Page 135 of Hunger & Harmony

“I don’t believe so,” he says, and I pout.

“Why not?”

“You aren’t simply a vampire, my starlight.”

I tilt my head gently as he pulls off of me. He looks whole again. No silver, and no weakness. Blood stains his mouth, and everything from his hair to his eyes looks healthy again.

Sitting up slowly, I get a feel for my renewed limbs, careful not to move as fast as my body wants to.

Everything is clearer. The scent of incense has heightened, and even his faded cologne settles into my senses. A metallic taste lingers on my tongue. Not blood, but something smoother, richer.

Niko leans over the bedside, parting the curtains enough to find something. Even the brush of fabric is more vivid, my ears catching it all. I can see perfectly through the darkness, too, and my confusion deepens as he pulls up a mirror.

“You are the bond as fate wanted it,” he says, passing the hand mirror to me.

I don’t hesitate to raise the glass to my face, peering at my reflection.

It’s still me, with disheveled strawberry blonde strands going everywhere, freckles along my nose, and my skin a warm fawn.

The only difference is my eyes. They fly open, and I lean in to observe my irises. They’re not burgundy like Niko’s, or settling into any shade of red at all. Neither are they my original brown.

“Resonant,” Niko says, and I blink.

Golden eyes stare back at me. Bright, gleaming, and resonant.

32

HUNGER

Golden eyes appear and disappear as I blink slowly. I’m still pressed to the mirror in awe.

That’s when I see them. On my neck, two perfectly aligned scars, near the base where my heartbeat used to flutter. When I bring the mirror closer and angle my chin, my eyes widen as the scars shimmer a faint gold. Like two stars etched onto my skin.

“Whoa . . .”

As I press my fingers to them, Niko surprises me with a kiss on my temple.

“First of your kind,” he says as I run my fingers over the marks. “A Resonant vampire.”

I place the hand-mirror down on the bed and turn to him. He’s radiant, every fragment of soft candlelight dancing on his skin. My eyesight is so sharp, it’s almost disorienting. All of my senses are.

Including one particular feeling in my throat.

Hunger.

Not ravenous. Nowhere close to uncontrollable. Still stronger than when our bond was crumbling, though. It’s not a reckless thirst, but a craving for something fulfilling.

My pause must alert Niko, as when he pulls me closer to him, he smiles knowingly.

“Queen of my heart.”

The moment I’m pressed against his body, his scent overwhelms me. I squirm in his lap as my fangs lengthen, the awareness of thirst expanding.

“Drink.”

His wrist appears at my lips, and my eyebrows shoot up.

“Don’t say no,” he teases softly, and I recall when those words were mine.