opening another chamber inside me. There was now a clear line
between the part of me that was human, the love and the reasoning,
and the animal with base, carnal needs. The full demon in me called
to Camila, called to its mate. I tried to fight the emotions, but that
draw was undeniable. The vampire in me knew no reason. It ignored
the past pain. I rubbed my cheek against her face and licked the
corner of her mouth.
“I’m hungry,” I said, a growl lightly affecting my voice. My
body was more than ready to hunt. I sensed the hundreds of humans
on the floors below. Some closer than others, but I knew I had to
wait. “I know, baby. Fuck. Let me—”
“I’ll feed her.” I turned toward the rattled sound of Samantha’s
voice. She stood on the stairs just below us, shaking, but determined.
The sleeves of her ABO sweatshirt were balled in her fists. She
moved up one more step and relaxed her hands. I could smell her
fear, but it wasn’t directed at me. “I’ll do it.” Samantha tugged her
hoodie over her head. My fangs ached as she exposed the ripe vein
in her neck.
“Is that okay?” Camila asked me. She had to. She was powerful
enough to force me to feed, but the choice was mine. I glanced at
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Samantha again and my stomach rolled and clenched. My fangs
throbbed, shooting pain through my sinuses, across my forehead. I
didn’t have much time before I took her.
My eyes squeezed shut. “Please,” I begged.
Silently, Rodrick reached out to his wife.
In the next breath, Natasha appeared beside us. She bowed to
me, calling me her queen. She pulled a short silver blade from a strap
in her high-heeled boot and beckoned Samantha forward. Camila
slid out of the way, letting me support myself. I shifted my weight
and tucked my now powerful legs underneath my body, ignoring
the wet patch in my jeans. Natasha and Samantha crouched in front
of me.I could have stopped her. I had the control over Natasha to keep
her from initiating the ritual. We looked at each other for a fraction
of a moment. There was distress in her bright blue eyes, but it was
coupled with pleading and forgiveness. I nodded quickly, hating
myself for my weakness and need. Natasha turned to Samantha and
the words flew from her lips.
“I release you, Samantha Grace Phillips. Serve this sister-
queen as you would serve the master himself. As you would serve
me.” The shift happened so quickly. Natasha had given Samantha to
me. It would have been an insult for me to turn the offering down.
I needed to feed so badly, but I didn’t want to take Samantha away
from Natasha. Not like this. But my thirst was too strong.
Sam and I looked at each other for a moment that seemed to
stretch on forever. Her boyfriend was dead, and maybe at some
point she might blame me, but there was no blame written on her
face. And then there was the tiny issue of how much we completely
loathed each other, but I was too hungry to be picky about where my
first meal would come from. I frowned at her, asking the question
one more time.
She grabbed my wrist and pressed the edge of the blade into
her own palm.
I blurted my vow, reborn sister-queen to devoted feeder, and
Samantha accepted. Our bond was made. I felt it to my core, but I
found myself fighting it because it was not complete just yet, not
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until I sliced the upturned palm that was offered to me. I leaned
forward and sealed the seeping gash. A sensual growl tore from my
throat as I heard Sam’s breathless sob.
There was nothing that compared to the taste of human blood,
the rich mix of crushed berries, flavored with an unparalleled
sweetness. I’d tasted its electricity on Camila’s lips, wanted more
of it because it made me want her. Now my demon body craved it,
in essential ways that were impossible to explain. The connection
between us made her flavor unique to me. It was spiked with her
arousal and her desire to please me.
My heart was tackled by sudden, incessant need to protect
Samantha and to make her feel loved and treasured. The lingering
rationale in my brain recognized how ridiculous the urge was. I
hated Samantha. Or at least, I used to. As the small trickle of her
blood coated my throat, any negative thoughts I had about her were
completely erased. She could do no wrong. I wouldn’t let her. And
anyone who even thought of harming her, would have to answer to
me. If anything happened to her, I would be the one to protect her.
She was mine.
My hand flashed to Samantha’s neck and I yanked her forward,
shifting her body so she was nearly pinned between me and the
wall. Her whimper was far from a protest, but her body’s plea for
me to feed and then take her. It didn’t take much pressure for my
razor sharp fangs, their nerves pulsing with my own rabid heartbeat,
to pierce Samantha’s thin, soft skin. They punctured deep then
retracted just enough for me to keep a hold on her, leave plenty of
room for the blood to run free. God, she tasted so good.
She came in my arms, muffling her cries behind clenched teeth.
My body soaked in response, my pussy wet and wanting. The tips
of my breasts puckered hard and tingling, but I wouldn’t satisfy my
desire with Sam.
