A month ago, it was the same feeling that would’ve driven me away. It would’ve made me want to find a bar somewhere or a new city to disappear. Some good food in my belly and I could try to forget.
Except this felt different. I thought of Sylvie. I thought of how I could talk to her about this and I realized I expected her to help me get through it.
I put my arm around Kyla’s shoulder and let her cry. I hated that she’d had to hold it all in as long as she had, and I needed to remember this was her pain. Not mine. Whatever I was feeling was a crumb compared to the torrent of emotion she’d been bottling up over this. Worse, I was the asshole she’d probably been suffering most because of.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m so fucking sorry, Ky.” I rubbed her hair, holding her tight. She was still my little sister. Still the badass who had learned to stand up for herself. A small part of me wished she hadn’t finished the job, just so I could have a few choice words with him. Once she’d calmed down, I chuckled into the silence that had been hanging between us. “Most people would’ve settled for an angry breakup text, you know,” I said. “But you fucking killed the guy?”
Kyla grinned up at me. “I waited until he came to my room that night. Told him what I knew and gave him a chance to defend himself. I don’t think he thought I was really going to do it. But…” The humor in her eyes darkened. “I did though, didn’t I?”
“You did. And we’re going to get one more chance to punch back at the Coven and the toxic fucking culture that led to someone like him. Tomorrow.”
She nodded. “You think we have a real chance to get them all back?”
“I’ve got a plan,” I said.
“Of course you do.”
45
Sylvie
I woke at sunset the night we were supposed to leave. It had been days since I fed, and when I looked in the mirror, I noticed how sunken in I looked. I looked like a grape that had been left in a hot car for a little too long. I was mortified and didn’t want Riggs to see me like this.
I went to Kyla, slipping out of the room while he was still asleep. For all his gruff desire to never take his eyes off me, the poor man was operating on scraps of sleep. That meant he was sleeping with both eyes these days, and I was able to go find Kyla without him knowing.
We’d been given a cute little cottage to stay in near the edge of town, and Kyla was set up right beside us. I knocked on her door.
“Shit,” she said as soon as she saw my face. “You look terrible.”
I pointed to my face. “This looks better than I feel.” It was the truth, too. I felt like I was about to pass out. My legs and arms felt as if there were weights attached to them.
“You need blood,” she said. Kyla looked frustrated with herself. “I knew this might happen. You’re still so young. I should’ve made sure we took the time to find you someone to feed on, but I got so distracted with everything going on. God. This was the whole reason I came and-”
“Nobody is perfect,” I said. I tried to give her a comforting smile, but worried I looked more like a ghoulish zombie craving a fresh squeeze of brains. “But what can we do?”
“Normally I’d say we hop in the truck and go hunting for the first human we can get our hands on. But Riggs said we have to leave tonight. Probably within the hour.” She crossed her arms.
“What about his blood?” I asked. “Riggs. You said it was taboo, but…”
She hesitated, then considered. “Knowing him, he would let you do it in a heartbeat. The man hates all things vampire, but you seem to have quickly re-written his stance on that. If he sees you like this, I’m sure he’ll let you. But you understand it has consequences, right? He’ll have a fuzzy sort of window into your thoughts. He’ll know where you are at all times. And that’s all just hearsay. I don’t know what it actually feels like or what really happens. I just know it is something nobody does. Vampires don’t feed on werewolves.”
“Well,” I said. “They also don’t usually date, right?”
She grinned. “Werewolves don’t date. They bond and take mates. You’ve got to learn the lingo.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Okay, well, they don’t usually take mates cross species. So we’re already breaking rules. Why not one more?”
“Come on. We need to ask him now while you’re still aware enough to feed without trying to drain him dry.”