Page 5 of Shifters' Fated Summer
They broke apart, the tattooed one grinning. The blond one shook his head, his brows pinched and mouth flat in exasperation.
“Look who’s awake,” the first one cooed,glancing my way.
My eyes closed against my will, unable to stand the light another second.
“You doing okay, wildcat?” he asked.
“It’s too bright,” I whined.
“It’s just morning,” the blonde one with the rougher voice said, the last word lilting into a question.
“Listen.” The other one draped fabric over my face, shielding me. “We are going to take you somewhere safe so you can get better. It’s going to be okay.”
“I need Evrin,” I protested.
“No, you don’t,” he responded smoothly. “He’s bad news.”
“He’s my patron, he’s making me his mate…” My words slurred as I fought to stay conscious. My head lolled to the side and the noises around me swam, like the buzzing bees I remembered from before…
“Evrin is one of the vampire princes,” the rougher voice muttered. Each word was spit like a curse. “If he picked her as his mate, he’s not going to let her go without a fight.”
“What’s he going to do?” he tattooed one said. “He can’t do shit. The leech can dry up and die.”
My thoughts stuttered, unable to process his meaning.
“We’ll take her back. I don’t trust the detox facility to be secure enough. And if she’s one of us, they can’t handle her anyways.”
“See? I knew you’d comearound,” the smooth voice crooned.
“You owe me,” the blond grumbled.
“Oh, how could I possibly repay you.” The words were flirting, almost teasing. These two were so weird.
“Let’s get out of here,” the rough voice snapped, ignoring his tone.
“I don’t want to go anywhere.”
I wasn’t confident the words made it out of my head, but I tried.
The world was swallowed up indarkness.
Chapter 3
Hot Showers
The next time I woke, I was in a bed with the covers pulled up to my chin. The fabric was silky soft, like Evrin’s bedding. It must be his or another vampire’s, because no donor was given such niceties. They were reserved for vampires and their turned mates.
My fingers spread at my sides, feeling more of the luxurious sheets. Evrin never let me sleep in his room. I’d never even been under the covers, just twisted them in my hands when he drank from me.
Something was very wrong. It smelled… weird.
My eyes stayed tightly shut, although it wasn’t as painfully bright as before.
Silently, I breathed in air so tasteless, it smelled cold and sort of fatty. Like clean linens without the flowery detergent scent. But there was no trace of dust, sweat, bodies, and most notably, blood. I couldn’t remember what air untainted by the metallic odor was like. It hadbeen a lifetime.
A familiar hum of distant voices reached me, along with the rustle of clothing. Someone was in the room with me, and they weren’t the only people in the building.
Tensing, I finally opened my eyes.
