Page 56 of Blood and Magic
My canine teeth stung and, when I ran my tongue over them, I froze from how sharp and long they’d become.
What the hell?
I clenched my eyes shut, running through the last thing I remembered.
“You’re in transition, baby,” Vermillion had said.
What the hell was transition? I held my hands up to look at them, sensing something was different about my fingernails, even if they looked relatively the same. The sides of my neck twinged, and when I touched them, I winced at the puncture wounds.
“Hey,” came the low grumble from my right. Vermillion rolled over and blinked up at me with dark bags under his eyes. His cheeks had sunken in on his face, and his torso looked gaunt, his ribs pronounced under his skin. Deep wounds had been carved into his throat on either side. Were those bite marks? Was that what ached on my neck?
“Holy shit, Mill.” I gasped. “What the hell happened to you?”
He smirked and let out a little laugh, pushing himself upright so he could lean against the headboard. “How are you feeling?”
“Okay, I guess,” I said, sitting beside him. “My muscles hurt. I feel like I ran a marathon, and there’s something else…something inside. I’m different.” I didn’t know how to put it into words. “Are those bite marks on your neck?”
I had the sneaking suspicion I’d made them, that I was responsible for the entire way he looked.
Mill nodded and ran a hand back through his hair. “We should talk. But first…we both need to eat.”
My stomach chose that moment to grumble as if agreeing with his assessment of the dietary situation. He sat up and swung his legs to the side of the bed to brace before standing. When he wobbled and put a hand out on the wall to steady himself, I scrambled after him to help, only realizing once I was fully upright that we both were naked. Vaguely, I understood we’d spent the last however long fucking and doing other things in the bed together, so I didn’t know what I was so ashamed of, but I grabbed the top quilt and wrapped it around myself anyway while he slid his boxers up his legs.
Mill eyed my makeshift robe but said nothing as he walked to his kitchenette on the other side of the cabin. I followed him, wary about what had happened between us and what he might have done to me…or what I might have done to him.
Something was wrong. Smells hit stronger, and the world seemed more alive. As I sat at his dining room table, the scent of sweat and man drifted off him, an aroma distinctly his but more. When he opened the fridge, I caught the salty deliciousness of sliced turkey and Swiss cheese, even before he put the packages on the counter. There was leftover chicken in there and broccoli and ham, and…were those burgers?
My stomach made another loud rumble, and he glanced over his shoulder at me with a smile.
“I was starving after my transition, too. It’s normal. The magic takes a lot out of you.” He grabbed a plate and piled bits of meat and cheese in the center. I stood to help him, but he put a hand out. “Sit. It’s my job to bring it to you.”
“Your job?” I laughed. “What does that mean? Mill, what’s going on? What’s a transition?”
He sighed and stuffed a thick slice of ham into his mouth before nodding and plopping more down on the plate, clearly intended for me. He put more meat on top—chicken, burgers, turkey. He even grabbed an apple and sliced it into pieces while he talked.
“Maeve, I’m a werewolf. A shifter,” he said, turning to bring the plate to the table. He sat down next to me and placed the food between us. “And as of yesterday, you’re one, too.”
He grabbed a piece of ham steak and held it out to me as if he wanted me to open my mouth so he could place it inside. I stared at him.
“What?”
“A shifter. Here, you need to eat.”
I couldn’t wrap my brain around what he was saying, and the whole thing seemed so ridiculous that I giggled.
Mill lowered the food and raised an eyebrow. “Why are you laughing?”
“I mean…you’re joking, right?” I chuckled. “A shifter? And I’m one, too? What? Is some sparkly emo vampire going to burst through my window to watch me sleep?”
He furrowed his brows, his features dropping. “If he does, I’ll tear his ass apart.”
When I realized he wasn’t joking, I straightened. “Wait…you’re serious?”
“Yes,” he said. “But I think you’re maybe a fox.” He stuffed ham into his mouth and held another bigger piece out for me. This time, I accepted it. “Like your sisters.”
Like my what?
I paused mid-chew, the weight of surprise and shock hitting me square in the gut. I knew they’d been keeping something big from me and Ava. But no, it couldn’t be. This wasn’t real. This was ludicrous. Mill was fucking with me.
