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“So, call Danny.”

She shook her head. “Last time I drank from him he…”

Juniper waited for her to finish. “He…?”

Adriel waved a hand. “You know. He…” She gestured toward her lap.

“Ohh!Ew! Seriously?”Juniper gagged. “Is that normal?”

“Feeding can be quite erotic for males.”

“What about for the females?”

“I’ve never found it to equal the male experience.”

“So much for my theories that God’s a woman.”

“I’d argue she is not.”

Juniper curled her lip. “So, you guys just feel nothing while they…finish?”

“It’s not that we feelnothing. It’s complicated. And they don’t necessarilyfinish.But the urge is there. The males can get…rowdy.”

“Gross.”

Adriel’s soft laugh cleared the air. “Is the thought so repulsive to you?”

“I can handle blood. But the thought of drinking it…” She stuck out her tongue. “And something about letting some random dude grind into you while you feed—No, thank you.”

“You might be surprised by how much you enjoy it if you stop thinking of it like a mortal. Dane was a half-breed, and he developed quite the taste for it.”

“Dane’s a guy.”

“Most females love it as much as the males.”

“Do you?”

She looked away. “Not the way most do.”

“Well, maybe we’re alike in that department. I doubt I’m that sort of female.”

“You should lean more into your supernaturalside. You might discover more than a taste for blood once you start feeding properly.”

“Don’t judge me.” Juniper rolled her eyes. “You’ve never even had a taco. How does someone live five hundred years without tacos? They’re little corn envelopes of heaven.”

She sighed. “Every time we have conversations like this, I become more aware of how sheltered I was on the farm.”

Juniper turned to a blank page in her notebook. “I’m going to keep a list of all the things you need to try. All the pleasantfirstsyou missed. Tacos are at the top.”

Adriel half smiled and turned her attention back to the window. Her despondency was starting to worry her. It was like watching a wild animal struggle to survive after too many years in captivity.

“Ade, talk to me.”

She sighed. “The sensory overload of this place is draining. The traffic never stops, and the constant drilling and hammering of construction wears on my nerves.”

Juniper frowned, hardly able to hear anything beyond the chirrup of the night bugs and the wind in the trees. She could only hear the soft chatter from the TV. They were basically in the country. “You must have really good hearing.”

“I’m not used to all this noise and stimulation. It’s making me feel…separated.”