Anger flashes. Hissing, I leap up, nails out, but he captures me easily and pushes me back until I hit the wall.
“Calm the fuck down, Elliot,” he commands with fangs bared.
I show him mine right back. “Let me go?—”
“No. Not until you relax. I’m not kidding when I say my blood can destroy you.”
I dig my nails into his arms, trying with all my strength to rip his grip off me. “Then let it. You should’ve let me die anyway.”
He stares at me, sorrow tilting his mouth down at the corners. But he doesn’t say anything and that only fuels my rage more.
“I didn’t want this!” I scream. “I never would’ve chosen this!”
Again, he doesn’t reply. His fangs slowly start to retract into his gums. His midnight-blue eyes move over me like ice. “I know.”
Heknows? And still he changed me?
“You didn’t give me a choice,” I say, almost a whimper. “Not like you gave Nell.”
Using his grip on me, he turns me in his arms and holds me close to his chest. With my back flush against him, he presses his mouth into my hair, and a jolt shoots through me, like my body is a live wire.
“Oh, Monty…” he whispers into my hair. There’s a silent apology hidden in his tone, and a great sadness stretches over me. I suddenly want to get closer to the strange heat that comes from him because as much as I hate to admit it, being this close to him soothes me.
My shoulders sag, and for a few moments I just breathe himin. Let my eyes drift closed as the anger seems to drain from me and turns into something else. I’m not sure what, but my heartbeat steadies, my entire body relaxing for once, and it feels good. Normal.
Meant to be.
But still…
“Is this a punishment, Lucian?”
“No,” he breathes. “I was trying to save you. Just like I am now.”
“Saving me for me, though? Or for you?”
His body stiffens. “Don’t make me change my mind, Monty.”
That’s my answer. Right there. I pull free from him and stumble away, but my legs wobble and give out. I hit the ground hard. On my hands and knees, I rock back and forth. “I don’t understand. I-I feel so weak and yet so strong at the same time. How is that possible?”
“The bullet that hit you has been absorbed. Your organs have repaired, rewired, and every cell in you works on a different level,” he says.
Confusion and haziness swamp me, along with an inexplicable cramping in my stomach.
“As I said, you’re going through big changes. And you have too much of my blood in your system. Too much power. It’s temporary but it’s dangerous,” he says, watching me. “I’m sure the hunger, the blood lust, is telling you to murder half of Tenebris City. As much as you may not think so now, you’d regret it later. So you’re in here for your protection. When you’re no longer a danger to yourself and others, we’ll talk.”
Lucian turns and walks to the door.
After all that, he’s…he’s not going to feed me?
I crawl toward him. “Lucian, please?—”
He doesn’t stop. Doesn’t turn back. He walks out and the door shuts behind him. A beep sounds and a lock snaps into place. Then the lights go off.
I scream.
Chapter
Two
