Ash removed the bandage on his chest as well. The same, no trace of anything there, even though he could still remember clearly how the creature's fangs had sunk into his shoulder, how his bones had cracked as his body was slammed again and again.
He knocked on his own chest twice with his fist. No pain.
Ash stared at his reflection in the mirror for a long silent moment. The dark blue blood of the leader creature, he remembered that liquid pouring heavily over his body before his consciousness went out. He didn't know what had entered his body at that moment, and even now he had no answer that made any sense.
***
Night fell quickly. Ash carried Lyanna who had already fallen asleep on his back, one of Elira's hands gripping his arm as they walked home through the quiet streets.
Several houses along the road had already been reduced to rubble, the rest stood half destroyed with holes in the walls and partially collapsed roofs. The smell of smoke and blood still hung thick along the way.
Their house was still standing, but the front section was open to the air. The roof of the living room was completely gone, and the side wall had a long crack running from top to bottom. The bedroom at the back was in better shape, only part of its roof had caved in so the night sky was visible from inside.
Elira put Lyanna to bed without much talking, tucking her daughter in tightly even though the night wind came in through the hole in the roof above.
"Sleep well, sweetheart," she whispered close to Lyanna's ear.
Ash stood in the bedroom doorway, staring at the dark sky visible through the hole in the roof. The stars were clear tonight. He heard Elira move toward the kitchen, the soft clatter of plates and light footsteps on the wooden floor.
Then something shifted inside his body.
Not pain, not dizziness. His heart began beating faster than usual, and a hot sensation rose from the lower part of his stomach, spreading up to his chest slowly but steadily.
Ash pressed his hand against the wall for a moment, trying to identify the feeling. Not ordinary adrenaline, because his heart was racing not from tension, it felt like something was pushing from the inside.
He stepped into the kitchen.
Elira was bent over taking something from the lower shelf, her back to Ash. The curves of his wife's body were wrapped in a long skirt already crumpled and dirty with dust and dried blood, but the round shape of her butt was still clearly visible from the position she was bent in.
Ash's breathing started to lose its rhythm.
Elira turned around and nearly dropped the wooden bowl in her hands when she found Ash already standing very close behind her. Ash placed one hand on the wall beside Elira's head, cornering her.
"What is it, honey?" asked Elira. Her voice was still calm, but her eyes were searching Ash's face for something.
Ash didn't answer. He stared at his wife intently with an unusual look, not the flat expression Elira had known for years, but something heavier than that.
Elira frowned, her gaze moving to Ash's face and neck. Blue veins were clearly visible beneath his skin, like roots pressing up to the surface, visible along the side of his neck, at his temple, across the back of the hand pressed against the wall.
"Ash." Elira's tone shifted, more careful now. "What's wrong with you? Your veins ...." She raised her hand and touched the side of her husband's neck with her fingertips. "Are you alright?"
Ash didn't answer that question. His hand moved and in one pull, the cloth covering Elira's breast tore open. The woman flinched in surprise, her eyes wide as she stared at her husband.
"Ash," she called again, this time more softly.
***
"Ah ...." Elira let out a soft moan, her eyes wide.
"Honey? are you alright?" Elira was confused, her husband had never torn her clothes just to ask for her touch.
Ash usually started with gentle touches and cheap compliments that always made Elira laugh because she knew exactly what he was after. But the woman did not resist, did not interrupt.
She only watched Ash, whose breathing had quickened and felt warm against her face. Both of Ash's eyes stared at her breasts with raw hunger, as if he were seeing them for the first time.
"Ah!" Elira startled again when Ash's hands suddenly reached out and grabbed both of her breasts.
Ash pressed his face against her, sucking her nipple hard with a loud noise like someone slurping a bowl of soup. Elira winced, enduring the painful sensation.
"Honey, you're going to wake Lyanna next door with that sound."
However, Ash did not listen, the man did not say a single word. Elira gripped the edge of the table tightly to distract herself from the pain.
Ash attacked both of her breasts brutally. His mouth sucked alternately on both hardened nipples, occasionally accompanied by painful bites. After he was satisfied, Ash pulled his wife's waist, turning her body until Elira's back faced him.
CRACK!
Elira jolted in shock when the fabric covering her rear suddenly tore apart. Cold air touched the skin between her thighs. Elira became even more certain that something had changed in her husband that night.
"Honey ... are you sure you're alri–"
Her words were cut off when something suddenly entered Elira just like that. Without soft whispers, without kisses, without any touch beforehand. Elira's eyes went wide, her mouth fell open, her hands searched for something to hold onto.
"Ash ... Ah! slow down, honey!"
Her body rocked, she received thrust after thrust without resistance. That was Ash, the man she had loved for 15 years. The person she trusted and relied on completely.
The man who had saved her and the village of Pinedale. That night she only needed to carry out her duty as a wife. One hand supported Elira's body on the table, while her other hand covered her mouth tightly so Ash would not hear her cries.
***