The Bride of the Immortal (10 page)

“What happened?” she mumbled. At least she was conscious.

“You’re burning up. Hold still.”

Luckily she seemed to have had a soft landing. He gently put his arms under her body and lifted her up ignoring the pain as well as the spiritless protest it caused. By a hair’s breadth he would’ve dropped her when he clumsily stepped on her blanket. Adrijan cursed.

“It doesn’t befit a priest to talk like that,” the girl babbled, influenced by the fever.

He frowned. They were just a few steps away from the entrance of the bungalow, which he had managed to unlock the moment he had heard the noise.

“Good boy,” he whispered passing Nebel. “I’ll be right back. Don’t you dare collapse on me as well.”

The stallion neighed and softly nudged Adrijan with its head. The way the animal seemed to have understood what he had said, he was wondering where the immortal had found such a horse.

Carefully Adrijan stepped through the entrance, trying hard to avoid hurting the girl. Due to a mechanism the light was switched on when he entered the room.

“Put me down. I can walk,” Mairin complained weakly. Having reached the enormous bed he was more than happy to oblige. With a quick move he covered her with one of the two down quilts he had found on the bed and carefully pulled away the damp bedspread that was still underneath it.

“I’ll try to find some medicine and take care of Nebel. Please rest until I’m back. And don’t worry, I
will
come back.”

He tossed the used blanket to the ground and stepped outside. Every moment he was expecting a call from Walther, asking him about their whereabouts. Quickly Adrijan locked the door behind him and led the stallion around the bungalow to the garage. Upon using the key card the gate silently slid open and the lights went on. He was surprised that there was enough room for the motorcycle and a car and he sincerely regretted not discovering both. Like this it would be difficult to transport the frail girl from the artificial past. The floor in the far back of the garage seemed to be different from the rest and was almost completely covered with wood shavings. After Nebel had followed him inside, Adrijan closed and locked the gate and led the stallion to its dedicated place that was separated from the main part of the room by a wall that reached up to his chest. There were even two trays, one partly filled with hay and partly with a mixture of nuts and the other empty but with a tap attached. Everything looked fresh and clean and he was certain that someone had to attend to the place at least once every two to three days. While letting the second tray fill up with water, Adrijan removed Nebel’s saddle and bridle. Freed from the restraints it started nibbling at the food without further ado. His next task would be to find some medicine for Mairin. Impatiently he rummaged around in the first aid kit until he came across some paracetamol tablets. Satisfied he let the small packet slip into his pocket and put away the red box, hoping he would have no further need for it. Since the water tray still wasn’t sufficiently full Adrijan decided to take another look at the garage. There was a door which – if one believed the small metal plate on it – belonged to the generator room. A second door led back inside the bungalow.

Still having time at his disposal before he could turn off the water, Adrijan used the convenient option to fetch Mairin’s used blanket and put it on the horse’s back. Meanwhile the tray had filled up. “Take care of yourself, my boy.” Adrijan said and patted the stallion’s neck. On the one hand he was sincerely hoping the horse wouldn’t have to stay here for long and on the other he was envious of Nebel about the chance of getting some rest. Before Walther would call him again he decided to text him, saying that he had thought to have noticed the approach of one of the search parties and that he had panicked and continued his way to the cottage. He made sure to send him the coordinates of the current rendezvous point of the immortal’s agents as well and hoped he would take the bait. Now it was time to take care of the girl.

“Adrijan? Are you there?”

At the moment she was more scared of being left alone than of having to face the alleged priest. Her limbs hurt and felt as if they were made of lead.

“I’m here, just a moment!” The soft voice was coming from somewhere behind her and made her feel relieved.

“Here, swallow that.”

Adrijan bent down to her and put a pill into her hand before helping her to sit up. Once it was in her mouth he handed her a small bottle of water. Thanks to the fluid she was somehow able to force down whatever it was he had given to her.

“I’m not going to regret this, right?” she almost didn’t recognise her own voice.

“If it were my intention to hurt you I would’ve already done so. Don’t forget that the only thing standing between you and me is a little bit of air and about seven hundred grams of downs surrounded by some cloth. You should accept me as your ally for now.”

Mairin attempted a nod.

“Rest while I’m trying to find something for you to wear. I’ll stay close so just call me if you need something.”

“Thanks.”

Mairin closed her eyes and listened to the noise Adrijan’s search caused. Every now and then things he had said came to her mind, things she wanted to ask him about, but every time she thought she knew what it was it slipped away. Wrapped up in the light but warm blanket she finally gave in and dozed off.