My gaze slid over to Camila and I told her, showed her, how I
needed her to make this feeding complete. Samantha was satisfying
one desperate craving. Only my maker, my mate, would quench the
other. She reached out and stroked my cheek, projecting her feelings
to me, making me purr. She would have me.
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My eyes slid closed and I fed, slowly but deeply. I opened my
eyes once more when the brother-king Pax appeared. He nodded
to Camila, then I held his slate-gray gaze for a brief moment. He
blinked in shock, then bowed deeply as his show of acceptance
and respect. He would serve me now, if I allowed it, but beyond
recognizing my sudden ascension, he was my brother and I accepted
the bond, too. I wouldn’t ask for anything from him, but I nodded
slightly, my fangs still clamped onto Samantha’s tender throat. I
stroked the length of her spine gently, soothing her through another
shuddering release.
Pax began speaking with Natasha and Rodrick. I listened to
their low mutters as they mixed with the weak, panting sounds of
my precious feeder in my lap. Rodrick and Natasha would take care
of the body. Rodrick’s suffering was tangible, but he was handling
it well. He knew what Greg had done and only wished he’d done
something more to prevent it. The remains of my human soul felt
bad in a way, but my demon knew the aftermath of Greg’s demise
was Rodrick and the brother-kings’ problem to deal with.
I probed Samantha’s mind and quickly found the reasons why
she’d been so close at the moment o
f my fall. She’d followed Greg
and me into the dark stairs, partly out of jealousy, partly because
she was worried about me. Despite that fact she was already his
girlfriend and was sleeping with him willingly, Greg had raped Sam,
more than once. Each time, he’d been careful not to leave any marks
that couldn’t be explained away. I thought about telling Rodrick and
Pax to toss Greg’s body off the top of the library, but it would have
made a mess in the pristine snow.
A sudden jolt to my system pulled me from my daydreaming.
I felt Camila, her whole presence, slipping away from me.
My gaze shot to her, terror surging through my body. She
grimaced, that tale-tell look of apology flashing across her face. I
pulled my mouth away from Samantha’s sweet vein, but before I
could call to Camila, before I could beg her to stay, she was gone.
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Chapter eighteen
Where is she?”
“Where has she gone”? Rodrick and Pax gasped at the
same time.
Instinct told me to bite the front of my tongue. My fangs pierced
my own flesh and I used the small amount of blood that rushed to the
surface to seal Samantha’s neck. I wasn’t done feeding, but I’d had
enough to hold me over.
I shut out everything around me and focused on finding
Camila. I found a piece of her, a shadow of herself. She was safe,
but emotionally, she was falling apart. I just couldn’t get a clear
read on why she’d disappeared and I couldn’t get a hold on where
she was. I opened my eyes. Natasha, Rodrick, and Pax stood there,
waiting on directions from me. My new demon instincts prepared
me to delegate, but I had no plan.
“My study group is waiting for us,” I told them. “I—” I flinched
when Rodrick suddenly took Greg’s full form. He even turned his
dark jacket and slacks into Greg’s jeans and long sleeved shirt. He
grabbed Greg’s Cubs hat off his lifeless head.
“Uh, I’ll go with him,” Samantha said, blinking at Rodrick. Her
fear and her confusion grew stronger, but I was filled with pride. She
might fall apart later, but she was going to keep a level head until we
were out of the woods. “We’ll tell them you threw up or something
and we’ll grab your stuff.”
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reBekah WeatherspOOn
Rodrick nodded and started down the stairs. Samantha turned
to follow him but stopped without a second thought when I gently
gripped her arm.
“Thank you,” I whispered. I learned forward and kissed her
lips. There was no heat or desire behind the kiss, but another silent
vow from me to her. I released her and she sprinted after Rodrick.
“I’ll handle the body,” Pax said. He slung Greg’s body over
his shoulder and vanished from the stairwell, leaving me alone with
Natasha.
I felt her devotion as Natasha peered at me, her white-blond
hair swaying.
“Sometimes the only way to protect your true love is to hide
from it,” she said, a sad bit of hopefulness on her face.
“Do you know where she is?” I asked.
“No. I do not have that power. She is blocking us all. We’ll
get you cleaned up and then we’ll try to find her.” I looked down. I
was covered in dust. She took my hand and then winked. Her smile
calmed me a bit. “You’ll see, my Queen. It’s like flying.”
A soft rush of air went through my body. Natasha was right; it
was like flying through a wind-blasted waterfall. When I opened my
eyes, she and I were back in the lounge of Camila’s apartment.
Tokyo appeared a moment later. She took two steps closer to
Natasha and me, then stopped.
“What the hell happened? I mean—my Queen.” The bowing
and respectful nodding was getting on my nerves, but I had a feeling
there was much more to come.
