Page 56 of Mortal Curse (Shadow Shifter)

“If there was any other way to sustain our demon soul, we would’ve found it. Fresh blood is the only thing that sates our shadow.”

Her breath stuttered. “What do you feed on?”

“The blood of any living creature can sustain our shadow, but we only feed on large game. If you feed on humans, you become a reaper.”

Dannika held up her hands. “I’m not a vegetarian, but I am not drinking animal blood.”

“I realize this is difficult.”

Dannika grabbed the throw blanket from the couch, wrapping it around her. She shivered, though it wasn’t cold. “Difficult? This is a disaster. How can you drink the blood of an animal? Do you get off on causing it pain?”

He flinched. “There is no pain, Dannika. Our fangs produce a sedative when feeding. Our prey feels nothing.”

“Is that the lie you tell yourself, so you can sleep at night?”

The images of his first feeding played through his mind. He hadn’t thought about that night in over a hundred years. He’d never talked about it. “I told you I was ten when my parents died. I didn’t tell you what happened afterward. When I refused to feed. When I thought I could return to my human life and live with my aunt and uncle.”

Dannika’s eyes widened. “What happened to them?”

Raine shook his head. “I had been gone a week before the hunger set in. Maddock explained our eating habits, and I refused. I had a dog. His name was Ruffles, and I loved him. He was my best friend and the last remnant of my former life. I snuck out of the caves, through the forest, and back to the town where my parents died. My aunt and uncle were still looking for me, so I went to their home, but Ruffles was the only one there.”

“You weren’t allowed to keep your dog?”

Raine put his head down. “I didn’t understand how hard it must’ve been for Ruffles to ignore the predator in me. He whined and growled, but eventually, he licked my hand and my face.”

Her face softened. “That’s sweet. Did you bring him home? Back to the caves, I mean?”

Raine met her gaze. “I pet him, then I threw a stick for him, but as we played, the hunger beat at me. I could hear his blood rushing through his veins. He was a mixed breed, but he was a large dog. I screamed when my fangs sank into his neck. His blood ran down my throat as I cried.”

Dannika’s hand covered her mouth. “My God. You killed him.”

Raine’s eyes flashed. “I would have. Maddock tracked me down. He interrupted my feeding. Animals can’t transition, and I was too small to drain his body of blood, but I cried into his fur. The hunger came back tenfold when Ruffles stood up.”

“What happened?”

“I would’ve attacked him again, but Maddock took me to the forest. I took down a deer and sated my hunger. When I returned to ensure Ruffles was alright, he growled at me. I understood because if I got near him again, I would’ve killed him.”

Dannika shook her head. “I can’t kill an animal.”

“You have to, Dannika. It’s not a matter of if you feed, it’s a matter of when. I loved Ruffles, but I would’ve killed him, and not completing the kill enrages your demon. I would’ve fed on anything after letting Ruffles live, even my family.”

Dannika wrapped her arms around her body. “What about bags of blood? Vampires do that in the movies.”

Raine arched an eyebrow. “Do you believe we haven’t tried that? Humans have been donating blood for years. If that were an option, we would have taken it. Hell, we would have funded our own blood clinic.”

Dannika looked around the cave walls. “You have furniture and music, but you live in a cave. Don’t tell me you have the money to buy a business.”

Raine glanced around the room. It was simple, with remnants of his former life. A drum from his childhood. A tapestry his mother had made. His father’s rifle was mounted on the wall, but most of the items in the room were impersonal. “Our rooms are simple because we require little. We need little sleep, and as we age, we lose the desire for music and other such diversions.”

She frowned. “What does that mean?”

“Our emotions dull as we age and with that, our human desires. There is only the hunt and the kill. You changed the trajectory of my life. For that, I can never adequately thank you.” He gestured around the room. “You can redecorate in any manner you wish. We have endless finances at our disposal.

Her eyes flickered with anger. “I don’t want to redecorate. I want to eat a chocolate bar.”

Raine smiled sadly. “I admit, that is one thing I still miss. As a boy, it was my favorite treat. I attempted to eat it several times in the years following my transition.”

The tension in her shoulders eased. “You tried to eat chocolate? What happened?”

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