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I breathed in again, and this time my shoulders shuddered. I hadn’t looked at her since I’d first seen her bloodied, broken body. I hadn’t seenthis.

A snarl left my lips, instinctively, violently. I would make Imogen suffer at my hands. How vile?—

They were disappearing.

She wasn’t decomposing. At this point she would have had to be decomposing, but she wasn’t. There was no putrid, dead body smell.

My legs gave and I dropped to my knees. Another breath exploded from my mouth. The compounding force on my chest pulsed like a living thing. My fangs exploded out from my gums.

She was not gone. I had a chance to find a cure to blood-madness and bring her back to me.

SEVENTEEN

catalina

A feverish burncoated my flesh, narrowing in on my gums. It hurt as much as the pit in my stomach.

I jolted upright with a scream, slapping at the fire ants stinging my flesh.

“Cat?”

I whipped my head toward Ren. Everything burned. It felt like I was crawling out of my skin. I whimpered. Ren stared at me from a foot away. He was the only one in . . . I was in Tobias’s bedroom.

“It burns.” As soon as I focused on the ache, it flared painfully. My eyes watered and I whimpered. “Ren, help me.” I clasped my face like rubbing my jaw would abate it, but it did the opposite.

His eyes widened, but he still hadn’t moved.

I huddled into myself, hugging my stomach. Every inch of me burned as if fire ran through my veins. He was suddenly leaning over me, his face near mine. His brown eyes were wider than I’d ever seen them as they scanned mine.

He smelled so good. I licked my lips and narrowed in on Ren’s throat. That was where the scent radiated pungently. Such warmth. I wanted it inside me.

Once I had the thought, I lunged at him, wrapping my arms around his shoulder, clinging to him like a monkey. My gums stung and I attached my mouth to his throat. Liquid aphrodisiac burst onto my tongue.

“Argh!” Ren grunted, stiffening. He tasted so good. I moaned, squeezing my thighs around his waist as he straightened. He jolted back, taking me with him. The burn subsided to the sweet taste traveling down my throat. I gulped again, savoring his blood.

What was I doing? I was conscious of my actions, but I didn’t want to stop. I just wanted to drink. It was the only way to soothe the agony in my throat.

My fingers speared through his hair, and he moaned, hands flexing on my hips.

Yes. Yes. Give in.

He stopped trying to shove me back and his hands settled, squeezing as he moaned. That same fire flared to my sex, blazing a path down. I arched my hips, grinding on his abdomen.

“Catalina?” The gasp yanked my eyes open. Asher gawked at me, and it was enough to pull back the cobwebs masking my will power. I ripped through them, focusing on Asher’s shock. What was I doing? Sweetness spread on my tongue, but it came from Ren’s throat. I reeled and ripped my mouth away from his neck.

I dropped to my feet, agilely, and stumbled back until I fell on the bed and crawled until I huddled against the headboard.

“What was that?” I gasped with horror. “I am so sorry, Ren.” I didn’t know what came over me. Red painted the sides of his neck, along with the deep imprints of all my teeth.

“Catalina?” Asher repeated but this time with awe. He slowly approached, stopping a few feet away. I put my hand up, as if I could stay him. The bed bounced under my cringing body. I kept trying to sink into the headboard like it could hide me away.

“Asher?” I rubbed my finger above the skin covering my aching gums. The area felt sensitive.

Asher wore silk lounging pants. I looked down at my night gown. We matched.

“Did you do this,” I muttered, disgruntled as I waved a hand from my clothes to his. I caught a peek at red staining my fingertips and I gawked at the blood that had come away from my mouth. I looked back at Ren and the bite marks under a thin layer of blood. “W-why did I bite you?”

Ren seemed to have become a statue. He only stared.