Page 33 of Zodiac Demons

“Too much.” He managed before he collapsed on his side, his gaze distant, and his breathing slowing to the point I couldn’t be sure it hadn’t stopped completely.

Did… did I kill him?

Fuck, I hope I didn’t kill him.

I scrambled to his side in a panic, and I checked his pulse. His heart was still beating, albeit too faintly to hear, and his lungs were still filling and releasing.

A cold sweat bloomed all over his forehead, and he was completely unconscious. I repositioned him so he was on his pillow, then got up with a start, trying to wrap my head around what just happened and what I was supposed to do now.

If his body could dispel my natural venom, he’d probably be fighting this for a while. I didn’t know if he would die from drinking directly from my veins, but I was sure it wouldn’t be easy to survive. Did I need an antidote? Fresh blood? Did I just need to wait? Or was he completely fucked?

Dammit. No one had ever prepared me for fucking a vampire, because I wasn’t supposed to be fucking a vampire.

Fucking hell, Marcus.

I paced back and forth, still holding my neck wounds, debating if I should call my father and ask him what I was supposed to do in the event that a vampire fed on you without your permission, but that would require entirely too much explaining of a situation I was by no means ready or willing to explain to him.

But if Marcus died I would never forgive myself.

I didn’t want him to die.

I checked his pulse again, and his heart was even slower than before. Panic struck me, and I scrambled for my phone, willing to risk all of my pride if it meant he would survive. I didn’t currently want to evaluate what that meant in the grand scheme of things, or why my own heart was beating at ten thousand beats per minute. I especially wouldn’t be acknowledging the feeling of wanting to cry that was seeping into my chest, or the heavy lump in my throat. I could think about all of that after he was safe and pissing me off again.

I scrolled rapidly through my contacts, and I hit call on the one person I never wanted to ask for help in this lifetime or any other. The only other Basilisk I knew who had dated vampires, succubus, and a myriad of other species.

The absolute last person I ever wanted to talk to.

He picked up in a single ring.

“Oh, this is unusual. To what do I owe the pleasure, little brother?” Omari’s honeyed voice was always more a threat than a greeting, no matter how pleasant it sounded.

“I need your help.” I wish I could have gone an eternity without ever having to utter those words, and yet here we were. The number of things I now had to face thanks to Marcus was infinitely traumatizing. “Y-you dated a vampire once before, didn’t you?” I made my admission more of a question, partly because I recalled very vividly how he’d been punished for it when we were growing up, but also because I wasn’t ready to call whatever Marcus and I were doing ‘dating.’ “Did that vampire ever feed on you?”

“Oh.” The amount of judgment in that single word was almost impressive. “I see. Where are you at?” He didn’t bother with the question we both knew the answer to. But the fact that we were at Marcus’ home meant the address was also a question I wasn’t ready to answer.

“I don’t have time for you to come across town. Just tell me what I need to do.” I attempted to deflect, because this was the last place I needed him to find me. I removed my hand from my neck, as the wound should have fully closed by now, then I resumed nervously pacing. “Can vampire’s process our blood? Or does it kill them?”

“My blood kills them. Not sure about yours.” Omari’s tone took on an extra degree of arrogance and amusement. “Though if you don’t want to find that out the hard way, you’re going to have to tell me where you are, probably sooner than later. It doesn’t take long before it’s too late.”

Shit. Shit shit shit.

“Fine. I’ll send you the address.” I finally relented, because that was the only option. I hung up immediately, and after a three count to convince myself this was the only right answer, I sent him my location.

It was with a true and honest sense of terror that I exhaled and returned to the bed. And it was with absolute mortification and abject horror that I saw my reflection in his bedroom mirror, where a Leo symbol was now embedded on my skin.

Wide-eyed panic had me searching frantically for anything I could use to cover it up. He didn’t own makeup, he didn’t have bandages, he didn’t have fucking anything of use.

Why would he? It wasn’t like vampire’s needed a first aid kit, when their saliva was a healing salve.

My hair wasn’t long enough to hide it, and turtlenecks didn’t go high enough on my jugular. Omari was about to walk into this house and see this mark, and there was no good way this could go.

By the fucking devil, Marcus.

Present Day

The boat ride to Fazer Island was impressively awkward, as I stared ahead with a blank expression, trying to ignore both my mate and my mate’s Alpha, as we headed out on a vacation that felt vaguely like an execution.

There were a number of things weighing on me. Mother and father would be home in barely more than another month, and once they returned, I wouldn’t be able to avoid them any longer. Father wouldn’t know anything was different, but my shifter mother would know I’d completed a mate bond in a matter of seconds, giving me a very short window to make a lifelong decision.