Page 16 of Emerald Rising
Chapter 8
EMMY
Holy snickerdoodles. I was a blood demon? No. It wasn’t possible. This was all a dream, and I was going to wake up any second now. Please wake up. I don’t know how much more of this crazy I could handle. I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that I had fangs. Actual fangs. Or that I had bitten and fed from River. Or that I had enjoyed it far more than I wanted to admit. My stomach churned and I suddenly wanted to retch. Did this make me a monster? Did I have to survive off blood now? Would I never be able to drink whiskey or eat donuts again? Chocolate? Bacon?!
Shoot. I needed to calm down. My mind was running away with me and I was going to work myself into a frenzy if I didn’t calm down.
“Smell this,” River barked as he walked back into the lounge, still shirtless and still with those sexy abs and beautiful tattoos on display. I had a hard time focusing when he didn’t have a shirt on. All I could think about was tracing those intricate lines on his skin and exploring those dips and planes. Maybe even licking them. Mmm…
“I’m not smelling anything,” Ash replied with a note of disgust in his voice. I guess he expected River to be playing a trick on him. I wouldn’t put it past the guy; he did seem like the type to be a prankster.
“Just tell me what you smell on this shirt.” River held out a bundled man’s shirt in his hand and thrust it under Ash’s nose, so he had no choice but to sniff it. His face morphed into one of confusion. Was there something wrong with my neighbour?
“How’s that possible? He’s her neighbour?” Ash asked incredulously.
Now it was my turn to be confused. “Who’s my neighbour?”
River turned to face me as he put the white shirt on, and I held back the disappointed sigh that begged to be released from my throat. It really was a glorious view. Oh well, it was probably for the best. These guys were still as intimidating as Hell and I was still unsure as to what they wanted. I didn’t know if I could trust them yet, even though I was growing more aware of this bond that lingered between us. Now that I had fed for the first time, which was still an icky thought, it was like my body was changing. I was more aware of my surroundings, the hairs on my arms seemed to sense more in the atmosphere. But I also felt edgy, like something was lurking under my skin that wasn’t there before. It scared me and I was terrified that my safety relied on these three men who seemed to scare the living daylights out of me.
“Your neighbour, Gray? Yeah, that’s not his real name. Well, not his first name.” River sounded upset. His red eyes blazed with his anger and I squirmed in my seat. Even though I’d seen him come all over his shirt, he still terrified me.
“What do you mean?” I asked, cowering slightly in my seat as he fixed his fiery gaze squarely on me.
“Griffon was your neighbour.”
My jaw dropped. I’d been living next to a supernatural being and not even known? To be fair, he was always a little bit domineering. He barely spoke a few words to me, but he always said hello with a small smile that had me crushing on him a little. He was hot. Like drop dead gorgeous and there had been several naughty dreams involving him and his beautiful mouth. But he always used to look at me with an angry frown, and I could never decide exactly what it was about me that made him angry. I didn’t think I was that bad to live next to. But I suppose he hadn’t been here for a while.
“How long has he been gone?” River snapped.
“I don’t know.” My voice quivered as he shouted at me. I wasn’t good with confrontation; it always turned me into a trembling mess. “A-About two months.”
“Shit. Did he tell you where he was going?”
“N-No. He’s my neighbour. Not my friend. I don’t know—”
“Goddammit!” River roared as he paced the room. I flinched at his raised voice and shrank further back into the chair. I knew these men were dangerous, but I didn’t think they were completely unhinged. River’s temper seemed to have flared out of nowhere. One minute he was sweet and kind, promising to answer all my questions and now… Well, now my furniture looked like it was going to be his next victim. Or perhaps the walls. He really looked like he wanted to punch something.
I was overwrought, exhausted, and about ready to collapse on my feet. I did not need a spitting, seething demon going feral in my lounge. I’d had enough.
I stood from my chair and made to leave the room.
“Where do you think you’re going?” River called.
I got that he was angry or upset or whatever was going on here that I didn’t fully understand, but I wasn’t going to let him think he could start ordering me around like he could his brothers. I might still have unanswered questions, but I knew I could look at them all afresh after some much-needed sleep.
“I am going to bed. Unlike you, I haven’t been asleep for twenty-one years and I need rest. You’re all more than welcome to stay. I don’t think I could kick you out anyway.”
River’s face faltered a bit as if he realised he was being a brute. He gave me a short nod, almost like he didn’t trust himself to speak, and I was grateful that none of them followed me out of the room. I didn’t have enough energy left to fight them anymore.
Once I was safely ensconced in my bedroom, the door firmly shut, I took off my trousers and crawled into bed. I was too tired to even think about putting pyjamas on. I just wanted to sleep. This had been, without a doubt, the worst birthday ever.
My mind drifted over the events of the night. I was a blood demon and from a royal bloodline, whatever that meant. I’d been fed on by a sex demon, threatened by a fallen angel and I’d sucked the neck of another blood demon, and found out my hot neighbour wasn’t who he said he was. In the space of a few hours, my life had been completely and irrevocably turned upside down. I couldn’t stop the tears even if I wanted to. All the emotions of the night had finally caught up with me. I was scared, terrified, shocked, disgusted and just a mess. And now, I was full-on ugly crying.
The door to my room opened and I heard someone walk in.
“Go away,” I snivelled pathetically, but my words didn’t deter them.
The bed dipped as someone climbed in behind me and wrapped their arms around me. Blaze’s scent hit my nose and more tears were unleashed. My crazy warrior protector was giving me comfort and I didn’t know what to do with that. He rolled me over and tucked my head under his chin and little by little, the sadness ebbed from my soul as his hand stroked my back. When I’d stopped sobbing, a deep melodious rumble sounded from his chest as he hummed a soft lullaby. I was dead to the world in seconds, the haunting melody carrying me off to a land of dreams, fraught with hot men and scary demons.
