Page 85 of Fanged Desire
Addison chuckled softly, the sound vibrating against my back. Her fingers trailed lightly over my stomach, our shifting bodies sending ripples through the water. My eyelids fluttered and I damn near drifted off, until Addison asked, “Hunter, you brushed over it before, but… what really happened that day?”
I tensed slightly at the question. I knew exactly what she was referring to, and the long-buried memories thrashed violently just below the surface. But Addison’s hold didn’t waver. I let out a long, slow exhale. If I couldn’t tell her, who could I tell?
“I’ve had the power to bend minds to my will since I was a kid. It was just… amplified after I was turned. Jordan thinks there was a trace of vampirism in my genes or something.”
Addison’s fingers stilled as I continued, the words tumbling out now that I’d started. “It wasn’t something I understood then. I didn’t even know I was doing it half the time. But my parents… they knew something was off. They saw it in little things. How I got my way more often than not.”
I paused, the memory of their wary glances and hushed conversations like a splinter in my heart. “Like I said before, they were afraid of me. It all came to a head in my twenties. My dad had always been a little paranoid, but it got worse. He became erratic, convinced I was some kind of threat. And one day, he just snapped.”
The words stuck in my throat, and I forced myself to push through. “I went over to visit them. My mom was running a bath. I went in to say hi, maybe said something that set my father off – I don’t remember. But he… he grabbed me and tried to drown me under that scalding water.”
I felt Addison suck in a sharp breath behind me, her hands tightening into fists at my stomach.
“I thought that was it. I thought I was going to die there, under the rushing water.” I closed my eyes, the memory vivid even after all these years. “Jordan saved me. Of all people, it was Jordan. She was passing by the apartment and she heard me scream. She climbed the wall, broke in through the window, and pulled me out.”
I let out a shaky, bitter laugh. “She didn’t even hesitate. She saw what was happening and stole me away like a Nosferatu himself. Tried to keep me alive, but… I was already half dead. When it was clear I wasn’t going to make it, she made a choice. She turned me. Made me a vampire.”
The room was quiet and I tilted my head to glance at Addison, unsure what I’d see in her eyes.
But when I met her gaze, there was only understanding. And anger – not at me, but for me. For what had been done to me. I didn’t speak, and neither did she. She didn’t have to. Addison’s arms around me said everything I needed to know.
For a while, we sat like that. But then Addison spoke again, tentative and treading carefully. “These powers you have... is that why things ended with Selene?”
The question sent a sharp pang through my chest. I stiffened against her and looked away, sinking deeper into the steaming water. Addison’s voice was gentle in my ear. “You can tell me.”
I could, and I had to. She deserved to know the truth.
“Yes. It was my powers. I... used them on her, during an argument. I was tired and upset and I let it leak into my words. Just for a moment. But even one moment was a moment too much. And then she left… But I deserved that. And I deserved everything that came after that too.”
Addison didn’t say anything, but her arms tightened around me. Silence descended on us again, heavy and suffocating, until she finally asked, “What came after?”
She deserved to know. And I wanted to tell her. I wanted to tell her everything.
“Selene was my mate. For vampires, a mate is your other half, your missing piece. And breaking that bond...” My voice faltered, and I forced myself to continue. “It’s like losing a part of yourself. It hollowed me out. I wasn’t... I wasn’t okay for a very long time.”
The silence returned and it felt contemplative, like Addison was turning over the confession in her mind. I couldn’t see her face, and the uncertainty gnawed at me.
Then her voice came, soft and silky in my ear. “Is it – is it possible to find a new mate?”
The question stilled me, though a whirlwind of emotions surged in my chest. Hope, fear, longing. And then, clarity. Like my heart was perking up and sayingOh. It was so obvious, wasn’t it?
I turned slightly, tilting my head back so I could meet her eyes. Her face was so close, full lips just inches from mine, her gaze searching, hesitant and… hopeful.
“I think,” I said softly, cautiously, holding her gaze. Speaking out loud what I'd subconsciously known all along. What I hadn’t allowed myself to acknowledge until now.
“I think I already have.”
Chapter 30
Addison
“It’s just a little place,” Penelope said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “But the owner is so sweet, and she said I have a knack for putting arrangements together. Can you believe that? Me? A knack for something other than getting into trouble?”
Early afternoon sun streamed through the window of my sister’s apartment, lighting up labeled boxes and scattered floral arrangements.
I sat cross-legged on Penelope’s couch, while my sister prattled on about her new job at a flower shop near the hospital where I worked. “Of course I can believe it. You’ve always been good with details. I still remember those scrapbooks you used to make.”
Penelope flushed, rearranging a stack of books on the drooping shelf she’d swiped from God knows where. “That was years ago. And anyway, this is different. It feels… I don’t know, meaningful. Like I’m finally doing something I love.”
