Page 36 of Taste of Death

“Wouldn’t that be nice.” I sipped more coffee, relaxing for the first time since we started talking. “So, blood mates. What’s that like?”

Tavia laughed softly, a blush darkening her neck and cheeks. “Oh my God, how do I put it into words? It’s the craziest, most intense feeling ofrightnessI’ve ever felt. It’s so passionate and strong, but secure and solid too. It’s always there, which is comforting, but it’s exciting too. It’s constant butterflies mixed with this deep knowing that he’s devoted to me and will never stray.” She paused, laughing again. “Does that make any sense?”

“Sounds like romance novel stuff,” I teased, then cackled at the look she tossed my way. Tavia had never been a romance reader, while I devoured hundreds of those pulpy paperbacks long into the night. Thinking about those books made me realize they were my only possessions that I missed from my previous life. They were so much fun to flip through and escape into.

“You might be right,” Tavia admitted with a dreamy grin. “I can’t believe this is my real life sometimes. That he’s really mine.”

“What does blood mates mean exactly? Is it something about your blood in particular?”

She nodded. “So it turns out my blood is like, custom-made for Cyan. That’s how I think of it, anyway. My blood fits all of his nutritional needs perfectly, so that flips some kind of switch in a vampire’s brain. It makes me taste especially good to him, and all other blood will taste terrible, like vomit-inducing. It’s some kind of vampire survival thing that keeps them hooked on the blood that will benefit them the most.”

“Wow.” I didn’t know what to expect, but it definitely wasn’t that. “So it’s actually scientific.”

“I guess so.”

“I have so many questions.” My fingers flew to my temples. “What if you find a blood mate but you can’t stand that person? What if the blood mate dies? What if you’re gay but your blood mate is an opposite sex person, or vice versa?”

“I don’t know entirely how it works.” Tavia laughed, her blush deepening. “But I will say, between Cyan and me, there was a strong… chemistry. Not just blood, but you know.”

“Sexualchemistry.” I shimmied my shoulders and waggled my eyebrows until Tavia snort-laughed. Finally, our old dynamic seemed to be finding its way back. One of my favorite parts of our friendship was how unabashedly silly we could be together.

“Notjustthat,” she said once recovered. “But just… regular chemistry, you know? He was easy to talk to. We got along as people just existing together, you know?” She grinned dreamily again. “If your blood mate is out there, I hope they make you feel the exact same way.”

“It does sound nice,” I admitted. “But it’s super rare, right?”

“Oh yeah. Bea said the last one was twenty years or so ago.”

I nodded, sinking into the couch cushions with my hands around my coffee mug. As lovely as it sounded, I had no expectations of such a thing happening to me.

Chapter 11

Amy

The night of Tavia and Cyan’s mating ceremony was a full moon, bathing all of Sanguine in silver light. Rather than the Blood ‘til Dawn compound, the ceremony was being held out in a public square.

The entire territory was invited to witness and celebrate, although the public was kept at a distance behind a roped-off perimeter guarded by Blood ‘til Dawn members. After checking in with guards, invited guests were allowed inside the perimeter where about a hundred chairs had been set out before a raised dais.

Blood ‘til Dawn seemed to be taking security extremely seriously, and shooed away many people who asked about having a seat closer to the couple. After most of the inner seats were being filled, the public began crowding around the perimeter, and I noticed some people climbing onto rooftops and balconies to watch.

My heart was fluttering with nerves as I took a seat in the farthest row from the dais, closest to the street where Novak said he’d be approaching from. For the first time, I started to have doubts that this would work. The Blood ‘til Dawn guards were turning people away with efficiency, informing onlookers that if they weren’t on the guest list, they weren’t permitted entry.

I didn’t know if Novak ever made it to the guest list. Tavia talked to Cyan, but that was all I knew. She’d gotten so busy in the last week getting fitted for her gown and preparing for the ceremony that we hadn’t had time to discuss it much. I assumed the plan was still in place because she never told me otherwise. She would find a way to tell me if it wouldn’t work, right?

In order to not alert suspicion, I opted to not visit Novak’s house in the week leading up to the ceremony. We texted every night though, and talked on the phone a couple of times. Finding new messages from him were my favorite moments of the week. Hearing my phone chirp or feeling a buzz in my pocket sent my chest fluttering.

But texts and calls were nothing compared to seeing him in person, and I found that I missed him. Least of all because it had been just over a week since I last took his blood, and the hunger had become a constant, gnawing ache.

I’d fantasized about his blood the last couple of days, which always turned into fantasies ofhim. I wondered what his body looked like under those fancy clothes, how well those strong forearms could hold me.

I was dying to see him, and yet incredibly nervous because of how much my crush on him had grown. I had to keep my attraction to him in check, had to keep reminding myself that my fantasies would stay purely in my head. Even if Novak did somehow return my feelings and desires, he was basically a vampire prince. Forget out of my league, he was out of my whole damn universe.

My phone buzzed with a message and I hurriedly checked the notification.

Coming down the street now. I’ll be there in five.

My already frazzled heartbeat kicked into overdrive as I typed out a reply.

Okay, I’m right next to the checkpoint.

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