“No…I didn’t,” I say, shaking my head, wanting to redirect the conversation. “Jax, why did you react so strangely about my tattoo?” His thumbs stop rubbing the back of my hands. “And what doeskamaimean?”
His eyes narrow, then his jaw slackens and shoulders drop like he is about to tell me something, when a Bleeder appears. “Feeder zero-zero-eight, I’m here to escort you back to your room.”
I eye the sunlight beyond the tinted glass. “Can’t I go to the courtyard?”
When I look back at him, the Bleeder doesn’t answer.
Jax lets go of my hands and says, “I will tell you tomorrow. Have a good rest. I will watch over Cole.”
Irritation crawls up my spine, but I rise, and watch Jax and my brother as they make their way outside. With a sigh, I turn away and follow the Bleeder.
As I enter my room and scramble to the top bunk, theBleeder waits by the door. He asks, “Are you seeing the god tonight?”
My hands glide down my gown to retrieve the letter, but I don’t read it again. Instead, I gaze up at the vent. Soft noises pierce my sensitive ears.
Iwantto see him, even though he is everything I hate about myself.
“Once more,” I say, resolve heavy on my tongue.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
INCENTIVE SALIENCE
I’m an addict.Addicted to learning more about the dangers in the dark.
But it’s more than that. Jax’s words, my moonflower tattoo, and the way he made me feel. Sick and afraid of someone I have shared my bed with for months. So, here I am, stepping into the red glow and letting the door close me in.
The shadows wait near the bed. He stands, still drenched in a darkness that ripples around him as if alive. The nightwalker raises his hand. Claws extend, reaching out to me as he says, “You came to taste freedom.”
“Stop calling it ahe. You’re humanising thebloodsucker.”Jax’s vile words rush back and burrow underneath my skin.
“Kamai?” His voice is closer now, and as I blink away my dark thoughts, the nightwalker gently strokes my cheek with his long claws. “Your not-lover did something, didn’t he?”
My eyes crinkle, and as a laugh desperately tries toescape, I take a step back and turn my head to avoid looking at him. I reach across my body and cling tightly to my upper arm. “What do you see when you look at me?”
From the corner of my eye, I see his hand return to the shadows, and he walks away. The nightwalker steps up onto the bed, and his shadows open the vent above it.
“I see a glamour you never should have hidden behind, kamai.”
I take a hesitant step towards him. “What does kamai mean?”
He breathes a laugh. “I will tell you when you accept my offering.”
“Is it the reason you want me, nightwalker?” My eyes narrow. “From the very beginning, you have called mekamai.”
With amusement in his eyes, he raises a hand and says, “No. I want you to accept my offering because I enjoy your company. Is that so hard to fathom?”
“A little—yes,” I admit.
Shadows swirl around him, and he floats towards the ceiling, his hand still outstretched. “Then let me show you.”
I look to the door, my hands balling into fists. Moments with Jax peel away from my skin like dead memories with every step I take towards the nightwalker who sees me as more than a monster. Who sees me as I wish my mum would have seen me.
As I take his hand, smooth and strong, my glamour wavers. Long, pointed nails come into focus instead of the flat, chipped ones. My skin, once creamy, turns a ghostly ice blue.
White hair falls around my shoulders as his claws wrap around my hand, and his shadows lift me with ease. A sharpened breath escapes me as we enter the airshaft. He’s fast, breaking into smoke as I float upwards, his hand still in mine.
Light spills from ahead, and I wince at the brightness, closing my eyes. When a cold chill spreads across my skin, and my knees connect with the hard ground, my eyes fly open.
