Nightwolf

I give her a trembling smile. Oh shit.

I’m scared.

Like, I’m really fucking scared.

Lenore runs her tongue over her teeth and that’s when I notice her canines sharpening. “You can still back out,” she says, and her voice has this weird low vibe to it that makes my scalp crawl. “Better yet, we should have a safe word.”

“How about Jell-o?” I kid, but she doesn’t smile.

Her gaze sharpens. “I’ll try not to hurt you, but I can’t make any promises.”

Is this really my friend that I’m talking to? I have to remind myself that it is. That Lenore is making a huge sacrifice here by doing this for me, that if anything goes wrong, if I become a monster, if I die, then she’ll have to live with the guilt. Not to mention the resentment from the males of the house.

I slowly walk toward the bathtub, already half-full.

“Get in,” Lenore says in that strange raspy voice.

I pause. “You’re going to drink my blood, right?” I ask, sounding so small.

She nods. “That’s the idea.”

“And Solon doesn’t have a problem with that?”

Solon and Lenore feed off of each other and off of each other only. Because she’s half vampire, she’s sustained by his blood (as well as food), and she has enough human blood in her that he can be sustained. Vampires can and do feed off each other in dire situations, but the analogy is that you aren’t getting as many nutrients, or won’t be feeling at your best if you do.

She lets out a sharp laugh. “He’s going to have a problem. Believe me. I haven’t really fed off anyone else, not to the extent I’m about to. He’s going to get all possessive and shitty, even when it’s you, even when I’m doing it for different reasons.”

“Well, tell him I’m sorry, I guess,” I tell her, stepping over the edge of the tub carefully. The water is hot and soothing and despite the circumstances, I do find myself relaxing as I step into it, like I’ve just been shot up with a tranquilizer.

“This is nice,” I say, feeling kind of drugged, lying down until I’m mostly covered, the fragrant bath salts mixing around me. “This is too nice.”

I glance up at Lenore, who pulls off her socks, then steps into the bathtub in her skinny jeans and a tank top. “Did you do some weird magic on me?”

She stares down at me and gives me a terrifying grin, all sharp fangs. “It’s the bath salts,” she says. “I make my own batches.” She pauses. “Magic batches.”

Then she gets down on her knees in the water, straddling me. She leans back and braids her hair back and out of the way, her movements so fast that her hands are just a blur. Vampire speed.

Shit. That’s going to be me soon, isn’t it?

“Am I doing the right thing?” I suddenly blurt out as she leans down, placing her hands on my shoulders.

“I can’t answer that, Amethyst,” she says, her pupils going crimson and then back to black. “Only you can.”

“But you’re my friend…and you’re doing this…”

“Because I’m your friend, I’m doing this. Because I know how much pain you’re in and I hate to see you in pain. And I know that becoming a vampire won’t make losing your mother hurt any less. But it will help you to know that you won’t lose us either. You won’t lose Wolf. You love him, he loves you, and though I never used to believe in fated mates, I know that’s what you are. You belong to each other, and you deserve to be in each other’s lives forever.” She gives me a soft smile that contrasts with her sharp teeth. “You’re going to be happy, I can promise you that. And that’s what friends are for.”

I swallow, heart warm at her dedication and love, terrified at the change that’s about to happen. “And if things get fucked up?”

She closes her eyes for a moment. “Then God forgive me.”

When she opens her eyes again, her eyes are red dots.

And I am pure terror.

She leans down, quick as a blur, and places her lips at my neck and I suck in my breath, prepared for the pain. I survived Wolf’s bite, I can survive this.

But Lenore isn’t Wolf.

Wolf held himself back.

Lenore has to let herself go.

He didn’t want to kill me.

Killing me is Lenore’s main goal.

Oh fuck.

Lenore suddenly clamps down, her teeth piercing my skin with such sharp ferocity that my scream chokes in my throat. There are no gentle nibbles to start the process, she just tears into me like I’m a fucking chicken wing.

I gasp, the pain excruciating, nothing like the sweet torture I experienced with Wolf. This makes me feel like I’m already dying, like there is no escape, like I couldn’t stop Lenore now even if I wanted to.