Page 103 of Sun-Kissed Fangs
“There’s this…pull. This intensity. It keeps growing, and it won’t go away. I don’t know what it is.”
It was more than apull. It was a demand. A need to find Harper again. To feel the peace her presence afforded, to give in to the rage that came when she was threatened. A yearning based in necessity, like a falling feather drifting by the laws of gravity.
“It’s not unheard of,” Aleksander said. “It’s something many vampires experience, though how they handle it varies. A few years ago, I asked Angela to look into it, which is how she knows about it. According to her research, certain humans are uniquely compatible with certain fangers, summoning apull, you could say. It’s one-sided, meaning the human doesn’t feel it, but the supernatural creature does. Ms. Montgomery is one such human, only she is exceptionally unique, given that she has a connection to a lycanthrope as well.”
“She doesn’t have any connection to him,” Maya snarled.
“Said connection also makes vampires highly possessive. Something in her blood matches with yours, making it sweeter and more invigorating to you. Makes you stronger. Faster. Makesyou feel alive. It only takes a taste to establish the link, and after that, your fangs will hunger for no one but the human in question. You’ll always know where they are, no matter the distance. Will always be able to find them. Needless to say, not many humans survive that kind of attention.”
Nausea rose in her throat. “So you’re saying that… that I could have…”
“Killed her? Yes.” His voice was even. “Did you get close to doing so?”
She tried to remember.Searchedfor it, because ithadto be there. She had seen what vampires did to humans whose taste they liked. Had almost succumbed to it herself when a guest of her vampire master had seen her as a disposable slave rather than a favored pet.
When she’d tasted Harper, she’d wanted more. Shestillwanted more, if she was honest with herself. But it wasn’t as monstrous a craving as the first time she’d fed. It wasn’t mindless or ravenous.
It was just an ache. One far less agonizing than just thethoughtof Harper getting hurt.
“You let me be around her even though you knew of the risk?” she asked in place of an answer.
“I didn’t know for certain. I started suspecting it after you got back to Chicago. If I had known before you went to St. Louis, I would never have let you go. Even though it didn’t matter. You pulled away from her, even though you didn’t want to.”
Aleksander put a hand on her shoulder. “You are unique in more ways than one. I don’t know where your abilities start, nor where they end. But you are more than the monster you believe yourself to be.” That ghost of a smile returned. “And if you want to dull how painful this longing is… hearing her voice helps. In my experience.”
It sounded so simple when said like that. So easy. There was nothing she wanted more than talk to Harper, but would she even be able to? When she couldn’t even get a return text?
“I have another question,” Maya said, as Aleksander stepped away. “Why did we stay by the cabins? During training?”
“Because there was an audience. It is to our benefit that our enemies fear you. Not our allies.”
“You don’t believe that. Everyone’s afraid of you, too. You don’t seem bothered by it.”
“That’s because it doesn’t impede me. It does for you. Letting your peers see you fail at something makes you far less frightening.” He stepped away from her, turning toward the outpost. “You show promise, Maya. Take an hour to yourself and rest in that, if nothing else.”
In the next moment, he vanished. Another unexpected characteristic of the Chains Regents. They enjoyed dramatic exits, especially if they involved leaving her standing all alone in a dark forest.
She sank down onto a felled tree trunk and buried her face in her hands. She hadn’t exactly expected kindness from the King of Chains. But he’d offered just that. In his own way.
In hindsight, he’d done it in more subtle ways than just stabbing her a bunch. All the Chains soldiers slept in close quarters, with the vampires present sharing the basement beneath the main hunting lodge. He’d put her there, too. And since she was constantly busy, she passed out as soon as she made it to her cot.
She’d also been too exhausted to notice that the people still giving her a wide berth didn’t exude fear anymore. Diana was still the only one who talked to her, but the tentative looks being pointed her way weren’t scared now. Just curious.
A good development. One she’d craved for months. But part of her wanted to return to that old state. She would gladly deal with the whispers and frightened stares if it meant she could have Harper close again.
But maybe it was lost. Maybe distance had ruined whatever they’d had before it could gain a proper foothold.
Crunching snow cut through the quiet. Hesitant footsteps, creeping through the dark.
Maya’s head snapped up. The forest was as still as before, with the rush of the nearby river mixing with the wind.
Movement in the distance. A dark shadow, drifting between the trees.
Maya stood. She moved towards the figure, her footsteps silent and her eyes fixed on the stranger.
A man. Wearing dark camo and moving with a heavy gait.
And he had red hair.
