Nereus quickly sunk back into the bathtub to fashion himself an eyepatch, causing another wave of water to splash out. There wasn’t enough to use for clothes, but Zephyr threw one of the spare robes in his direction.
"It’s fine! There’s no need to panic," Daphne hurriedly said, as Nereus wrapped the spare robe around himself and rose from the tub, causing it to be drenched in bathwater.
"No, I’m not panicking," Nereus said, in the tone of soone who was indeed panicking.
"I just wanted to see you. I wanted to apologize. I should have co to look for you sooner. I nearly lost you. I... I thought you died," Daphne confessed quietly.
Nereus faced her and blinked. His eyepatch rippled with the movent.
"You were busy," Nereus replied slowly, his voice equally soft. "And you still saved . Again. Without you, I would have died in the dungeons, with Alistair for company."
When Daphne looked up, her face was stricken with tears. The apples of her cheeks were gleaming with trails left behind, her lips quivering as she stared, glassy-eyed at Nereus, who only smiled softly back in return.
The warr his smile, the worse Daphne felt inside. Her eyes fell onto the eyepatch that covered his wound. If she had been any sooner, he would’ve kept his eye. There wouldn’t have been a need to remove it.
"Did it hurt?" she asked.
There was no need for Nereus to ask what Daphne was asking about. Her fixated gaze was telling enough.
Hence, he rely shook his head.
"I was unconscious throughout," he said.
"So was I," Zephyr piped in.
As he poked his head back into the bathroom, a delicious aroma of roasted chicken filled the air. He bit into the drumstick in hand, chewing ravenously at the at. All of a sudden, Daphne understood why Nereus had mistaken her for the kitchen help. They must’ve paid plenty of visits to their room with refreshnts and food during this ti.
"You don’t have to worry too much about us, Daphne," he said. "We heal much faster than average humans. A few scrapes here and there wouldn’t be enough to get us down."
"No, but the lack of food might," Nereus grumbled under his breath. He gave a subtle look to the stack of bones placed to one side of the room, no doubt Zephyr’s handiwork.
"It’s not like the royal palace can’t afford to have fed," Zephyr quickly retorted. He cleaned the at off the bones, tossing it over his shoulder without even looking. Miraculously, it landed right at the top of the stack, neatly balanced with the rest of the bones. "We need food for our bodies to heal properly. Unlike you, who have been skipping als all day."
Daphne imdiately frowned, the skin between her eyebrows wrinkling as she folded her arms across her chest.
"Skipping als?"
"I have not!" Nereus imdiately said, frantic. Alarm dashed across his eye as he shook his head wildly before he turned to Zephyr and gave him a hard whack on the back of the griffin’s head. "Don’t spout nonsense."
"Ow!" Zephyr dodged, using his large wings to shield himself. "Carrots and celery cannot be enough nutrition for you," he said. "Ow, stop it! Daphne, help!"
Watching this unfold, Daphne rely chuckled, her heart warm and fuzzy. It was great knowing that Zephyr and Nereus were both safe. Then, her mind flitted back to Silas, who was now alone in the infirmary. He probably wouldn’t wake up anyti soon, but Leonora’s worried expression before she left was a mory that kept pinching at Daphne’s chest.
"Is there sothing wrong?" Nereus asked, taking a step forward.
He had paused thwacking Zephyr’s dumb skull and had instead used the ti to put on so dry clothes. It was just a top but that was better than nothing. He couldn’t change while Daphne was still in the room.
"Alistair is missing," Daphne said.
"We’ve heard," Zephyr replied. His expression turned serious. "Is that an fu― I an, is King Atticus out there looking for him now?"
Daphne nodded. She quickly filled them in on what had happened, all the way from Alistair’s insanity and Hazelle’s death, to Silas’s injury. When she was done catching them up with the current events, both n grew quiet.
"Vampirism has no cure," Nereus slowly said. "But Prince Alistair is unlikely to be the first victim."
"Do you know what they did in the past to curb it, in that case?" Daphne asked, hopeful. Nereus did sound like he knew a thing or two, which was surprising. She had always thought vampirism was more of a myth than history.
"There are ways hunters can injure the vampire, but it wouldn’t be enough to kill him," he answered. "Blessed weapons would work, particularly weapons made of silver."
Daphne wrinkled her nose. That was easier said than done. The church had been razed to the ground by the dragon when it had attacked Wethstadt not too long ago. Ever since then, it had been undergoing construction work. It would be difficult to get a silver weapon blessed, especially in such large quantities to arm every mber of the army with it.
She shook her head.
"Anything else?"
"Not that I know of," Nereus honestly answered. "Kelpies are not very... social creatures." He rubbed the back of his head.
"You an that you guys are taboo," Zephyr said with a deadpan.
Nereus shrugged, neither denying nor agreeing with what Zephyr said. Dark creatures hardly interacted with one another. They had entirely different habitats, especially since vampires — if they ever existed — road on land while kelpies dominated the underwater world.
There wasn’t a need for Nereus to know these things, especially when he had never encountered a vampire himself before.
Hopefully, Prince Nathaniel and Sirona were having a better ti. If they managed to find a breakthrough, Atticus would need to be inford at once. Judging by Alistair’s insane healing capabilities and thirst for blood, it was only a matter of ti before Reaweth’s street would be painted red if they didn’t stop him soon.
A chill ran down Daphne’s spine. She had a bad feeling about this.
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