Page 127 of Taken By the Fae

He grins. “If you could sound less enthused, that’d be great.”

I sigh, glancing back out to the window toward the feeding unit. The nerves in my stomach tangle tighter and form a heavy pit. “Why are we here, Nikolai?”

He drums his fingers against the steering wheel. “To adopt a puppy,” he remarks dryly.

“Hmm. Fine line between lying and joking, huh?”

Nikolai chuckles. “Yep. Now, let’s do this. Practice will make you better.”

I arch a brow at him, unbuckling my belt and dragging in one breath after another, trying to calm my jitters over feeding again. “Not perfect?”

“One step at a time, hotshot.”

We walk into the feeding unit, and despite my nerves, I try to keep an open mind. I have to be careful here—I need to get better at this. Inhaling through my nose, I’m reminded of the last time we were here. The pleasant, fresh smell is reminiscent of a spa. Exhaling brings the release of some tension from my chest and shoulders as we step up to the reception desk. Relief shimmers through me when I see a different human behind it today, someone who didn’t see me rush out of here after nearly killing the first human I fed on.

“Hello there,” the guy says, offering a kind smile. “Can I get you both set up with feeders?”

“Just her, please,” Nikolai answers.

We’re led to a private room like the first time, and Nikolai stands near the door, while I sit next to the human in the recliner—she can’t be much older than me.

I take her hand, recalling Nikolai's past direction. I take a deep breath and close my eyes, brushing my thumb over the girl’s palm. A quick gasp escapes my lips as her vibrant, warm energy zips through me. I pull it in, consuming each tendril of colorful emotion as she sighs softly.

I let go, my pulse pounding and my chest rising and falling faster than normal. When I open my eyes, Nikolai is observing me.

“You can take more,” he says.

I press my lips together for a moment. “I don’t want to hurt her.”

He nods. “You won’t, I’m here. Keep going if you want to.”

With a steadying breath, I rest my hand on her knee this time, keeping my eyes on her face while I latch onto her energy again. Her eyes flutter shut as a smile curls her lips, and she makes a soft sound at the back of her throat. She’s enjoying this, which is good for her—so long as I’m careful not to take too much. Pleasure floods through her and into me, warm and sweet like pink taffy, and a blush creeps across my cheeks. My thoughts veer, returning to the meeting with Tristan this morning. As hard as it was to see him, it was also… really nice, because I fucking miss him and want him andcravehim. The heat from my cheeks dips much lower, and I squeeze my thighs together, pulling my hand off the girl’s knee. I’ve taken enough from her; I feel freshly revitalized, as if I’ve just woken from the best nap of my life. Between the crackle of energy and the heat of arousal flooding my body, I take a moment to stand.

Nikolai opens the door for me, and we walk out of the private room, stopping at the reception desk to pay—which feels incredibly weird—before returning to the car.

“I’m proud of you, young grasshopper,” Nikolai says, shooting me a grin. “You crushed it this time.”

“Thanks, mentor,” I offer with a small smile.

“Now that you’ve fed properly, you should have no problem glamouring yourself. Think you can give it a shot?”

“I feel like I can do just about anything right now.”

“Good. You’ll have to let down the existing glamour and build your own. It’s all about visualization. Find a place in your mind where you can focus and picture those human features being stripped away.”

I close my eyes and listen to the deep sound of his voice, following his instructions. “No one’s walking by the car, right?”

“You’re good,” he assures me.

I blow out a breath, clenching and unclenching my hands and feet to get to a place of deeper calm, deeper concentration. I focus on each feature—my ears, my eyes, my teeth, my skin—and pull back the glamour as if I’m removing one of those face masks that looks as if you’re peeling off your actual face. It works effectively based on Nikolai’s words of encouragement.

“Time to glamour yourself now,” he says. “It’s kind of the same idea as shielding your emotions, except you're hiding physical attributes instead of internal ones.”

“Right, okay.” I think back to the night at the pub when Allison taught me to hide my emotions and put that into play as I picture the point of my ears becoming rounded and human. Next, I work to hide the blue hue of my skin, visualizing it like a light fading before turning out completely. Once each of my physical fae characteristics are, to the naked eye, gone, I exhale a heavy breath and open my eyes.

“Damn,” Nikolai whistles. “You did that in record time. See what happens when you stop fighting what you are and allow yourself to embrace it? The small things aren’t such a struggle.”

I can’t help the smile on my lips as a mix of pride and relief blossoms in my chest, because he’s right. That went exceptionally better than the last time, and it gives me hope that each time after will get easier.

---