Page 12 of Shifters' Fated Summer
“Here, forks are in the caddy.” He reached past me, and a tattooed arm brushed my waist before I jerked away. Again, his skin was a furnace, warmer than my own. With one eyebrow raised in question, he offered me asharp-looking metal fork. “Summer?”
My skin tingled where he had touched me, and I desperately tried to ignore it as he held out a plate.
“This is…” I trailed off, taking the plate from him. Every piece of this was bizarre, and I didn’t even know where to begin.
Typically, we were fed plain foods on paper plates and bowls with plastic silverware. But Luca handed me a glossy ceramic plate. It was heavy even without the lump of saucy food in the middle. A spicy scent wafted off the unfamiliar concoction.
“Delicious looking?” he filled in my unfinished sentence.
With an ease I envied, he used the side of his fork to cut a piece, speared it, and popped it in his mouth. A low rumble rolled from his chest, and my stomach clenched.
“Whatisit?” I asked, poking at the food. It was a swirl of greasy yellow and watery green, with something beige at the bottom. Little flecks that looked like chopped up leaves freckled the top.
Luca cocked his head. “Green chili chicken enchiladas.”
“Oh,” I said, having no clue what most of those words were. I remembered chicken, and the color green obviously, but I’d never heard of enchiladas.
Clumsily, I copied his motion and severed a corner before eating it off the fork. Bright, hot flavors burst across my tongue, tempered by a fatty,creamy taste. My eyes watered, and I forced myself to chew and swallow it.
“That’s so hot,” I said, eyeing the rest of the dish suspiciously. “Like temperatureandflavor. How is that possible?”
When my gaze rose, Luca was right in front of me, looking down at my face with concern pinching his brows. “What do you normally eat?”
Inching back, I set my fork down. “I don’t know, foods. Bread, oatmeal, maybe cereal.”
“Meat?” I shook my head. “Anything spicy?” he asked.
“Is this spicy?” My nose wrinkled as I peered down at the enchilada.
“Yeah, it’s spicy but also hot. I’m getting the feeling you didn’t have heated showers, heated food, anything.” His jaw ticked again, and I wasn’t sure how to interpret it.
“Of course not. That’s not normal.”
“It’s not normal they didn’t give you hot food or have a fucking water heater. That must have been absolutely miserable.”
His pity cracked something inside of me, breaking open the delusion I was currently living. I was eating with my kidnapper as if he were a friend, and he was making me question my entire life.
Were things miserable in the den? Sure.
But cold food and cold water was nothing to cry about. I’d been through so much worse.
That was life. They gave me a home and I was so grateful. I loved Evrin. And Luca was making me questionthings.
Turning away to hide the tears pricking in my eyes, I spied a bowl of apples on the counter. “Can I have some?”
Luca nodded, and I slipped an apple into each pocket, steeling myself to face him.
“Look, I appreciate all of this - the clothes and food. But I should be going. How do I get out of here?”
Luca’s expression closed off, his brows lowering and jaw tightening. “I’m afraid that’s not a good idea.”
Anger sparked in my chest. Was he serious?
“Didn’t you just try to convince me that my vampire was bad because he wouldn’t let me leave? Pretty hypocritical of you to do the same thing, don’t you think?” My lip curled, showing off my own teeth.
At least he had the decency to look ashamed. “Summer, you’re going to go into venom withdrawal soon. We can’t let you do that alone. You could die.”
That spark of irritation turned to a cold chill.
