To Kill a Vampire - A.K. Koonce Page 0,36
opens his eyes to me. Iron-like posture fills his frame.
“They would have gotten to you with or without me. Their voices would have crawled inside your mind without my help.” My lips part as I recall the way Atticus’ voice slithered through my thoughts. “That’s what fate means, love. You can’t force destiny. Acceptance will only make you stronger.”
Declan turns from me, walking away, leaving me alone once again. When he’s only a few feet away, his shoulders fall; his normally confident demeanor slips. “For the record, you are my friend, Fallon.” My breath shudders out before I bite my lip, biting the emotions back. “Possibly the only one I have.”
The tension shatters within me. When he’s finally gone, I can’t stop the tears from slipping down my cheeks.
Seventeen
Surviving Isn’t Living
Asher
“We need to be careful.”
My jaw tics as I stare at the hybrid. “She’s fine.”
“I hear she almost killed Luca.”
With annoyance I close my eyes before settling my anger on Declan. “That’s an exaggeration.”
“Gabriel exaggerated?”
Gabriel said Fallon almost killed Luca?
For a few seconds he’s caught me off guard, and his annoying smirk returns as I gape at him.
Safely, I put my hands on my hips and look away from him. The camp is a hum of busy lives, everyone moving about with their daily training while I stand here arguing with the one person I would gladly avoid for the rest of my life.
“She’s fine.”
His jaw tenses, and he takes a step closer to me as a few of the mortals begin to take notice of our little yelling match. “It’s only a matter of time and you know it. The question is, how do you want it to happen?”
“What are you talking about?”
“We brought these humans here because there’s a dangerous vampire out there. Guess what? There’s one here, too,” he says. I hiss out a breath at the way he’s describing her. “Do you want her to lose control and tear through these people like a rabid dog or …?”
“Or what?” I raise my voice to his conspiratorial tone.
“You could help her.”
My heart starts to sink as I consider what he’s saying.
“Help her how?”
“She’ll be stronger if she feeds. You wouldn’t have to worry about Atticus harming her; no one could touch her if she fed the hunger.”
Anger shakes through my limbs as I fist my hands at my sides. I can’t hit him. Fallon’s warning from just last night echoes through my mind. The mortals need to see our alliance.
But what the hell is his angle?
“Get out of my face, Declan.” He opens his mouth once more, but I cut him off. “Now!” My voice shakes in anger, and I finally have to force myself to walk away from him.
On anxious steps I storm through the forest and burst through the witch’s home without even knocking. I force an uneven breath down my lungs before I carefully open her door.
Darkness shrouds the room, and a hint of sunlight falls through the thick curtains behind her bed. Without a sound I shut the door behind me, pressing my back flat against it, keeping plenty of space between us.
“You can’t bear for me to sleep, can you?” Her voice drips with sarcasm, but I can’t bring myself to join in her easy banter.
“Do you want to feed?” I blurt it out in one quick breath, no lead up, no second guessing, just an unfiltered question.
She sits up in bed, her hair a wild outline against the soft orange hue of the curtain behind her. A mound of blankets falls around her waist as she stares at me. A beat of silence is all she allows.
“What?”
I try to think rationally, but all I can picture is her ripping the throat out of one of the mortals.
“If you … if you wanted to feed, you could. On me.”
“What?”
“It’d be safe with no threat of changing anyone or losing control. It’d be contained. My blood would make you stronger. It isn’t like mortal blood, it’s –”
“Asher, shut up.”
My heart pounds in my chest. I’ve never felt this weak before. I’ve never felt so lost in my life. What’s the right choice? What does she want? Whatever she wants, I’ll do it.
I lick my lips, my attention falling to the floor as I try to figure out the right thing to say. “I just thought –”
“I’m not going to hurt those people.”
The blankets tumble from the bed as she stands and walks toward me, her small feet padding across the hard wood floor.