Unraveled

Chin, another notch higher. Any more and she’d be staring at the stars. “Are you sure you want to know?”

Because she assumed they wouldn’t be able to be together once he did? Silly girl. There was only one way to prove her wrong. “Yes. I’m sure.”

“Very well, then. We are not shifters, like the wolves. We do not change into another form.” Her tone was cold and flat. “But the monster does come out of us, a separate entity, and the longer that entity is out of our bodies, the more solid its own body becomes. And as its body solidifies, the tether that once leashed it to us withers and dies.”

“Wouldn’t that help you, though? Getting rid of the beast?”

“Help us?” She laughed without humor, and it was not a pretty sound. “No. As it solidifies, it strengthens, and we become targets of what used to be our darker half. They blame us for trapping them inside our bodies, after all. Actually, no one is safe. And you should know, my beast has been pounding at my head since I met you, louder every time we’re together, wanting out.”

Good—and horrifying—to know. But he wasn’t going to let fear stop him from getting through to Victoria, from proving he could handle anything she dished out. Even if that meant acting like Prince Charming and slaying her dragon. Literally.

“Does this beast talk to you?” he asked.

“No. Usually he’s quiet, and he never uses words. Not like you and I do, at least, but he roars sometimes, and when I’m hungry, I can feel his thirst for blood. We’ve been very hungry lately.”

Aden’s mind whirled. How had the vampires obtained these creatures inside them? Most likely, Victoria had been born with hers. She was the product of a vampire union rather than a human transformed by tainted blood like her father and some of his followers had been.

A transformation no one else had been able to make over the years.

Were the beasts why they’d changed—and survived that change—when others over the centuries had not?

“Did I scare you into silence?” Victoria asked coolly.

“Hardly.” They were so much more alike than even he had realized. She knew what it was like to battle noise inside her head. She knew what it was like to fear losing control. “We need to get one thing straight, though.”

She blinked over at him, surprised. He’d never used such a fierce tone with her.

Was he really going to do this? Was he really going to take this route?

She’d helped him accept himself. He would help her do the same. So yes, he was.

“Am I your king?” he demanded to know. For the moment, anyway.

Caleb whooped with excitement. Oh, baby, I am loving this.

Careful or her monster’s gonna eat you, Julian warned. Got the 411 on that, E?

Sorry, I’m blank.

Victoria’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Yes. You know you are.”

“And you have to do whatever I tell you to do? Right?”

“Yes.” The word was gritted, as if pulled through a meat grinder. Clearly, she knew what he planned to say next.

“So, as your king, I command you to unbottle your feelings. Here. Now. Let them out.”

At first, she gave no reaction. Then she said, “You’ll regret that order.” Then, shockingly, she screamed. Long and loud, so loud he was sure his eardrums were bleeding, but he didn’t allow himself to cringe. He didn’t want to discourage her.

When she quieted, she was panting. She scanned her surroundings with wild eyes before marching to a large, round boulder and lifting it in her arms as if it weighed no more than a feather. A second later, that boulder was hurtling through the forest and slamming into a tree trunk. That tree cracked in half, the top falling and slamming into the ground.

Aden remained silent, but, uh, maybe this hadn’t been such a good idea. Someone—probably Dan—would hear the noise and come gunning. No way Aden could explain this.

My God, Julian said. Such strength…

I’m thinking, I don’t know, run like hell, Caleb said. Just a suggestion to, I don’t know, save our lives.

Elijah was as silent as Aden.

Scowling, Victoria turned to the tree in front of her and punched. “I can’t save you.” Punched again. “You’re going to die. To leave me. Those girls…they’re beautiful and smart, and what if you like them better? You say you love me now, but you haven’t spent time with the others yet. They could charm you. They’re more…human than I am. Or what if they hurt you? I’ll have to kill them. I will kill them. You’re mine!”

“You’re right about one thing. I’m yours. I’m not going to change my mind about that. I don’t care how charming they are, how human they act. I love you.”

Either she didn’t hear him or she didn’t believe him. The punches never slowed. This tree split just like the other, the top half crumbling to the ground. Then, glowing blue eyes finally focused on Aden.

Aden, listen to me, man. Run. Please. It was the first time Caleb had ever begged. What if she turns all that anger to your man business? We could lose our favorite body part!

Victoria’s panting intensified, air sawing in and out of her mouth, probably burning her lungs. She stepped toward him, slowly, menacingly. Her hands weren’t cut or bleeding from the jagged bark, he noticed. They weren’t even bruised.

“Aden,” she growled in a voice he didn’t recognize. It was layered, as if two people were speaking at once. Raspy. Enraged. Powerful. Her beast?

He kept his expression blank, but couldn’t stop cold fingers of dread from creeping down his spine. He’d asked for this, had commanded it. He had to take the bad with the good. “Yes?” If she wanted to break him in half, just like the trees, he’d let her. He wouldn’t fight back because he wouldn’t risk hurting her.

“You should not have demanded this.” One menacing step, two, she continued to approach him. Closer… closer still…

His eyes widened. Was that…could it be…? It was; it had to be. She was halfway to him, and there was something rising above her shoulders. Something monstrous. He gulped. There was a glittery outline of wings stretching from Victoria’s back, and over her head, he spied a long snout with big nostrils, black scales and eyes he’d see in his nightmares for years to come. Fire swirled in those eyes. Orange-gold flames that crackled with the promise of a painful death.

The demon reached for Aden, claws outstretched. Not in a threatening manner, he realized with shock, but in…supplication? Surely not.

Still. Aden expected to be cut down the moment Victoria reached him. What he didn’t expect was for his girlfriend to grab his wrist and jerk him into the heat of her body. Breath pushed from his nose as the world around him faded, as his feet lost their solid anchor, as his mind scrambled for an explanation. What was happening?

A car suddenly materialized around him. He was at the wheel, Victoria beside him in the passenger seat. She was still panting, and over and over the beast, which was still perched over her shoulders, reached for him, those claws whooshing through air.

What would happen if the creature solidified, as she’d warned?

“Uh, I think your wards have worn off,” Aden said, the souls inside him shouting with concern.

Without a word, Victoria removed her shirt, her bra, leaving her bare from the waist up. Aden’s jaw dropped. Dear God. Over her heart were two tiny swirling black and red tattoos his eyes could have traced forever. Caleb fainted.

Elijah and Julian merely gasped.

“No. They’re still there.” Her voice was still layered. “Now, kiss me,” she commanded, climbing over the console and fitting herself in his lap. Tight squeeze, with the wheel at her back, but he loved it. Her knees pressed against his waist, and her hands tangled in his hair, her nails cutting into his scalp.

Her lips smashed into his, and her tongue, which he welcomed wholeheartedly, thrust inside his mouth. Hot,