Page 6 of Caution

The look on his face as he finished walking up to me made something click.

Hewas the reason I wasn't scared.

Not because of some insane idea that he was protecting me.

More like… he was literallyfeedingon my fear.

“Not feeding,” he said, looming over me. “Siphoning. Would you rather be scared?” he asked and my immediate response was to nod.

Naively.

The manufactured calm lifted for me all at once and a poignant sense of horror settled over me.

Vampires.

He’d said fuckingvampires.

And I could clearly see the fangs gnashing from my likely adversaries as they struggled against some invisible force. Their voices invaded my head. No, not their voices, their…desire.

To consume.

To drain.

To rip me apart.

A scream bubbled up in my throat, but before I could push it out, Cassius was on me. Hand at my throat, mouth to my ear.

“Don't scream.”

I didn't.

Couldn't.

I could only watch, transfixed by horror as he ambled around the group, pressing a finger to the chest of each one. Or at least, that was all heappearedto be doing.

Somehow though, one by one, they dropped to the ground, dissolving into piles of ash, getting picked up and blown about in the night breeze.

“This isn't real,” I told myself aloud, shaking my head. “This isn't real. I am not getting enough sleep and that fucking melatonin is giving me nightmares.”

“You're not getting sleep because this is not when you aremeantto sleep.”

Suddenly, Cassius was right next to me again.

“What?” I questioned, but he didn't respond to that. Instead, he posed a question of his own.

“Was there something confusing about it, when I warned you about being out by yourself at night?” he asked.

“What?”

Apparently, that was the only word in my brain—not unreasonable, considering the circumstances.

And still, he ignored me.

“It’s too soon for this. But we can't have your blood getting just anywhere.”

“What?”I asked, yet again, despite the fact that I hadn't even gotten an answer to the first one. “This is too much,” I declared. “You need to get the hell away from me. You need tostaythe hell away from me,” I demanded.

“Unfortunately that's not a request I'm going to be able to oblige,” he said. “I need you to come with me.”

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