Page 120 of Taken By the Fae

Cringing at my awkward inability to get out the question, I nod.

“About five years.”

I want to ask how she got into it, but that doesn’t seem appropriate. I’m also taken aback by the attitude of this woman. Shewantsto be here. Nikolai said they’re compensated and that it can be pleasant for them, but it still feels kind of icky to me. Having been on that side before I became fae, I don’t think I’ll ever understand the desire to be fed on. The invasion of privacy and autonomy makes my skin crawl.

“I don’t know how this works,” I say, wiping my hands on my thighs.

“That’s what I’m here for,” Nikolai chimes in. “The feeding process is quite simple. Being fae, you need human energy to survive. It sustains us. Don’t ask me why. I’m not into science or magic or whatever the hell you want to call this. Anyway, we siphon energy, which stems from human emotions. Some fae have a preference of which they enjoy most, but at this point you might not be able to tell different emotions apart in terms of how the energy makes you feel. We’ll have to see. Now, for the good part.” He winks at the woman, reaching for her wrist, and holds it where it sits on the armrest, wrapping his fingers around it. She closes her eyes, sighing as if she’s enjoying herself. After a couple of moments, Nikolai pulls his hand away and shoots me a grin, his eyes glowing faintly. “Easy as that,” he says simply, not as if he just sucked energy out of a human being.

“Easy?” I echo. “I don’t know what you did.”

Nikolai offers me his hand. I blink at it a couple of times before placing mine on top. He turns our hands over and guides mine against the woman’s arm. “Close your eyes,” he instructs. “It’ll help you concentrate.”

“Do I have to touch her?”

“Yes.”

I nod and follow his direction, letting my eyelids flutter shut, feeling the warmth of his hand on mine and mine on the human’s.

“Visualize yourself pulling the energy out of her. See her emotions as a physical thing. A ribbon of color. Pull it out of her and feel it flow into you.”

I picture her energy as a bright pink rope that’s wrapped around her. Once I grab it, I gasp at the influx of energy that surges through me. It seeps into me as I continue pulling on the rope.

Nikolai lifts his hand off of mine, letting me feed on my own, praising me in a soft voice as energy keeps flowing into me, easing the aches in my muscles and the nausea in my stomach until it’s gone completely. Waves of emotion trickle through that ribbon. My lips curl into a blissful smile, my shoulders feel light; I feelgood. Oh my god, this is amazing. Euphoric, even. I feel more awake, more alive than I ever have. I don’t want this feeling to stop. Even when my gums throb with pressure, and I suck in a breath as my teeth transform into a mouthful of razor-sharp fangs.

“Aurora,” Nikolai cuts into my warm, fuzzy thoughts. “That’s enough.”

My grip tightens on the woman’s arm as if I’m worried he’ll take her away from me. She whimpers under my touch, but I keep my eyes closed, still pulling energy from her. A flicker of panic cracks through my veins, almost like a pins and needles sensation shimmering across my body, but I can’t let go. This sensation is all-consuming—I can’t give it up.

“Aurora,” Nikolai snaps, ripping my hand away from her arm. She slumps in the chair, her eyes fluttering before she passes out. The sight of her still form and pale face is like a bucket of ice water being dumped on me.

I suck in a sharp breath and cough on the dryness in my throat. “I…” My legs move on their own, lifting me from the chair and hurrying down the hallway and out of the building. I ignore Destiny when she calls after me, her voice drowned out by the pounding of my heart.

Someone grabs my elbow and spins me around. My eyes lift to Nikolai’s soft gaze. Understanding fills the bright green irises, which makes me feel worse, as if he was expecting this—for me to mess up and hurt that woman.

“Aurora, it was your first time.” He lifts a hand and glamours me so my teeth return to normal.

“Don’t,” I plead. “I don’t want you to tell me what I just did was okay, because it wasn’t. I could have killed her.” This is exactly what I was afraid of. If I can’t feed without losing control, how am I supposed to survive being fae?

“But youdidn’t.”

I shake my head. Even as my entire body sings with energy and power, all I can feel is shame wrapping its dark, heavy tendrils around me.

ChapterThirty-Five

When Nikolai asks me to come to The Iron Lounge with him instead of going back to the dorm, part of me thinks he just doesn’t want to leave me after what happened at the feeding unit. I don’t question him, though, mostly because I really don’t want to be alone right now.

When we walk inside and I see Skylar standing at the bar, my stomach sinks.What is she doing here?

Deacon throws his hands up and comes around the bar, putting a cigarette between his lips. “I’m going for my break,” he mutters to Nikolai on his way past. The door slams shut behind him. A few sets of eyes turn to look, but quickly lose interest.

Skylar huffs out a breath, shaking her head before tossing her pin-straight, inky hair over her shoulder. Her eyes flick past me to a booth.

I turn and find a fae glaring at Skylar. I don’t expect him to do or say anything, not with human patrons close by, but hell, if looks could kill.

Skylar rolls her eyes and turns her attention back to me, crossing her arms. She’s dressed formally, as I’m used to seeing her, in an emerald, knee-length dress over sheer, dark stockings. Her long black wool coat likely cost ten times what my winter jacket cost when I bought it three years ago. “I went to your dorm. Allison was on her way out and said you weren’t there.”

“She was with me,” Nikolai cuts in, grinning like a cat.

---