Page 67 of Dark Island: Rescue
Angelica stared at him. Then she laughed. "Okay, you got me. This is payback for that prank I pulled on you at Rachel's birthday party, right? Is Frankie in on this, too? Because it's not funny, Edgar. I feel like crap and I'm in a hospital and?—"
"It's not a prank." Edgar kept his voice as calm as he could. "I know it sounds crazy. But it's the truth. There are immortals living among humans. I'm one of them. Frankie is one now, too. And you're in the process of becoming one."
"Immortal." Angelica's voice was flat. "Like vampires?"
"Not exactly. We don't drink blood or turn into bats or any of that movie nonsense. But we do live for practically forever if no one kills us. We heal incredibly fast, we're stronger and faster than humans, and the males have fangs."
"Fangs." She was looking at him like he'd lost his mind. "Edgar, I've been sleeping with you for months. If you had fangs, I would have seen them."
"They're retractable. They only extend when we're aroused or threatened."
"You know what?" Angelica put the empty cup on the side table. "I'm done with this crazy conversation. I don't know what kind of fever dream I'm having, but I want to go home. Where are my clothes?"
"Angel, please?—"
"Don't 'Angel' me!" Her voice rose to the volume Edgar was very familiar with. "You bring me to some weird clinic, I wake up feeling like death, and you're telling me some crazy story about immortals and fangs? What's next, you're going to tell me you're secretly a superhero?"
Edgar made a decision. Words weren't working. He needed to show her.
He leaned down and kissed her.
Angelica responded automatically, her lips soft and familiar against his and her arms winding around his neck. This was something they knew, something real and true between them. Edgar deepened the kiss, letting himself feel the desire that was never far from the surface when he was with her.
His fangs descended, and he leaned back, smiling with an open mouth.
Angelica gasped. Her eyes were wide, locked on his fangs.
"What the—" She scrambled backward on the bed. "What the hell, Edgar! You have fangs! And your eyes are glowing! It's like in those stupid movies about aliens."
"I'm not an alien. I'm immortal. And so are you, or you will be once the transition completes." Edgar's fangs retracted slowly as his arousal faded. "I know this is a lot to take in?—"
"A lot to take in?" Angelica's voice climbed higher. "You just grew fangs! Out of your mouth! And your eyes are doing that creepy glowing thing! How did you hide it from me during all the times we've been together?"
Now she was going to be really mad. What came before was merely a dress rehearsal.
"First of all, my glowing eyes are not creepy. All immortals have eyes like that, and so will you once your transition completes."
She shook her head, her blond locks bouncing around her beautiful face. "You didn't answer my question. How did you hide it from me all this time?"
He winced. "Sometimes thralling and sometimes shrouding. Immortals can manipulate human minds. Now that you are transitioning, it won't work on you anymore. Most immortals can't thrall other immortals."
She frowned. "What is a thrall? Is it like what vampires do in vampire movies?"
"Something like that."
Suddenly, she deflated. "I don't feel good. I really can't handle this while I'm feeling like a wreck."
"I'm sorry, Angel. Do you want me to get you more water?"
"Yes, please."
He was used to Angelica's sudden mood changes and knew how to navigate them. Her temper flared hot, but she never stayed angry for long. She was too loving for that. She was his prickly pear. Soft and sweet on the inside and prickly on the outside.
He handed her the refilled paper cup with the samebendy straw.
She took a few small sips. "Have you always been an immortal, or were you transitioned by someone else?"
"That's a very good question. Carriers of the godly genes are born human unless one of their parents is a god. Those born to female immortals, or female dormant carriers of the genes, can be induced and turn immortal. Those of us who are born in a community of immortals go through an induction ceremony at the age of thirteen. The males, anyway. Females transition earlier."
