Page 71 of Undying Thirst

“Yes,” Tobias said.

The color coordination . . . kind of reminded me of something. I opened my mouth and closed it.

“Thank you?—”

“I clearly remember telling you to stick to pale shades.” Asher scowled.

“This is elegant,” Ren added, shrugging his shoulders.

The color ran line in line with the dresses in the upstairs chest. My stomach swirled with discomfort.

I hated those colors quite vehemently. This room was in Imogen’s style and that was the problem.

“I thought women liked all this?” Ren jutted his chin at Tobias. “He confirmed everything in the order, too.”

“It’s very nice, thank you?—”

“You obviously don’t like it,” Jax interjected.

“—for the space. I appreciate it,” I said louder, ignoring Jax.

“Let’s get to the conversation, I have things to do,” he continued, ignoring my words.

I clamped my lips together.

What did they need to talk about with me? A feeding schedule? I settled on the bed to see all of them. That way I wasn’t swinging my head from one vampire to the other.

I lifted an eyebrow, waiting.

“I’ll have the room changed,” Asher said to me, settling next to me on the bed.

I crossed my arms. “What do you need to say?” My heart raced and even though I didn’t want to show it, I was sure they could see the thudding pulse at my neck.

“This is our gift to you,” Ren announced. I opened my mouth, closed it, then opened it again.

“What does this mean?”

“That you’re officially the property of Crimson Coven. Humans in the vampire community must belong to a Coven.” Belong . . . as much as I hated it, my stomach dipped. I’d never belonged anywhere.

“What’s the difference compared with what we are now?”

“The difference is that now you are our official Pet.” Ren grinned. He had the sensitivity of an iceberg. I blinked. ‘Official Pet’ sounded crazy. “And we’re not going to murder you.” And that was worse.

Tobias shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. He seemed to be the only one that understood the human implications.

“We want you comfortable if you are to be our long term human?—”

“If you go around spouting nonsense of not belonging to us, we can’t protect you. We wouldn’t have a claim on you.” Ren cut Tobias off.

“How long is ‘long term’?” I feared asking it but it needed to be done even though I knew they would have no true answer. My life could end on a random Tuesday because one of them fed on me a little too much.

“As long as you desire,” Asher said, hand smoothing up my back.

Lie.

Vampires only knew how to own and devour. How long would it be before he tired of me? A knot swelled in my throat. They’d turn on me eventually.

“You will be well cared for,” Asher added, continuing to wax on about how they’d make sure everything was taken care of for me.

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