Page 70 of The Devil We Crave
But something is different. And it’s not just that I’m not wearing underwear.
It’s not until I’m back in my bed at Morvaine much later, trying to pretend I don’t still feel his eyes on me, still throbbing with this darkness rippling through me, that it all finally clicks into place.
Achilles didn’t put this darkness in me. It's always been there, lurking, throbbing. Simmering.
But he’s the first person who's ever looked directly at it without making me feel like I need to cover it up.
I’ve been watching MaskTok videos and reading Galina’s spicy books and calling itfictionso I didn’t have to own it.
He’s made me realize it’s not.
He’s made melive it.
And I don’t think there’s any going back now.
14
ACHILLES
“Hey there, handsome!”
I grin at the flame-haired, green-eyed woman beaming at me from my phone.
“Hey, Mom.”
Between the lack of coffins and blood-drinking during my childhood, along with the fact that shedoescast a reflection when walking past mirrors, I can safely say that Neve Kildare is not a vampire.
But you wouldn’t necessarily believe it if you were told her actual age.
My mother isn’t just a knockout. She’s anagelessknockout. In fact, the “immortal vampire” comments have become so frequent that she decided to own the joke and hasn't been anything else for Halloween the last ten years running.
Honestly, you’d be hard-pressed to believe Mom is a day over thirty, when the truth is she’ll be turning fifty next year.
Sure, if you look hard, there are a few more lines around the corners of her green eyes when she smiles…which is pretty much all the time…or a touch of blondish-white in a few strands of her gingery-red hair. Still, she’seerilyageless.
“To what do I owe the pleasure?” she asks in a slightly out-of-breath voice, raking her fingers through her hair. Her face is flushed, and the camera swings wildly across the kitchen as she grabs a bottle of water off the counter.
I shrug. “Just wanted to check in.” My brow creases as I watch her guzzle the water. “Is…everything okay?”
Mom laughs. “I'm fine, just getting back from a run with your dad.”
I smirk. “Who won?”
She snorts. “Oh, honey, please. Ismokedhis ass.”
I chuckle as I lean against the tree at my back.
“So, how’s school?”
I shrug. “Same old same old. Can’t complain.”
She arches a brow, which is Mom-speak for “you’re not going to get away with just giving methat”.
When I still don’t go on, she clears her throat. “And?”
I laugh. “And nothing. That’s it, Mom. Classes are going well, the Privateers are looking strong for the season, and Para Bellum is running smoothly. Loch and I need to start looking over the potential new pledges for the Initiation Trials later this fall, but that’s about it.”
Her eyebrow quirks up again, and I chuckle.
