Page 62 of Twisted Gift

He shakes his head, smiling. “No, they don’t. That would go against everything they stand for.”

“Right.” I draw out the word, confusion clear in my voice. Until it hits me, knocking the air out of my lungs. “They made you human,” I breathe.

He nods. “I wasn’t born fae. I was changed a long time ago.”

“How does that even work?” I ask before I can stop myself.

“You mean how do humans become faewithoutkilling a fae leader? It’s a tricky process. Hell, if it were easy, you’d have fae making fae all over the place.”

I stare at him, waiting for him to tell me the actual process.

“For a human to become fae, a fae needs to feed on them while transferring their own energy into the human. They both need to be equals in that sense. It’s dangerous because their energy levels become extremely low during the process. Once that equal level is reached, the fae will drain the human’s energy.”

“That doesn’t kill them?”

“No, because of the whole energy-sharing part of the process. After that, the human exists in an in-between stage. They’re alive—barely—and they need human emotions—energy—to complete the process. Once that’s done, voilà. A fae is made.”

“Wow.”

“Like I said, it’s involved. It’s also wrong, which is why we need The Experiment.”

“I don’t want to hear your success story or whatever,” I rush to say, panic rising.

“But you should,” he insists. “If you’re lucky, it’ll be yours, too.”

Before I can respond, before I can even think to attack and feed on his emotions, Carter pulls me against him with a strong arm around my waist. With a quick murmur of apology, he tightens his grip on me. There’s a sharp poke of a needle in the side of my neck, and then Carter’s arms are around me, picking me up as warmth floods through my veins and my legs give out beneath me.

16

“Ithink she’s waking up,” an unfamiliar voice says in a concerned tone. Her voice is low, almost scared.

Of me?I wonder. No. There’s no way she’s scared of someone strapped to a bed.

Considering you all but drained the last person who was in the room while you were strapped to the bed, it’s a possibility.Damn that pesky little voice at the back of my head. She’s almost as annoying as the voices floating around the room. My head is pounding as if I spent the night drinking cheap wine.Is it morning? Night?Hell, I have no idea.

“I told you she wouldn’t be out long.” That sounds like Richelle.

I pry my eyes open and lift my head enough to scan the room, wincing as the pain behind my eyes intensifies with the movement. Richelle is standing beside the bed with Marisa and a younger-looking man behind her. Carter stands against the wall across from the bed. His expression is calm, unconcerned—the complete opposite of the guy who’s looking at me as if I’m a monster.

To him, you are.

I close my eyes again, willing the stabbing pain to subside.

“Give her something for the pain,” Carter instructs in a level tone.

“Go ahead, Aaron. She won’t hurt you,” Richelle says.

I want to laugh, but it’ll make the pain worse.

When Aaron doesn’t move, Carter huffs out an annoyed sigh. His shoes echo on the floor as he approaches the bed.

I turn my head to the side, facing him, and open my eyes, only to narrow them at him as he pushes something into my IV line.Why are you helping me?The words are on my tongue, but they refuse to come out.

“Clear the room,” Carter says, keeping his eyes on me.

“Carter,” Richelle warns. “We don’t have time to—”

“Five minutes,” he says.

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