Page 4 of The Hunger
“I fed on Fenris,” I said raggedly. “I broke him.”
“We could fix this,” she said, looking over her shoulder at Oanen.
The griffin I thought of as a brother looked just as grumpy as I remembered.
“She needs her friend, not another busybody. She has enough of those,” he answered.
“Fix what?” I asked, ignoring him. “Fenris? How? I’d do anything.”
Megan turned toward me again, the fire in her eyes burning bright for a moment.
“I love Oanen, but sometimes I want to rip his wings off.”
Oanen snorted.
“You threaten that at least twice a day, and I still have both wings. Admit it. Love always wins over hate.”
Megan rolled her eyes at me.
“Do you want him back?” she asked.
I shook my head and gave a small laugh.
“I missed you both so much.”
“Then you shouldn’t have kept me away.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, fighting a fresh wave of self-hate tears.
“Nuh-uh. None of that. Nothing is as bad as it seems. I promise. You think you broke Fenris. We’ll help you deal with that—”
“Megan,” Oanen said with warning.
“—in whatever way we can. What else is going on? You’ve mentioned several things during our calls. Please tell me the mermaids are still being a pain in your ass. I’m itching to go for a swim.”
I wrinkled my nose.
“The druids have been mindwiping them because of me and the spell they did that made Ashlyn disappear. More lives I ruined.”
“Eliana, enough of this nonsense,” Mom said. “I understand that you’re upset, but you’ve done nothing irredeemable or Megan wouldn’t be here, lovingly holding you. Maybe you’re just hungry.”
I turned on Mom, my eyes completely black.
“Don’t, Mother,” I warned.
She instantly looked down in deference, but it was too late. Thanks to her unhelpful reminder, I was suddenly paying way more attention than I should have to the lust coming off of Megan and Oanen.
“Oanen, my dad is around here somewhere. Find him and stay with him, please,” I said, not taking my eyes off of my mom.
“Hey,” Megan said, grabbing my face. Her warm hands and gentle pressure coaxed me into looking at her. “I already told you, your eyes don’t bother me. And I know they don’t bother Oanen.”
“It’s not my eyes, Megan. It’s my hunger. I told you that you and Oanen are...” I shook my head, unable to say more.
“Huh. Yeah, I remember you mentioned something about being too tempting as a newly mated couple.” She patted my cheeks a bit forcefully. “And yet, here I am in your mom’s living room, completely unmolested.” She glanced at Oanen. “You still unmolested, bird-boy?”
“Megan, leave her alone.”
“Oh no. Not this time.”
