“You didn’t, and that’s what matters.”
“But what about next time?”
“There won’t be a next time.”
“How can you possibly know that?”
“Because you’re the strongest person I know.” Her demeanor and her eyes changed, and I knew compliments like that were a rarity for her. I inched my way in closer to her and said, “If you were to drink blood now, do you think you’d be able to handle Cora’s wounds?”
Unenthusiastically, she shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t know.”
I dug my hand underneath the mattress and felt around for a knife I had placed there for my own protection. It was a large butcher knife, and once I had it in my grasp, Melanie looked startled and a little worried about what I was going to do with it. I pressed it to the flesh of my arm, and as I cut I heard Melanie cry out, “No!” The blood rose to the surface of my skin and trickled out through the open wound and poured down my forearm. Melanie scooted back across the mattress like an animal feeling threatened, and I witnessed her eyes turn from blue to red. It should have scared me, made me fear for my life even, yet I trusted she wouldn’t hurt me. She had more self-control than she realized.
Her voice went low and shaky. “What are you doing?”
I presented my arm to her and said, “Drink.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You can’t turn me into a vampire, Melanie. You said it yourself that werewolves can’t be changed. Take advantage of that. Let me help you.” Melanie’s eyes were permanently fixed on my arm as she panted, whimpered, and licked her lips. She was fighting the urge to drink. “It’s okay,” I assured her.
She looked at me one more time to make sure everything would be all right, and then coiled her fingers around my arm and brought it to her lips. Her teeth sunk into my flesh, and it was like a dozen daggers stabbing me all at once. It hurt…a lot, but it was a pain I was willing to go through. For her.
My heart rate accelerated as blood pumped through my veins and dripped into her mouth. The sucking of her lips against my skin reminded me of a newborn being fed, only she was moaning and tightening her grip on me the entire time. The pain was intense at first, but my body adjusted over time and a numbness took over me. My muscles loosened up, my body relaxed, and my head felt light. Maybe it was from the loss of blood, or maybe it was a high of sorts. I couldn’t explain it, but I felt connected to her.
The biting stopped and she released her tight hold on me, slowly pulling her teeth out and peering up at me as she held my arm. Her mouth was stained with my blood, and the blueness of her eyes had returned. She was fed.
Before letting me go, Melanie noticed a trail of blood still on my arm and dragged her tongue across the surface slowly, her eyes on me the entire time. I could feel the warm, wet sensation of her tongue cleaning me up, and I closed my eyes to enjoy it.
There was electricity between us. It was palpable.
At first, I thought it was all in my head, until I saw the way she was looking up at me. Her thirst had been quenched, yet a hunger remained in her eyes.
I felt it too.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
CORA
“Things I never thought I’d ever do?” Priscilla began as she threw a white sheet over Tiffany’s body. “That.”
I was still in pain and sitting on the floor, but managed to squeeze out a chuckle. “You’re really going to stand there, with a straight face, and say you never thought you’d be disposing of a dead body one day? I personally feel like it’s quite on brand for you.”
She put her hands on her hips and inhaled slowly. “Yeah, but somehow reality isn’t as sweet as my fantasies.”
We were really joking about covering up a dead girl. Boy, life sure comes at you fast.
I crawled off the floor, stood up, and winced. The cuts and blood from my arms had worried everyone else, but it was my back that was killing me. My entire body felt stiff. “I move like my grandma,” I groaned.
“You look like your grandma.”
“I’m talking about my other grandma. You don’t know her.”
“You have a grandma besides Wendy?”
“I do have a whole family on my mother’s side, you know.”
Priscilla’s eyebrow raised. “Wait, Wendy is your dad’s mom?”
I tilted my head at her. “Do you ever pay attention?”
“You act like I’m supposed to remember your family’s entire genealogy. Excuse me for having more pressing matters to think about.”
“Pressing matters,” I mockingly repeated with a long giggle. “You out here fighting crime when I’m not looking?”
“You say that like it’s so far off. I did come all the way to werewolf mountain, or whatever the fuck the city is called, to save your demented ass.”
“Or did you come because Daggett is here?”
She stared at me like I had lost my mind. “What in the blue hell are you talking about? Have you been smoking crack again?”
“I don’t know, you guys seemed awfully comfortable when you showed up here,” I said with a shrug.
“You’re seeing things. We said maybe two things to each other since we got here. Not all women are trembling horn dogs ready to be mounted the second a guy says one thing to them.”
I scoffed. “You
