Page 42 of The Howl
My self-paced study with Ashlyn wasn’t much better than the day before, thanks to Yanet’s very focused attention.
“I can’t believe I didn’t notice how pretty you were before now.”
Her eyes were on my chest, again, not my face.
“Please, Yanet, I really need to finish my work today,” I said for the third time.
“Yanet, if you’re not here to study, you need to leave,” Ashlyn said.
Yanet heaved a sigh.
“I better leave. There’ll be no studying with that much treasure begging to be unearthed.”
She leaned forward.
“If you ever need my help with that, let me know.” She winked an earthy brown eye at me and sashayed out of the room. She didn’t smell bad. In fact, I itched to follow her and discover exactly what—
I blinked, my vision flickering between hyper-focused and normal.
Someone sat in the chair beside me, and I made an impatient sound.
“Everything okay?” Ashlyn asked.
“Sorry, I thought it was another…” I glanced around the room and caught the kid with the great smile watching me. He winked and blew me a kiss.
“Never mind,” I mumbled to Ashlyn as I focused on my tablet.
“You know, you do look really pretty.”
The way she said it gave me an immediate uh-oh feeling. The sweet scent of her budding lust drove my hunger through the roof.
“You know better, Ashlyn,” I said without looking up. “What you’re feeling is an illusion brought on by my pheromones and body language that I’m trying really, really hard to control right now. But I need your help. Go back to your seat and think about everything your family has suffered because of creatures like me. Don’t become the next victim.”
There was a moment of silence, then the chair scraped against the floor. I exhaled slowly as she returned to her place in the front corner of the room. While her scent gradually returned to normal, I imagined what it would taste like if I’d helped it bloom. The itch to look at her clawed at me as the remaining time ticked away. I all but ran from the room when the bell rang.
I made it to the bathroom before the halls got too crowded and splashed some cold water on my face. Staring at my reflection, I watched my eyes flicker between brown and black and wondered what would happen next. Without Mrs. Quill, I’d need to feed or die. And as much as I told myself I’d rather die than feed on a human, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to stop myself. No matter what Adira and Mrs. Quill thought, I wasn’t starving yet. But I would be soon, and let the gods help whomever my hunger chose as my victim because I wouldn’t be able to.
“Hey, sucu-babe,” Belemina said, walking into the bathroom. “Wanna make out?”
“Now isn’t a good time,” I said, gripping the sink.
“I’m serious. It might take the edge off.”
I lifted my gaze to hers, knowing I’d gone full black.
“The edge and everything else you have. Are you willing to give it?”
She lifted her hands and backed up a step.
“Just trying to be a friend and help out.”
“I don’t need help.”
“Sure. Whatever you say.”
She didn’t move as I left the bathroom. Students in the hall whispered and laughed as I hurried past them. I didn’t care. I just needed to reach the next session room. Then I’d be fine.
However, when I walked into Self-Discovery, I was anything but fine. All the desks were full except one.
