AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I fold my arms over my chest. “How can you hide what you truly are? Wait… don’t vampires burn under direct sunlight?”
I may have read a lot about vampires growing up, but how much of what I know is factual and not just myths? There are so many questions circling my brain that I want to ask Jaylen, but I’m still coming to terms with the bombshell he just dropped on me, so maybe I need to approach this more delicately. Besides, I don’t want to overwhelm him.
Jaylen chuckles. “Oh, sweet little angel, you’re so cute. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I walk around in the daytime just fine.”
My cheeks flush at the stupidity of my question, all logic going out the window now that I know this secret, and the fact that he called me cute. And his little angel. That’s not a sentence I’ve heard from his mouth before. I like it.
“I have so many questions to ask but don’t know where to start,” I admit, letting my arms fall to hang loosely by my side.
“I figured as much,” Jaylen says with a shrug. “But there is plenty of time for you to ask your questions, and I promise I’ll answer them in due time.” His eyes darken further as he steps toward me, invading my space with his large mass and height.
My breath hitches in my throat at the proximity, my lungs gasping for air as if his mere presence sucked me dry. Being this close to Jaylen is like standing too close to a bonfire, the flames licking at your side, just inches away from burning you as embers float around your head. And for whatever reason, I’d let this man fucking burn me if given the chance.
“There is a more pressing matter at hand.” His breath is warm against my lips as he stares deep into my soul, holding me hostage where I stand. I swallow hard. “I want to know why it didn’t work.”
“Why what didn’t work?”
Jaylen inhales sharply, his eyes once again searching my features as if waiting to find something he couldn’t before. “When I compelled you,” he explained. “I want to know why it didn’t work.”
I frown, trying to understand what he’s referring to when the realization suddenly hits me. After I caught Jaylen with that girl, witnessing him drinking her blood, he cornered me in front of the room, and I remember something pushing against my brain but didn’t know what it was. The sensation was odd, but I brushed it away because I was too in shock by what I had just seen. Now, I’m starting to realize what Jaylen was doing to me.
“You were trying to push words into my mind,” I say softly, chewing on my bottom lip.
Jaylen’s eyes dip to my lips for a second before he shuts his eyes and groans. “You have to stop doing that, Ev. It drives me crazy.”
My eyes widen, my bottom lip falling from my teeth. What the—
His eyes snap back open, and for a split second, I see part of his eyes are red before they turn back to their normal ocean color. “And yes, I was trying to push words into your mind. I was trying to compel you to not remember a thing of what you just saw, and yet, for some reason, it didn’t work. That has never happened to me before.”
I frown. “Have you ever tried to compel me or Miles in the past?” The thought that Jaylen could just compel Miles—and not me, apparently—to do anything is slightly terrifying.
He shakes his head. “Never.”
“How many people have you had to compel to forget what you are?” I question, wrapping my arms around my waist.
Jaylen smirks and my heart begins to race at how stunning this man is. “Let’s just say I’ve had to do it my fair share of times, especially at the club.”
I blush as images of Jaylen and that girl at the Black Rose once again flash in my mind. Now more than ever I’m curious to know more about that bar. Is it a place for vampires to go and feed on willing humans, but compel them to forget what happened? What happens if the human doesn’t give consent? I have so many questions and not enough answers.
“What is so special about you, Evie?” Jaylen says slowly, licking his lips. “Why can’t I compel you? To make matters worse, you don’t smell like us. You smell… normal. Human. But that doesn’t make sense.”
I inhale sharply, unable to get air into my lungs when all I can smell is the scent of Jaylen’s sandalwood cologne as it invades my nostrils and consumes my senses. I want to take a step back to breathe fresh air, but he has me pinned to the ground just by looking into my eyes.
All I can do is shrug. I didn’t know vampires existed until tonight, which means I didn’t know I couldn’t be compelled by one either. Which, in hindsight, is nice to know in case I am to encounter a vampire who isn’t Jaylen in the future.
“Interesting,” he breathes. “Do I scare you, Ev?”
The rhythmic beating of my heart can be felt in my ears as I stare at Jaylen, his question closing around my heart. At first, I was scared of him, especially when I saw blood dripping from razor-sharp fangs. But now that I’m standing here in front of him, his ocean eyes boring into mine, filled with such intensity that it’s hard for me to breathe, I realize that I’m not afraid of him.
Call me stupid, but I’m not afraid of this man now that I know he’s a vampire. Maybe I like the thrill of danger that I feel when I’m with him or maybe it’s because I can still see the Jaylen that I grew up with despite this new identity. Whatever the case may be, I only find him more attractive now and that’s probably very fucked up to say, but I don’t care.
If he wanted to kill me, no matter how long he has been this way, he would’ve done so by now. But he hasn’t, and that has to mean something. Right?
I shake my head. “No. I’m not afraid of you.”
Jaylen grins before taking a step back, putting some space between us. I gasp for air as the burning sensation I felt from being so close to him finally subsides. Holy shit this man is intense.
“Does Miles know what you are?” I ask, my heart racing in my chest.