Never had a bride been this much work. Adrijan sighed and swallowed two of the pills. Maybe it would help to reduce the pain that had gotten noticeably worse over the past hour. When he had forced his arm back into the sleeve of his coat he had noticed the blood stain on the bandage and had decided to ignore it. If everything went well he would be at the immortal’s humble home as he had called it in less than two hours. Adrijan had to admit that searching for clothes hadn’t helped his condition. Besides a considerable amount of items he didn’t want to remember in detail, the only somewhat useable clothes he had found were a wine-red silken pyjama and a warm down coat. Clearly that wasn’t the best choice for riding a motorcycle but it was preferable to wearing a torn dress. With a bit of luck he would at least be able to find two motorcycle helmets in the garage. Still, the most difficult part would be to convince the girl to change into the clothes he had found. If the medicine hadn’t worked wonders she would most likely need his help. Another sigh escaped him. He wished Viv was here to handle the situation. Under his influence women gave up their clothes all too easily. Adrijan emptied his bottle of water before he went over to the bed. Good Lord, was this day never going to end?

At first she had thought that she was still dreaming and having to admit that she wasn’t, Mairin desperately tried to convince herself that she was delirious with fever. Due to Adrijan’s request she had automatically hidden further under the blanket – a reaction that had earned her a frustrated sigh. Obviously the situation was as unpleasant for him as it was for her. Even though – and much to her regret – her temperature had gone down enough for her brain to function almost normally, her body was still afflicted by the illness. Mairin sighed as she realised that the best option was to try not to make the task that was lying before them even more difficult.

“So… to get to the immortal’s house we’re going to use a special kind of vehicle, a ‘metal mule’ as you called it?”

“That’s right.”

“And there is no side-saddle?” Mairin disliked hearing her own hoarse voice.

“Mm.”

“And these-“ Mairin barely managed to lift the clothes he had handed her. “You want me to wear these?”

“Correct.”

Despite having told herself to trust the alleged priest she ended up wavering. What he had asked of her was more than difficult, but if their pursuers were anything like the lovely acquaintance she had made not long ago in her room there was no time to lose.

“Help me then,” she requested quietly but determined and tried in vain to push away the blanket. Adrijan stared at her unbelievingly for a moment before he cleared his throat and mumbled an apology. It was apparent that he had not foreseen this kind of reaction. Promptly he knelt down on the bed to help her sit up. With his arm supporting her back Mairin managed to move into a position she was able to stay in on her own, even though it took some effort and caused her head to spin again.

She was glad that against her expectations he had let her keep the blanket. The gentle pressure of Adrijan’s hands against her arms made her turn her body to the side. Then it vanished and she could feel his touch again as he removed a few loose strands of hair from her back. Mairin quivered. Was he already about to undo her dress? She squeezed her eyes together, preparing herself for his touch. The last thing she wanted was to flinch the moment she felt his fingers on the fabric.

“Ready?” Apparently he was able to sense her tension. The fact that his voice didn’t sound as confident as before, strangely helped her to relax a little. Mairin nodded and caused some of the strands of hair to slip back over her shoulder.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she mumbled shyly.

“It’s alright.”

Mairin heard him take a deep breath and let it out slowly. The faint waft of air on the back of her neck made her shiver. Adrijan’s fingers were quickly wandering down her back now, skilfully unbuttoning the bodice. It reminded her of how she had changed the clothes of her favourite doll on her seventh birthday: in haste, keen on changing the beloved toy into the pink frilly dress her mother had sewn, yet always handling Rozha with the utmost care. She was astonished that despite the awkwardness he had displayed at first, Adrijan didn’t have any difficulties with undoing her clothes.

“Have you… done this before?” she asked reluctantly. Mairin scolded herself an idiot. What kind of question was that? Seconds that felt to her like hours passed in silence and when she thought he had decided to ignore the impertinent inquiry he finally answered.

“No… but it’s not exactly rocke-… science.”

His grumpy voice confirmed her impression that she had brought up a touchy subject. Maybe he really was a priest – one that didn’t only claim to practise celibacy. Against her curiosity she decided that this time she would pull herself together and avoid putting her nose into other people’s business. Admittedly she had no idea how she could have been so daring to ask in the first place and gladly blamed the fever for her behaviour.

“Do you want to keep that on?” Mairin felt a gentle tug at her torn undergarments. The thought of being without them didn’t make her feel more comfortable but the option of wearing the constant reminder of what had occurred to her almost made her want to tear the thin fabric off her body.

“No... if you could just...”

Never before in her life had she been confronted by such a ridiculous amount of unpleasant choices on the same day.

“Hm.”

Mairin didn’t like that sound. Was he displeased with what she had asked of him?
“Hm?” she asked nervously. A moment passed without a reply; then he hesitantly explained his thoughts.

“The material is quite thin; if I rip it in the back you should be able to stay more or less covered while removing it. Agreed?”