16
Theo
My first reaction was pure instinct.
I realized what was going on before Maxwell did. He looked confused and disoriented as Adriel shot past him. My brother grabbed me by the front of my shirt and forcibly separated me from Maxwell. But Adriel’s attempt to put some distance between us caused Maxwell to slip.
The vial of his blood burst open.
It flooded my senses, like the scent of food after being starved for a week. My body went rigid, power stiffening my muscles as it prepared to fight for a meal--even though the logical part of my brain screamed at me that it was off-limits.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Adriel demanded, his voice a roar that shook the room.
His grip tightened as he tried to contain me. But him pushing me only made me want to push back. I snarled and grabbed his wrists, digging my claws into his skin.
“Let go of me!”
“Pierce, get Maxwell out of here,” Adriel snapped.
My eyes flitted to Maxwell. He still laid in a pool of his own blood, covered and soaking. His eyes were wide with fear and his chest rapidly rose and fell. He scrambled to his feet by the time Pierce made it to his side. But as Pierce gently tried to take his shoulders, Maxwell cried, “Wait! Adriel, stop!”
“Get him out of here, now,” Adriel repeated in a tone that made it clear it wasn’t up for debate.
“No!”
Adriel turned his head, startled. “What?”
Maxwell had ripped himself from Pierce’s grip and stormed up to Adriel with a furious expression. “Let go of him. Please.”
The scent of Maxwell’s blood wafted over to me, and I clenched my eyes shut with a silent whimper. It smelled unbearably delicious. Better than anything I’d ever encountered. But I couldn’t have it. Wouldn’t have it. Would never taste it.
Adriel stared at Maxwell like he’d grown another head. “Are you out of your mind? Are youtryingto get yourself killed?”
Maxwell glared at him and didn’t back down. “No. I’m quite content to be alive.”
With a concerned frown, Pierce put his hand on Maxwell’s shoulder, then drew it back when he realized it was covered in droplets of blood. He cleared his throat and went to wash his hands. When he returned, he kept his hands to himself this time. “Maxwell, why don’t we go wait outside while Theo calms down?”
“That’s just it!” Maxwell cried. “I’m sorry to raise my voice, but none of you are listening. Theo is totally fine. My experiment proved that.”
“What experiment?” Adriel demanded.
I raised my lip as he slowly lowered me to the floor, but didn’t let go of me. It was taking a monumental effort not to flip out. My instincts were on fire, wanting nothing more than to throw myself to the floor and lap up the spilled blood. But I wasn’t an animal, and I refused to succumb to the demon inside. I wrenched my gaze away from the bright red spill that was calling out to me.
Maxwell spoke quickly. “I performed an experiment, using vials of blood to tempt Theo, for lack of a better term. The last one--er, this one, that I’m stepping in now, I mean, it wasmyblood. And he didn’t do anything. He remained sober for each of them.”
“That’syourblood on the floor?” Adriel asked, his voice pitched towards horror.
He whipped back towards me, eyes narrowed in examination. I was doing my damn best not to breathe the alluring scent in. It was the most intoxicating thing I’d ever experienced, finer than any wine, more delicious than any food I consumed as a human. My body craved it like a drug.
I wouldn’t look at the pool of blood. I couldn’t. If I afforded it any more attention, I was afraid I’d lose the mental war. I knew how easy it would be to just slip up, and let go--let myself become what I was so afraid of becoming.
There were two things holding me back. One was Maxwell’s confident gaze on mine. The expression on my mate’s face, of knowing he believed in me.
The other was something intangible, just a fantasy that popped up in my mind like a weed.
It was the image of Maxwell carrying my baby.
That mental image conjured a powerful feeling inside me--something even stronger than my primal compulsion to feed. The intense urge to protect Maxwell and that made-up baby was more powerful than my thirst for blood. It was strange. I knew it wasn’t real, and yet, I still knew that I loved that baby. It was a baby thatcouldexist, if I didn’t do anything stupid or rash right now.
