Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 85029 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85029 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Paul is sucking the blood out of me, but then I’m sucking the blood out of him.
This is what it means to be a vampire.
Sharing.
The blood, the sex, each other.
“You’re right.” Paul’s voice is right up in my ear. “That’s what it means. That’s what we’re getting ready for. The share, Syrsee. It must happen in your physical body, not just the spiritual one. But don’t worry. By the time that happens, you’ll be more than ready.”
A phone rings and I sit up in bed, blinking.
I’m not in some luxury hotel room having sex with Paul and Ryet. I’m in the cabin. Ryet is lying next to me, but he’s not a man. His black wings are long and leathery. His body is… well, bruised is the first word that comes to mind. But I’ve never seen a human with skin the color of a bruise.
This is when I remember the phone is ringing. But I only remember because it stops.
That’s when I see all the jars lined up on the nightstand nearest the door.
I let out a breath, feeling sick and both feverish and cold at the same time. I shudder, then lean over and press my hand against Ryet’s back. He feels the same. The black-blue skin feels like regular skin. But it’s very hot. Like that time in his cottage up in White River.
He needs blood. I don’t know what he’s been doing with those jars, but whatever it was, it’s not enough. He needs blood. And that’s my job here in this arrangement. So I don’t even hesitate. I scoot up next to him—as close to him as I can get. “Ryet.”
“Hmmm.” It’s not a word, just a low rumble.
“You need to drink.”
He moves a little, aiming his mouth in my direction. And then he latches on to the side of my neck, making me wince from the force of his fangs. They feel different. Not little needle pricks, but more like the bite of an animal.
But the pain doesn’t last. The moment he starts taking blood from me, all those feelings rush in. The ones that make me like what we’re doing. The ones that make me crave it.
I close my eyes and enjoy it. Because why not? There’s no way to change what’s happening.
But before I can even do that, it’s over. Too soon. Ryet pulls away and falls back asleep.
The phone rings again, so I open my eyes and get up. I grab a flannel shirt off the floor and put it on as I walk out of the bedroom. The ringing is coming from a landline phone in the kitchen. I pick up the handle and put it to my ear. “Hello?”
“Oh. My God! Syrsee! What the fuck! I’ve been calling there for hours!”
“Zusi?”
“Are you OK? I’m coming to see you.”
“No.” Normally Zusi is the not the kind of girl you can deter with a simple objection. She is a bulldozer. She plows right through simple objections. But this one is not simple, nor is it an objection.
It’s a command.
“You will not come see me. Do you understand me, Zusannah?”
This stops her too. She hates when people call her Zusannah. Only Tristin calls her Zusannah and that’s only when he’s trying to make her listen to him by pissing her off.
She blows out a breath on the other end of the phone. “Why? Because you’re mad? I didn’t betray you. You have to know that. If you’re my best friend, then you do know that.”
She’s right. I do know that. After the dreamwalk I just came out of, it’s very, very clear that everything is need-to-know and Paul is the one who decides who needs to know.
He would never think of telling Zusi his plans. Or the Guild, for that matter. I don’t care what kind of deal they have going, there is no way the Guild knows more about what is happening to Ryet and me than we do. Or I do. My part, at least.
“I have to go. Do not call back. I mean it.” Then I slam the phone down and start trying to make sense of the kitchen.
The phone rings again and I answer it through clenched teeth. “What?”
“Syrsee?”
I sigh, closing my eyes. Because it’s not Zusi, it’s Tristin. “What do you want?”
“Listen, you know how Zusi is. When she wants something, she does not give up.”
“I don’t want to see her, or talk to her, Tristin. I don’t have time for this shit.”
“Which is why I’m calling.”
“Explain.”
“There are things you need to know. And if you’re not going to listen to us, will you at least take a look at some of the research?”
“What research?”
“It’s a project that Zusi has been working on in secret since—I dunno. Grade eleven, I think.”
“A project?”
“Will you at least write down the URL? It’s all on a website.”