“Greg threw me down some stairs and then I pissed myself.”
I stormed off to the bathroom, turned on the shower, and shed my
soiled jeans. Looking in the mirror, I saw the blood on my shirt. It
was Camila’s.
I reached out to her again and kept trying to sense her, over and
over, as I bathed quickly, the frustration building. I didn’t skimp on the
soap between my legs or the liberal amount of shampoo I used to scrub
out my dried human blood matted to the back of my head. I would
have scrubbed myself raw if it weren’t for my new resilient skin, still
pale and covered with freckles, but tougher. I kept scrubbing though.
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Where in the hell did Camila go? I could still feel her. She was
miserable and she was crying, but I couldn’t sense why. There was
no pain, but something that reeked of guilt and shame. Still, not
even the smallest hint about where she might be.
The past week with Cleo had been an absolute mess, and now
we’d have to deal with the same issues with me. I had to die now, in
the eyes of the human world, in the eyes of my family. There would
be some elaborate plan to erase my life, some elaborate lie to make
my parents think they had lost me forever.
I fought back the tears as the last of the soap washed down the
drain. Crying now was useless.
I shut off the water and wrapped myself in a towel, grateful I’d
gotten in the habit of leaving clothes with Camila months ago. Out
in the lounge, all the sister-queens had assembled. I held my hand up
to Cleo, Omi, Faeth, and Kina, asking them to save the bowing and
I opened the drawers Camila had cleared out for me, and as
I bent to grab my bra, I saw the small wooden box sitting among
her things on top of the dresser. Ignoring the only proof of our
engagement, I yanked on my clothes and went back to face the
sister-queens.
I walked back into the lounge and stopped next to Kina’s chair.
“I get it. I’m high on the totem pole, but I’m going to smack
the next person who calls me queen. I’d like to find Camila, and we
don’t have time for all the bowing and praising,” I said. They all
nodded, taking my subtle hint. “Good.” I walked over and squeezed
between Cleo and Faeth on the couch.
“Well…”Omi said hesitantly, “You’re in charge until she
returns.”
“I don’t care about being in charge. I want to find her.” I could
still sense her, still upset, but nowhere around. “None of you can
sense her?”
They all shook their heads.
I let out a breath in frustration and then I felt my feeder coming
closer. I called out for Samantha to come in before she knocked on
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reBekah WeatherspOOn
the door. Rodrick had seen her safely back to the house, but she was
still shaken. She stepped inside and set our backpacks by the TV.
“They bought the puking story. Alison said she’d call you
later,” she said.
I couldn’t stop my eyes from rolling. “Great. Come here.” I
h
eld my hand out for her, comforted momentarily by the heat of her
shoulders as she settled on the floor between my legs. There were the
last traces of snow still melting in her hair. I rubbed her shoulders
trying to ease the tension out of her body. She had nothing to worry
about anymore, but it would take time before the worrying went away.
A voice in my head stilled my hands. A warm, soothing voice
that I couldn’t ignore.
It was Dalhem and he was calling to me.
My Ginger, he whispered behind my eyes. His voice was a low
stroke to my temples.
“Ginger, what is it?” Faeth asked. I frowned, trying to
concentrate, then moved Samantha gently out of the way. Natasha
called for her and Samantha scampered across the room into her lap.
My Ginger come to me now, he whispered again in a gentle
command.
“I have to go,” I told my sister-queens. “It’s Dalhem.”
“Is Camila with him?” Kina asked.
“I don’t know. I have to go.” I didn’t wait for them to ask me
more questions. I closed my eyes and followed the sound of my
master’s voice.
I felt Dalhem’s influence before I appeared in his living room.
He was in my mind fully as I vanished through space. I knew before
I even thought to block him or before I even considered his influence
as intrusive, that I was in the presence of kindness and love. That
love and kindness came with a sort of power I’d never imagined.
I came face-to-face with Dalhem in his half-human, half-
demon form. I hadn’t realized that a small part of me had been
doubting the true nature of my sister-queens and Camila. Yes, they
were vampires, animalistic, sure, but the demon part didn’t truly
make sense. The truth of the creature didn’t all seem real until I
looked into Dalhem’s golden eyes and saw the crown of black horns
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that protruded quite naturally from his forehead. He was not of this
world, not of heaven or earth.
His pure white hair fell gently behind his ears, almost to his
shoulders. His wings were hidden. I imagine they would have ruined
his crisp black suit. Even under the fabric of his clothes I could see
how muscular his arms were. He grinned as I gazed back at him,
showing off his enormous fangs rooted in the top and bottom of
his jaws. Had he been human, I wouldn’t have taken him for much