Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 122946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 615(@200wpm)___ 492(@250wpm)___ 410(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 615(@200wpm)___ 492(@250wpm)___ 410(@300wpm)
“So, does that mean the spellbind on me is breaking?” I questioned, thinking about it. “I did feel something after I helped the ghost.”
“How did you feel?”
“Light.” I didn’t know how to describe it exactly. “It was like something heavy was taken off me.”
“Do you still feel bound, though?”
I closed my eyes, looking inside of myself, and the moment I did, I heard the same voice.
“Free us.”
“I’m still in the jacket,” I whispered. “But it’s lesser now. I don’t know how to explain it, but I think your father’s right. By setting something else free, I helped myself in a way.”
“Damn.”
“What?”
“If it’s working, that means you’ll do it again, won’t you?”
I frowned at that. “You don’t want me to?”
“I do not want to see you assaulted in the same manner as last and be powerless to do anything but watch.” His arms tightened around him. “I did not know what was happening to you.”
“For a few minutes, I didn’t understand what was happening to me, either.”
“Were you scared?”
“I’m a vampire.”
“We can be scared like any other.”
“Like you were scared when your mother said she did not see you in my heart?” I meant it to tease him a bit, but it also reminded me of the look he had on his face when she’d said it.
“I was concerned,” he admitted, kissing the side of my head. “But now, I see I shall just have to wear you down bit by bit. Seeing as you are throwing yourself at me already—”
“Hey!” I broke out of his arms and turned to glare at him.
He stared back at me, amused. “You are permitted to tease me, and I am not allowed to return the favor?”
“Exactly,” I said seriously.
“I cannot oblige,” he replied with the same seriousness.
We glowered back at each other until I felt an ache in the back of my throat. Glancing around the room, I saw his empty cup, wishing I hadn’t drunk it all in such a rush.
“You are thirsty.” He didn’t ask; instead, he was already lifting his phone, which I noted, he seemed very accustomed to using now.
“Who are you calling?”
“Pelopia,” he answered. “Would you prefer her to send a human?”
What? “Send a human? Like a living person delivered to the door?” I needed to clarify because he had said with such ease that I was a bit lost.
“Yes,” he stated, and from the way he was looking at me, he didn’t seem to understand how weird his comment was. Or was I the weird one? “Would you prefer to hunt them in the forest?”
Okay, I was definitely not the weird one. “You all have humans on standby that you can just drink from or hunt?”
“Well, it is their job,” he again said in a way that made me look completely crazy. But then again, I remembered Rhea drinking from a woman earlier like she was her own personal blood fountain.
“I shall just send a bottle.” I heard Pelopia’s dull voice on the other end of the phone.
“No,” I said quickly. I wanted to fit in, and if this were how they did things, then I would learn to do them, too. “You can send the human.”
“Are you sure?” Theseus pressed, and I just nodded because I wasn’t sure I trusted my voice. He hung up the phone and looked me over. “Have you ever drank straight from a human before, young one?”
“Of course, and don’t call me young one,” I said, quickly shifting to get out of bed. I wanted to take a shower.
“It’s hard not to call you young one when you act like a young one,” he said, rising out of bed as well, his abs exposed for me to see.
I turned back. “How so?”
“You haven’t gotten pleasure out of it, have you?” he asked softly. “All the times you have drunk directly from a human, you see the horror in their minds. It leaves a sour taste in your mouth. So that’s why you drank off the animals. You wished to avoid that.”
“Is that wrong?” I asked, defensively.
“No, it just proves your lack of knowledge,” he said gently. “Drinking is something your maker is supposed to teach you.”
My jaw set.
“Don’t be cross. I shall teach you. Is that your excuse for staying beside me? Wishing to steal my knowledge?” He grinned at me.
“What is there to drinking? You bite and suck in blood. Done,” I said back.
He shook his head. “Have you ever wondered why the humans have written off our kind as seducers? The allure of the vampire?”
“To sell books?”
“Because it is one truth they have discovered,” he whispered as if he were telling me a secret. “Many vampires seduce their prey to avoid that bitterness in their minds. Instead of fear, you taste their pleasure.”
My eyebrow raised. “So, you’re going to teach me to seduce a human?”