“Yes,” I answer her without elaborating further. “Come on, let’s go.”
“I’ll be back for you, Daisy,” Ansley whispers, squeezing her best friend’s hand. “I promise. I’ll also make sure Caddo gets fed. If there’s any part of you still awake in there, I’m sure you’re worried about him more than anything else.”
We survived. That’s enough to count my blessings. But the biggest one is beside me.
I’ve found my mate.
But why does it still feel like something is missing?
CHAPTER 11
Ansley
My emotions are in a tailspin.
I’m worried about Daisy. Confused that there are actual vampires. Not just vampires, either. Apparently, there are Witch Doctors and men that can turn into wolves.
And I thought getting a job at York Financial was going to be the most exciting thing that happened this year.
The weirdest part is how I’ve just accepted it. Yesterday, I just had a feeling someone was watching me. Since then, I’ve had a vision… or hallucination. I’m still not sure what that was. I’ve seen horrifying creatures and an actual bloodsucking vampire. I’ve watched Hayden tear hearts out of chests and fight Daisy’s evil date.
I’m not sure how much Daisy will remember when she wakes up, but I doubt she’s going to believe anything I tell her. If she does, I have a feeling“Remember that time you went on a date with avampire?”won’t be something I’m able to tease her about for a very long time.
“Up there,” Hayden says, gesturing to a gas station. “Call the Uber. We’ll wait by the curb.”
Hayden is wearing a patchwork blanket like a cloak, tied around the waist by a gold cord that reminds me of the one I recently wore at my college graduation. That feels like a lifetime ago, not a matter of months.
Oh god, I have toworktomorrow. And feed Caddo. How do I just return to regular life after what just happened?
I also have a different sensation. This one is concerning. I noticed it when the adrenaline finally wore off. The night at Fletcher’s, when I saw him staring at me, I felt a tingle between my legs. A pulsing heat in my core. Now, my core is on fire, and my panties are wet.
This is unholy. This is the kind of thing my grandmother would have said was a sin. But I’ve checked a few of them off her list without thinking twice, and right now, I’m having a hard time focusing on anything else except my concern for Daisy. The rest will have to wait.
“Oh, fuck! damn it,” Hayden groans, shuddering underneath the blanket.
“Are you… okay?” I ask, trying to swallow the strange sensation, and only seeming to make it worse. “Are you still in a lot of pain?”
“It’s not the pain. It’s hard to maintain my Third Form around you. I’m weak. I need food. A bottle of whiskey. A hot shower, followed by a cold shower,” he sighs. “I’ll be fine.”
“I feel like I need all of those things, too,” I admit, looking down. “Not a whole bottle, though. Then again…” I snap out of it in an instant. I’d be dead if I drank that much. “Why is it difficult?”
“This isn’t who I am. This is a disguise I wear to blend in with humans,” he growls, lowering himself to the curb, a hard sigh escaping his chest. “It takes concentration to maintain it.”
My eyes widen. “So, the wolf… that’s what-whoyou are?”
“It’s what we call our Natural Form. The true name for it sounds like a grunt to a human. But we aren’t born like that. What you saw, that’s my true Human Form,” he says, “It’s easiest to maintain that one.”
“I thought that was like your…Supermanform or something,” I say, imagining what it would be like to be in those massive arms.
“No,” he chuckles, shaking his head. “That’s how I was born.”
“Wow,” I say, swallowing hard, then a car approaches the curb. “There’s our Uber.”
Hayden insists I get in first. He grunts and groans as he climbs into the backseat. The driver flashes a curious look at us, but then he glances at the rather generous tip I put into the app and shrugs.
“York Financial,” he says, adjusting his rear-view mirror. “Buckle up.”
When I first got my apartment, I imagined myself walking to work, not going broke paying for rides everywhere. But I’m glad to be sitting. Off my feet. It helps with the rising heat in my core if I squirm a little in my seat.
