Now my heart was thudding, and all I felt was need.
I needed blood.
Blood, blood, delicious fucking blood.
Needed fuel.
Power.
My brother.
Need, need, need.
My world zeroed in on the man and the lust that glazed his eyes, reddened his cheeks, and had his dick thumping.
With force I didn’t realize I still possessed, I lunged forward, snagging his lips with mine.
He squeaked with initial surprise, then moaned long and deep, then again while my pulse thumped more loudly than my thoughts could overcome.
The haze held me in its thrall as surely as I did this man.He pulled my chest against his.
Through the kiss itself, I called his blood to me.As if I were a siren, it responded instantly, happily, like it already belonged to me.
My eyes closed all on their own while I drank.
I drank.Oh fuck, I drank.
At some point he stopped moaning … and I started.
I didn’t stop until his heart did.
Chapter4
A Bitter Aftertaste
A low, gruff voice boomed, “Get up!”into my ear.
I startled awake, but didn’t twitch or make a sound, as if I were back on the streets.The body never forgot.
I didn’t know where I was or what was going on, and my instincts were already reacting.
I sought out the blood of whoever had yelled, caressing it in a tender instant, so I could hold them in place.Threat or not, they wouldn’t be making a move.
My eyes shot open only for me to immediately squeeze them shut.When I tried again, I squinted narrowly.Blazing and blinding, the sun was directly overhead.I couldn’t even make out the bright Fuerin Star beside it.
Teo.By the Ethers, Teo…
Suffering his absence all over again hit me so hard that a whimper nearly slipped out.I clamped down on it.I wasn’t alone.Revealing weakness wasn’t an option.
My power, though not at full-strength, was better.I cast out a call to anyone else’s blood in the immediate vicinity, but none responded.
I was lying naked, flat on hot sand.I anticipated some sort of understanding of my circumstances to arrive while I scrunched my fingers through it at my sides.My eyes watered from the sudden brightness.I remembered coming to underwater, and then … Teo.Losing him had stirred me from my unnatural slumber.
With a shuddering squeeze to my heart—I might have escaped my seabed prison, but I hadn’t escaped Heartbreak—I pushed up onto my elbows and took in my surroundings: the beach to my left, unending ocean beyond it.Squat, dark, gnarled trees to my right, but only until a mountain of gray rock began to climb.
No one in front of me.I whipped around, the jerking motion making my head swim, as if I were recovering from too much drink.
Sunrise spirits…
