“Sure,” she says flatly.
Dammit, should I be worried about how incredible it felt to have her hands on me? How I kind of liked being at her mercy?
“You held back during the last feeding,” she says, examining her nails. “I couldn’t consume enough to sustain me.”
I let out an indignant gasp. “I did not! Do you really think I’d even knowhowto hold back? I have no idea how any of this works!”
She scrutinizes me. After an uncomfortably long minute, she says, “Then let me deepen the feeding ritual when we get to Fort Langley. I need more power.”
My heart lurches. “Already? Now you’re being greedy.”
“You agreed to feed me, and this is what it entails.” She drops her hand, her tone shifting to something more serious. “I—need—more.”
“Not—yet,” I say, flinging that tone right back at her.
Something about thinking of Riley and then imagining having Julia’s hands on me again, evendeepeningthe ritual, makes my insides twist. I’ve barely recovered from the last ritual and… I don’t know. This is all confusing.
I still love Riley. I can’t just shut that off. But when I look at Julia, all beautiful and confident and more interesting than anyone I’ve ever met… I don’t know if I’m ready to feel her hands on me again.
Movement in my periphery jolts me back to reality.
The older man who was staring at me has stood up, though the bus is still moving. He sways and stumbles as he makes his way toward the back. My heart misses a beat as his destination becomes clear—he’s coming tous.
His eyes are bloodshot, and the scent of alcohol wafts from him as he motions to the empty seat beside me. “This spot taken, doll?”
I look pointedly at all the other empty seats on the bus. How am I supposed to respond to this? If I say yes, will he get violent? If I say no, will he sit and bother us?
Before I can figure out how to respond, Julia stands, her cloak brushing my legs.
The man’s pupils dilate as she meets his gaze.
“You should return to the seat you came from,” she says quietly. Her voice is calm, but underneath it runs a current that raises the hair on the back of my neck.
The sudden quiet feels heavy, as if the air is too thick to breathe. My skin prickles like we’ve driven into a storm cloud. The yellow lights flicker.
The man opens his mouth, but no sound comes out. His eyes go wide and vacant, as though he’s seeing something no one else can. His face drains of color. Then, he backs away so fast he trips over his own feet. “S-sorry to bother you. I’ll…” His words dissolve into mumbles as he scrambles away.
Julia waits until he’s back at the front of the bus before sitting again.
The air returns to normal. The prickling on my skin fades.
I stare at her. “What did you do?”
“Nothing harmful.” She smooths her cloak, composed except for a sheen of sweat on her chest. “He’ll have nightmares for a few days, but he’ll live.”
“Oh.” The sound barely comes out.
She turns her gaze back out the grimy window. “I told you you were safe with me.”
My cheeks tug into a reluctant smile.
Something loosens in my chest. She’s right. She justdefendedme. The realization settles over me like a warm blanket.
It’s insane, considering who she is.ShouldI feel safe when I’m with her? Or should I be afraid that I’m magically bound to the most dangerous person on the bus—and probably in the whole city?
I shift, trying to get rid of this weird flutter. It doesn’t go away.
The scariest part is that I don’t know which feelings are real. The comfort when she’s close, the pull toward her, this warmth inside me… How much of this is me, and how much is the spell responding to her proximity?
