Page 50 of Wicked Thirst
Fuck. I bit her . . . like a bloody animal.
“Kill me. Please. Just kill me.” I murmured the pleading words to myself as I rocked in the darkness. The forest around me had gone still, the animals all aware of the bloodthirsty predator that roamed through these obscure paths.
Now, now, there’s no need to die. What a waste that’d be,the voice that plagued me all this time whispered through my mind. It was not my own and I had no idea where it came from or if it was even real. But it was smooth and deep, lulling me to do things I’d never think of on my own. Depraved things, things that would surely earn me a death sentence from The Fallen. It was so . . . enticing. I could hardly stop from listening to its tempting lulling tone.
“No!” I smacked the sides of my head. “Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!”
Sure, I’ll quiet if . . .
The words trailed off and I held my breath, waiting for the voice to finish the sentence. If I could but get a bit of quiet, I could find a way to end this. But the bouts of lucidity were few and far between, and each time I’d fallen to the voice it’d been when Piper was there to see me, to witness the monster I’d become. I looked down at the soulmate mark that I would’ve been so proud to wear had this cursed life not taken me from her.
“If? If what?” I rose to my feet, yelling my words to no one in particular.
I stumbled forward, tripping over tree roots. Low-hanging branches scraped against my skin and pulled at my hair. That voice gave a deep chuckle, like my behavior was entertaining. This wretched state of being was funny to it. It relished my suffering. And I hated it more for the poison it spread through my mind.
If you do me this favor, vampire . . .
Visions of what it wanted me to do filled my mind. One after the other I saw exactly the steps it wanted me to take, the grotesque things I would be pushed to execute. I shook my head. “No! I won’t do it!”
The visions came faster and stronger. One after another hit me until I lost my breath and fell to the ground. Pain exploded behind my eyes, and I rolled on the ground clutching my head. Mud coated my chest and what was left of my trousers. My mind slipped from me, and I once again belonged to the voice, belonged tohim.
I chuckled and nodded, feeling the last tendrils of sanity slip away. I found peace in the voice and the things it wanted me to do. The pain was no more, and my thirst felt delightfully wicked. Laughter rumbled in my chest, and I spread my arms wide over the ground, loving the cool earth at my fingertips.
Those whispers and images came so fast it was all I could see, all I could hear. “Yes, yes of course. I’ll do it.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
PIPER
“Idon’t understand how you know where the hell to go.” I stepped out of the portal with Kylian right beside me. “Can you explain it to me?”
“No.”
“No? Just like that?” I looked around. “Like, what makes you think he’s going to be in the middle of a field in the middle of the night in winter when we just found his leftovers in a pub?” I motioned to the wide-open field with all the dead brown grass. The trees were shadows against the purple sky. The sun was beginning to rise. Soon it would be a new day, and we were no closer to capturing Grayson.
Kylian rolled his eyes, sucked in a breath, and blew it out slowly. “Because I do.”
I shook my head and muttered, “Makes no sense.”
“Let me ask you this, little leech.” Kylian turned to face me with those vivid, crystal green eyes. His voice was laced with exasperation. “Do I ask you how you do all your little blood magic stuff, or do you just do it?”
I searched my mind, trying to think of how to answer how my magic worked, but I couldn’t put into words what it felt like to tap into that well that sat deep inside me. It was too difficult to even explain. My mouth gaped open, then I snapped it shut.
“I find it’s best not to ask questions.” Beckett moved from the portal and stood on the other side of me.
“Thankyou.” Kylian threw his arms up and let them flop down to his sides. “If we’re through with the twenty questions, I have a job to do.”
“Fine.” I crossed my arms and pressed my lips together.
Kylian began to walk out into the field, lifting his knees higher to step over the tall brown grass. I followed behind him and Beckett.
Astrid caught up to me and fell into step beside me. She nodded her chin toward Kylian. “Don’t pay attention to his moody ass.”
“I’m trying not to.” The truth was I wanted to know everything about Evermore. How the magic worked, and the world, and anything else that I still have encountered. Being around them made me realize how small the bubble I’d been in with Grayson actually was. Deep down I loved Evermore even though it was incredibly violent. The violence was balanced out by how magical and enchanting this world was.
“When we get this figured out, you should come and hang out at the castle with us. You’ll get to see a lot of cool things then.” Astrid smiled up at me.
“I would love that.” I nervously reached for the necklace Grayson had given me only days ago. I wrapped my hand around the pearl and fiddled with it on the chain. I glanced down, checking the color. It was still a creamy white, and yet I dreaded the moment it would change in color. This necklace would show me if I was moving close to my thirst taking over and needing to feed. The problem was I could only feed from Grayson. Only his blood would keep me from going feral.
