“What did you do after that?”
“What could I do? I wasn’t strong enough to day walk for nearly a century after that, and I only discovered I could when an enemy of mine tied me and left me in the sun to die. Dominic wanted nothing to do with me. He pointed me in the direction of The Order, and I’ve been devoted to it ever since.”
“What about your family? Did they know what happened?”
“I watched them grow old and die, along with everyone else I ever cared about. Just like you will if you don’t find a way to undo this.”
I swallowed. My throat had gone suddenly dry. It was one thing to hear an immortal being talk about these sorts of things when I thought I’d never have to personally face them. Now I tried to imagine checking in on Zack, Niles, Mooney, and Parker as they ribbed one another at the old folk’s home sixty years from now. I thought about my parents passing and looking around one day to realize nobody who knew the real me was left.
But the catch was I’d still get to have Lucian. Maybe I wouldn’t be able to undo what had been done, but at least I’d have him.
“I’ll try,” I said. “But as much as it feels weird to say this, I think you really need to find me someone to drink from. I feel like I’m about to pass out.”
It was only ten minutes before Lucian had lured a woman from the bar outside and down to the historic part of town. The three of us discreetly went into an old hollowed out section of the wall encased in brick. The woman laughed nervously.
She had the sort of long, acrylic nails that made me seriously question her ability to perform basic hygiene tasks like wiping herself. She also jingled with every movement because of the excessive amount of jewelry she wore. “It’s dark here,” she said.
“Forget,” Lucian commanded in a hypnotic voice. “Be still.”
The woman slumped against his arms. He gestured for me to come closer, then pushed her hair away from her neck and let her head lull to the side.
“Do what feels natural,” he said.
The strangest tingling sensation started to spread in my mouth. It was oddly pleasant, and I felt a swelling beneath my teeth. Then two points were pressing against my lower lip.
In disbelief, I raised my hand and touched my sharp, elongated canines. I was lightheaded with hunger but couldn’t stop myself from thinking how completely insane this was. I looked up at Lucian, trying to smile and feeling ridiculous with my protruding teeth. “Do I look hot?” I asked, struggling to talk around the large teeth.
Lucian gave me a suffering, but adoring look, showing his dimple when he smiled. “You look wonderful. Now please stop playing with your teeth and feed.”
I gulped, stepping closer to the woman. “It won’t hurt her?”
“She won’t remember a thing.”
I took a deep breath, then lowered my mouth toward her neck. It all felt wrong in so many ways. For starters, crazy nails or no nails, I had no idea if this woman even showered. What if she never washed her neck? Or what if her boyfriend had just slobbered all over it before she got to the bar?
I paused. “Do you carry any wet wipes to clean it off before, or—”
“Cara,” Lucian said in a deep rumble. “You are immune to sickness and disease. You will be fine. Now feed.”
I closed my eyes and opened my mouth, fighting the natural instinct not to bite a random ass stranger in a darkened corner of the city. I felt my teeth punch through skin and then the blood spurted into my mouth like I’d just bitten into a grape. If grapes were full of blood that tasted nothing like blood was supposed to taste, that was.
I nearly fell back at how good it felt.
Silky, rich waves of her blood filled my mouth and it was better than any meal I’d ever had. Each drop seemed to make me swell with boundless energy and a sort of buzzing, internal electricity.
“That’s enough,” Lucian said, pulling the woman away from me. I was left hunched forward, mouth open and blood dripping from my chin. I ran my index finger up against one of the drops and sucked it dry, then felt incredibly dirty and gross when I thought about what I’d just done.
“Ugh.” I stepped back, wishing I had something to wipe myself clean with.
Lucian searched my eyes. “How do you feel?”
I ran the back of my hand across my chin. “Good. Weird, but good?” I was still not used to talking with elongated teeth poking my lips and made a mental note that I would need to practice that at some point.