Page 64 of Fanged Desire
“Don’t.” She cut me off, the words harsh and biting. “It’s done. I made it out, and I’ve been fine ever since.”
I wanted to get closer, to comfort her the way she’d comforted me so many times before. But the moment I got to my feet, her whole body tensed up.
“Stay there,” she muttered, her voice muffled through her hands as she lifted them to her face. “Just… stay over there.”
I frowned, ignoring her warning as I took a tentative step toward her. “You’ve been acting weird since they threw you in here. What happened?”
“Nothing,” she mumbled, shaking her head. Her hands clenched tighter against her mouth as though they were the only thing stopping her from saying something she’d regret. “Addison, please, just don’t come any closer.”
“You’re being ridiculous,” I muttered, crouching in front of her. “Now is not the time to act all dark and mysterious. Just tell me what’s going on.”
She flinched when I reached for her hand, smacking mine away with a speed that startled me.
“Addison, I’m serious,” she snapped, voice raw as it burst from her throat. “It’s not safe.”
That was when I noticed it, the faint gleam of her teeth as her lips parted. Her canines, longer and sharper than they had any right to be, caught the light, and my breath hitched. Her eyes met mine then and I saw something raw and feral in them – something unmistakably hungry.
I froze, and all at once the disjointed puzzle pieces that made up the woman before me clicked neatly into place.
“Hunter.” I spoke quietly, my voice trembling despite my best effort to stay calm. “Are you… are you a vampire?”
Her entire body went still.
For a long moment I thought she might deny it, that the confinement was getting to me, that I was dead wrong. But then she lowered her hands, dropping them in defeat.
“Yes.”
I swallowed hard, my pulse pounding in my ears. “Are you… hungry?”
Hunter’s jaw clenched, her hands balling into fists at her sides, the single word drenched in acidic self-loathing. “Starving.”
Fear bubbled up in my chest but I shoved it down, forcing myself to focus. Hunter stared forward, so controlled, yet so obviously teetering on the edge. She’d had plenty of opportunities to hurt me before now – more than enough. She’d fought for me, risked everything to help me. If she’d wanted to hurt me, she would have done it already.
My throat tightened and I made a decision.
“Hunter.” I spoke carefully, inching closer. “You can take it. My blood, I mean.”
“No!” She said it immediately, pupils blown wide in panic. “Absolutely not. I’m not in control right now, Addison. I could hurt–”
“You need it,” I insisted, reaching for her hand. “You said you’re starving. You need your strength if we’re going to get out of here and save my sister.”
“Addison.Stop.”
The word hit me like a physical force and I felt my body freeze in place, as though my muscles had locked up against my will. For a brief, horrifying moment, I couldn’t move.
Then the sensation faded and I stumbled back, my heart racing. “Oh my god – what the hell was that?!”
Hunter looked just as horrified as I felt, lips parted as the command – thecoercion– faded on her tongue.
“Fuck, Addison – I’m sorry,” she stuttered, her voice cracking. “I didn’t mean to–”
Her words cut out abruptly and she buried her head between her knees, tangled hair flowing over her face like a veil.
When she spoke again her tone was resigned, like she’d sealed her fate with a single, potent word. “We should never have gotten in this deep. If we make it out of here, you need to forget about me. All of this. It’s better that way.”
I stared at her, every memory of that charismatic smile of hers rushing through my mind. She had turned it on everyone who had wronged me, and even some who hadn’t; the drunk guy on the night we first met, the guys who attacked me, the janitor, Esmerelde’s assistant.
That charm she wielded, the way she could get people to do whatever she wanted – it wasn’t just charisma. It was something else. Something supernatural. After experiencing it first hand, I understood that it was something dangerous too.
