My heart thumped in my chest, and I froze. It was the first time I’d become aware of my heartbeat since I woke up.
“Does my heart still beat?”
A couple of chuckles came from the other side of the door before Blaise answered, “Of course it does. It just beats slower. Once every couple of minutes or faster when something triggers your emotions.”
I cracked open the door, and he slid his hand with the clothes in a bit. “Thanks.” I noticed some tattoos on his fingers as I grabbed the clothes, and our fingers brushed together. “What do these markings mean?”
“They’re from a dead language that means draefend.” I heard his heart beat against his chest as he pulled his hand back and shut the door.
Are his emotions triggered by that?
I slipped on the sexy undergarments—lacy and red,figures—andthen the black leggings and T-shirt he’d passed me before opening the door. The clothes were a bit baggy but they were comfortable. “What does draefend mean?”
Blaise leaned against the door frame beside me as Kai laid on the bed.
“Draefend is Anglo-Saxon,” Thaddeus said, leaning against the door frame to the hallway.
I hadn’t been outside the room yet, so my curiosity peaked. I dragged my eyes away from the hall and toward Thaddeus. “And what’s that?”
“Old English.”
I blinked. “Wow.Thanks. So helpful.”
“Draefend means hunter.” Kai got off the bed and walked toward me. “And Draven is derived from that word.”
“Didn’t you mention this was the Draven manor?”
Kai stopped inches from me. His earthy smell sent waves of comfort over me, and I straightened my shoulders. He was a few inches taller than me but shorter than the other two.
“Yes, I did say that.” His lidded eyes raked over my body and lingered on my face.
“And that means…”
“It means you’re in our home,” Thaddeus said. “Let’s get you settled into your new life, and then we will discuss specifics.”
My eyes locked with his, and a low growl erupted from my throat. “New life? Do you mean I’ll belivingwith you three?”
He rolled his eyes. “Do I have to repeat it?”
“Yes! I’m definitely going to need you to repeat it. And then, I’m going to need you to repeat itagain.” I pushed past Kai and bee-lined straight to Thaddeus, pointing an accusatory finger at his chest. “That’s not how this works. I’ll walk my ass out of here whenever the fuck I want to.”
His eyes darkened, flicking toward my finger. “Can’t let you do that because I don't need you bloodying the whole town and turning them against us. You have certain urges now you won’t be able to satisfy on your own.”
I let my hand fall to my side. “I don’t need you to help me satisfy my urges.”
He smirked, leaning in and butting into my personal bubble. “So you don’t need help getting blood and not going into a blood-lust frenzy around your human family and friends?”
“A blood-lust frenzy?”
He edged closer, nose almost touching mine. “It’s an uncontrollable state vampires go into when they can’t control themselves around blood. At first, you think it's a hot, dry throat.” I swallowed, wincing at the sensation prickling my throat. “Then, it turns into thirst so dry you can't speak and you can't think. Not until you hear nothing, see nothing and wake up in some human's pool of blood.”
I bit the inside of my cheek as I met his gaze. “But would I hurt my family?”
“Oh, Lilith.” He pulled away. “You’d kill them all.”
My stomach gnawed again as the tickle started in my throat. I’d have to put my family reunion on the back burner until I could control my hunger—but as soon as I could, I’d go home and figure out what to do from there. Surely, I couldn’t actually live with these vampires.
I averted my gaze. “Can I have more blood?”
