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“Cecelia,” I said softly. I watched as her shoulders moved as her name exited my lips, but she stood still. She made no move towards me, no indication that she was happy to see me. Warren was wrong, there was no reason why she would need me here. I ruined her, and there was nothing I could say or do that would change her mind.

She was so beautiful, more graceful and poised than she had been in her human life. Immortality suited her, but I did not dare voice it out loud. Her hair was glossier, her skin clear and bright. I could even see the way her eyes flicked back and forth, taking in the new clarity she was experiencing. And the thirst, the thirst that she couldn’t ignore for very much longer.

Cecelia was going to kill me, and she should.

“You need to feed,” I said slowly, reaching out towards her. Cece took a large step backward.

“What I need is my life back,” she seethed. The harshness in her voice made me wince.

“I know, I’m sorry—”

“You’re sorry? That’s all I get? That’s all you can say to me?”

“Cecelia, please, let me explain,”

“I don’t need you to explain anything to me! You took my life away from me, Mercy. You took away my choice! You told me you would never do that to me, that I was different. You’re just like the rest of them, those men that hurt you.”

Her words were meant to hurt, and they touched a deep part of me that made me recoil.

“I couldn’t let you die Cecelia!” Warren stood behind me, unable or unwilling to speak.

“I wish I was dead. Anything would be better than this,” her hands went to her throat as if she was cradling it.

“You need to feed, baby,” I said, “feed from me. Then we can talk, I promise.”

“Don’t patronize me, Mercy.”

I took steps towards her. She didn’t back away again, which gave me hope.

“Cece you need to get rid of the thirst. Theneeddrives you, your emotions. Feed from me and then we’ll be able to get you human blood. It’ll allow us to talk.”

The mention of her thirst again made her stumble. She looked at me with uncertainty and crossed the distance between us. I opened my neck to her, allowing Cecelia’s newly pointed fangs to gain access to it.

When they pierced my skin I heard her moan. It was involuntary, and as she latched onto my neck I let my eyes roll back, my head falling to the side.

Pleasure washed through me.

45

CECELIA

Euphoric.

That was the only way to describe what it felt like to feed from her. Her tainted blood ran through my system, soothing the burning need to rip anyone in my wake apart for only a taste from them.

As the rage calmed, my mind started to churn with self-loathing. I hated that I needed her for this. I hated that she had done this to me. And I hated, above everything, the fact that it felt so fucking good having her like this. I wanted to taste her and destroy her at the same time, and my brain was unable to cope with that.

I groaned around my hold on her neck, my mouth salivating and begging for more. At the sound of my enjoyment, Mercy relaxed into me, her curves pressing against mine. We fit so perfectly together and I couldn’t decide if that was some sort of twisted karma, or an even more perverted sense of fate.

“That’s it, baby,” Mercy cooed into my ear. “Take what you need.”

I growled. “Don’t call me that.”

Mercy’s answering chuckle only infuriated me more. “Why not, little flower? How does it make you feel?”

“Like I want to hurt you.”

I pulled back, looking into her eyes as she smiled smugly. “And?”