Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 122030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
I look away, shaking my head. I will never forgive them. Ever.
“Suit yourself. You don’t need them anyway. You have me now. And Ryet. And we have a spectacular future ahead of us. But first…” Paul sits up a little. “I would like you to drink from me. It will replenish what we’ve taken and make it so Ryet can feed thoroughly. He will wake up after that, Syrsee. And the two of you can have a conversation about what has happened. I know he didn’t handle this well, but you have to understand that’s just his way. He’s afraid, you see. He’s afraid to love anything or anyone because he knows what it feels like to lose everything.”
I think about this. About his family. His wife and children. And how Paul killed them.
And what it must feel like to be Ryet. A monster in the making. Addicted to the very creature that took everyone and everything you ever loved away.
“We can work all that out, darling.” Paul is petting my head again. “And I do have a very nice promise to make you.”
“What is it?”
“Not yet. Drink me first. I want to feel your lips on my skin. I want to feel you sucking the blood out of me. I want to hold you while you do this. And then—then I will make the promise. Because then I will want that blood back.”
I will want that blood back. Interesting way to put it. He wants me to feed on him, then he will feed on me. “What will it do?”
“The exchange?”
“Yes.”
“It will bond us, dear. Forever.”
“Will it make you stronger?”
“No. Not exactly. But it will move things forward.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Nor should you. I just explained. You will need to drink me first before I can make that promise. Vampires are a stepwise species. We are patient, we are deliberate, and we are careful. So you can feed from me and we can take that next step. Or you can refuse and just feed Ryet. And if you choose the latter, then I’m afraid my plans will all be revised.”
“You mean I will be left behind.”
“Not exactly left behind, dear.” He chuckles, like I’m stupid. “I still need you to feed Ryet. It’s going to take weeks, Syrsee. He will go through a considerable transformation. But after that—if you refuse to join us?” I can feel Paul shrug against me. “You’re on your own. Until we need you again.”
Lucia’s words come into my mind. Where is she? But I don’t waste my time looking around for her. She said, He’s not letting you walk away, darling. When he told you that, he meant to make you realize that you were not a part of his and Ryet’s future. You see, it is just him and Ryet.
And I believe that. It rings true. So what is all this about the promise?
“Drink me and find out, Syrsee.”
I turn my head so I can look at him. Grandma was right. So tender. So considerate. So evil. “How?”
His grin is immediate. “I’ll open the skin for you. I won’t make you chew through me.” And that’s what he does. Like I have already made my decision. And I have, I guess. Because I watch—both fascinated and filled with cravings—as he bites his wrist and the blood trickles down his forearm.
I don’t even have time to think about changing my mind, either. Because he thrusts his wrist up to my mouth and the moment my lips press against his skin there is bliss.
Oh, the bliss…
Immediately, my world turns purple. A deep, dark, royal purple that should indicate that I’m in the past, or the future, or some other realm, but I’m not. I’m standing in the room watching myself feed on the vampire Paul.
Then I see something strange. A pool of liquid. It takes me a moment to realize it’s blood because it’s so red, it’s nearly black. It is a pool about the diameter of a dinner plate and there is a stream—a trail—that my eyes follow. Tracking along to the floor to a body.
Lucia’s body. Lucia’s headless body.
I turn, and find the missing piece. Her green eyes wide, but cloudy now. Her mouth open in a scream. Blood pooling beneath the jagged flesh of her neck.
I gag, lean over, and throw up blood.
“Yes.” It’s Lucia’s voice. And when I straighten up and look to my right, she’s standing next to me wearing a lavender mist like a robe. “It’s gross.” She’s staring at her own dismembered body on the floor, but then she looks at me. “Why is he so fascinated with taking off heads?”
I scowl, then manage a shrug.
“Oh, well. I knew it was coming. Obviously.” She smiles at me. “And now it is done and I can stop thinking about it.”
Finally, I find my voice. And my panic. “What the fuck is happening!”