The Blood Alchemist; Chapter 8

I open my eyes slowly, taking in the morning light, dimmed by the curtain. Closing my eyes, I stretch languidly, taking a deep breath to release it slowly. I turn my head to find Olivia's spot next to me empty.

Panic spikes through my mind as I turn to the edge of the bed, reaching for my sword. I freeze when I notice her.

She sits in the only chair in the room, watching me in quiet amusement as she ties off her braid. "Good morning."

My muscles relax as I sit up, swinging my legs over the edge. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

Olivia tosses her braid over her shoulder. "I was going to. You woke up before I could." She calmly rises from the chair, walking over to the table to grab her backpack.

A thought occurs to me. "Were you watching me sleep?"

"Don't flatter yourself." She swings her backpack over her shoulder, turning to walk to the door. She pauses there, turning her head to look at me, smiling sweetly. "You aren't that cute."

Olivia slips out the door before I can respond. I smirk to myself in amusement as I reach for my boots.

Downstairs, Olivia stands at the counter, eyes watching the door. Her eyes move to me as I stop beside her. "William is getting our horses ready and I've paid our dues."

I nod. "Alright." I blink, brow furrowing. "Wait. Where did you get the money?"

She pulls a coin pouch from her pocket- my coin pouch. "I figured you wouldn't mind me borrowing some of yours, husband," Olivia smirks at me.

"Oh, so you're a thief as well?" I snag my coin pouch from her hand, leaning in close. "I hope you know I fully intend to get you back, wife."

Her smirk doesn't falter. "Oh really?"

I can feel the warmth of her breath brush across my skin. This close I can see the ring of gray encircling the blue of her eyes, lacing through it. I want to respond, but my mind is struggling to form any coherent thoughts.

I'm saved from responding by the sound of the door opening. We pull apart, looking to find William walking towards us. "Your horses are ready."

xXxXx

Olivia bites into the apple. Her horse nudges his head closer, sniffing for the apple. Olivia holds the apple out, away from her horse as he muzzles her face, searching for it. I can see her smiling, as she reaches up with her other hand to push his face away from hers.

I carefully tuck the new supplies into one of my horse's saddlebags. As I do so, I let my eyes casually scan the area. I hadn't seen Clyde and I didn't expect to, but I couldn't help but keep an eye out for him.

"Do you think we also should have set a time?" Olivia casually asks before taking another bite of her apple.

I look at her to find her scanning the market as well. "Probably wouldn't have hurt."

Clyde could have already passed through the town as easily as he could just be arriving. With no set time to meet, it was hard to say how long we should wait outside the town before assuming something bad happened, provided Clyde wasn't already on his way to the meeting point or already there. Then he would be the one debating how long to wait before assuming the worst.

Pulling my mind back to the present, I sinch the saddlebag shut. "We can worry about that when we get there."

"I know. . ."

I look back to find her scanning the market again, frowning slightly. For all her acting like she didn't care, she seemed to be worried about him.

I walk over to her, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Clyde will be fine. If anything, we should be more worried about keeping him waiting."

Olivia arches an eyebrow. "We could always just keep going if he's not there waiting."

It's my turn to arch an eyebrow. "Oh? And here I thought you and Clyde were starting to get along."

Olivia smirks. "I tolerate Clyde. Nothing more."

"And what about me?"

"What about you?" Olivia eyes the hand still resting on her shoulder.

"Do you just tolerate me? I was beginning to think you thought of me as a friend, Olivia."

"If we were friends, you'd be calling me Liv," Olivia brushes my hand off her shoulder before biting into her apple.

"Is that an invitation," I smile at her, "Liv?"

She freezes mid-bite, holding my gaze. Slowly, she lowers the apple from her mouth. "I don't know Bastian." Her eyebrow arches up again. "Is it?" She challenges calmly.

I can't think of any response. My mind is running as fast as it can, but it's just churning water.

I reach out, wrapping my hand around her hand holding the apple. Holding her gaze, I lift our hands, turning the apple towards me. Her eyes stay locked on mine, hand not even twitching as I bite into the apple. She says nothing as I chew the bite and swallow.

"I think we both know we're well past the point of invitations," I say, lowering our hands. "After all, we did share a bed last night, Liv."

Something flashes through Liv's eyes too fast to read, as she turns away from me, hand sliding from mine.

"No thanks to your lie, Bash" She reminds me, flipping the reins of her horse over his head. Placing the apple in her mouth, she bites down on it before maneuvering herself, quite expertly now, into the saddle. I can hear the crunch of the apple as she pulls it from her mouth. "Let's get going," she says around the bite before turning her horse.

As I move to mount my horse, I notice a man across the market looking at me. In a second, I recognize it's Clyde. From the title of his head, I have no doubt he saw that whole scene.

I shrug casually before mounting my horse, moving to follow Liv out of the city.

At the gate, the guards don't stop us to question us. Apparently, they only care about who comes, not who leaves.

Finishing her apple, Liv offers the core to the horse who happily accepts it. I can feel her eyes on me. "You don't seem too worried about keeping Clyde waiting now."

I shrug. "I spotted him entering the market as we left," I lie. I silently pray Clyde doesn't mention what he saw to Liv. Why it matters, I'm not sure. "There's no need to rush. He'll catch up."