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“I will be,” I say. “I’m just glad I figured it out before she had a chance to do something terrible. She was here, Steph, in this house. Witches hate vampires, and I gave her access to some of the most powerful vampires in the world.”
“Why do witches hate vampires?” she asks.
“That’s a long story. I’ll tell you someday, but right now, I just need you to know that I love you, and I wasn’t intentionally avoiding you.”
“I love you, too,” she says softly, and I can hear the tears in her voice. “Can’t you just come home? I don’t like you being in danger like this.”
“I can’t,” I say. “I have to stay here with Jesse. I love him, too, and we have a mate-bond.”
“A what?”
“A mate-bond,” I repeat. “It’s a vampire thing, apparently. When one of his kind finds their one true mate, a bond forms between them. And even though I’m not a vampire, I feel the pull. I can’t leave him. Not now, not ever.”
“So, this mate-bond thing happened, and now you have no choice but to stay with him forever?” she asks.
“I made that choice when I told him I love him,” I say softly. “And I do, Steph. More than I ever thought possible.”
“Will you…become a vampire, then?” she asks, her voice filled with more curiosity than dread, as I’d expected.
“I don’t know,” I say honestly. “I decided that I wanted it after he explained everything to me. I don’t want to grow old without him. And, Steph, when I die, he’ll die. I can’t even bear to think about it. But at the same time, I don’t know if I want to be a vampire for the next few centuries, either.”
“That’s quite the predicament,” she says. “Would you still be friends with me if you’re a vampire?”
“Always,” I say. “Nothing will ever come between us.”
I say the words with meaning, but something inside me snaps as they pass my lips. Of course, I don’t want to ever let anything come between us, but in this world of vampires and witches, power and intrigue, and magical doppelgangers, am I really certain of anything?
30
NIGHTMARES AND DAYDREAMS
“Jasmine.”
Emerald eyes meet mine, but my gaze doesn’t linger. It drops to her mouth, open in an ugly caricature of a smile. Thick red fluid coats her sharp teeth and drips from her plump bottom lip. Two grossly exaggerated fangs protrude obscenely as her smile widens.
“See something you like, dear sister?” she asks, her voice venomously sweet. “Would you like a taste?”
I remain mute, watching as a drop of liquid drips from her chin. My eyes follow its descent, an involuntary shudder rippling through me as it plops onto a thatch of brown hair and disappears in between the strands.
“Come, sister. Have a drink. You must be starving.”
As Jasmine’s voice rings in my ears, a gnawing emptiness ravages my stomach, making me double over. A coppery taste fills my mouth as I gasp, and the intensity of my hunger doubles. Sealing my lips shut, I inhale deeply, and the fire of desire rages through my veins, burning me from the inside out. The desire isn’t exactly sexual, though it does pulse in my core, just as it pulses in every other square inch of my body.
Hunger, need, and good, old-fashioned curiosity take over, moving my feet forward in a slow shuffle. The closer I get, the stronger that glorious, metallic scent becomes. It beckons me like a siren song, and Jasmine’s lyrical voice adds to the symphony, leaving little room in my mind for rational thought.
“I don’t mind sharing. Come, Eden. Take a sip. She tastes as delicious as she smells.”
My feet skid to a halt, the fog of hunger and desire lifting as Jasmine’s words register in my brain. She. Jasmine said “she.”
As if she heard my thoughts, a witchy cackle erupts from her beautiful, bloody mouth as her knee shoots out, connecting with the body beneath her. My mouth falls open with a silent scream as a head twists toward me. Wide, unseeing eyes meet mine, their gray depths as familiar as my own.
My knees buckle, and I barely feel the pain as they hit the hard tiles of the floor. Jasmine’s maniacal laughter fades beneath the sound of my heart pounding in my ears. A wail rips its way up my throat, my hunger forgotten as I stare at the pale, bloodless face of my best friend.
“Steph,” I scream. “Steph, please. Wake up!”
“Eden.”
I bolt upright with a shout, my chest heaving as I fight against the steel bands suddenly cinching my arms against my body. I twist and turn, kicking my legs as my nails scratch at my bindings.
