Page 30 of The Hunger
“Thank you, Ymir.” Mom faced Dad. “Tell me you’ll be fine down here.”
He smiled and kissed her with more passion than I was comfortable with.
“I’ll be fine, Nicolette. Go. Eat. I’ll be here when you’re done.”
I sat down at the bar, and Dad joined me as Mom walked away.
“What species are you?” Dad asked Ymir.
“Dad, that’s rude. It’s not something we ask each other.”
“Oh. I apologize, Ymir. This is all still new to me. Would you like to try a piece of cake? Can you eat cake?”
Ymir chuckled. “I’m descended from Ymir, the father of all giants. I can eat cake.”
Dad happily served him a piece while Ymir mixed Dad a drink.
“Can you taste the hint of cinnamon and cayenne in it?” Dad asked after the giant swallowed his first bite. “Nicolette doesn’t like it, but I find that hint of kick exhilarating.”
The first text from Fenris came when I was only two bites into my cake. It came with a picture of my empty spot in the Quills’ garage.
Fenris: Megan and Oanen are here. You’re not. Where are you?
The next one came a while later.
Fenris: I checked their house and your parents’ house. Your car’s not there or at the Blayz. Where else can you hide with the hot springs and the cabin now being watched? I love a good game of hide-and-seek. Get ready to be caught.
I swallowed hard against the idea of Fenris catching me, and hunger twisted in my middle.
CHAPTER SIX
Fenris: You’re driving me insane. I need to talk to you, Eliana. Please don’t make me go to Adira to find you. Neither of us will like that.
I glared at the latest text. In the last two hours, Fenris had been relentless in his persistence to find me. And a part of me liked that far too much. Just the thought of how much made the hunger I’d been struggling to control all day flare brightly. My middle cramped, and the pain of it stole my breath.
Dad took that moment to push another drink at me.
“Here, try this one, baby girl. I think it’s my best one yet. I can’t wait for your mother to try it.”
His lust flared at the mention of Mom, and I pinned him with a hard stare.
“Go to Nicolette, now, or I won’t be responsible for what happens to you.”
He paled and hurried away.
“Need something, Eliana?” Ymir asked, watching me closely as he cleaned the last glass my father had dirtied.
“Yes. Your silence and your absence.”
“Maybe you should head up to one of the private rooms to rest for a while. Nicolette might have something up there to help you.”
My control faltered, and that thing inside of me stretched, luxuriating in his attention. I parted my lips and tilted my head at him. His eyes glazed over a bit, and he shuffled a step closer despite his resistance to my pull.
“Or maybe,” I said with a soft, angry purr, “you should run before I decide you can help me.”
Struggling, I pushed that thing inside of me down again and glared at Ymir as he snapped out of it.
“Now,” I said.
