Page 94 of A Taste of Bliss

I don’t know. I haven’t interacted with any of them during this festival. I haven’t really been interacting with anyone, too consumed with my plan to get the wraith enough power so he can get Leighton back.

I scan the townhomes, as if one might have a blaring neon sign with her band’s name on it.

And now Bliss, who yeah, isn’t really my favorite person, is gonna freeze to death.

I don’t like her. She’s rude and conceited. And self-centered.

But even with them glazed over I can’t stop myself from staring at her perfectly imperfect eyes.

So I take her hand and lead her back to my townhouse. At least she’ll be warm, and maybe Simon has her sister’s number or something.

It turns out I don’t even need to hold her hand. She seems to just want to stay by my side. I lead her to the couch and wrap a blanket around her while I search for Simon, but after not finding anyone in the kitchen, I turn and almost run into her. Bliss reaches out sleepily and takes my shirt in her hands. My hoodie has fallen off on the couch and she’s shivering again.

“Bliss, sit on the couch, okay? I’ll be right back.”

Nothing. She just steps closer to me, wrapping her arms around me and snuggling her face into my chest.

My heart leaps at the contact. I run my hands along her bare arms, trying to create enough friction to warm her.

“Well, this is new,” Evan says from the staircase. Shaun and Benny are behind him. They finish descending and gather around Bliss and I in the living room. I meet their gazes over her head.

“She’s sleepwalking,” I explain. They just respond with quizzical expressions, so I continue. “I used my lure, I think.”

“You think?” Shaun eyes the two of us with disappointment.

“I didn’t mean to,” I half lie. I didn’t mean to ensnare Bliss, that’s for sure. “Where’s Simon? I was gonna see if he could contact her sister.”

“Simon’s sleeping off all the alcohol.”

Right, the party. “Too much fun?”

Benny points at Bliss. “Her crazy ex-boyfriend launched Simon into the wall. I swear I thought he was dead at first.”

I jolt, almost knocking Bliss over. I try to go to the stairs to go find Simon, but she’s still clutching onto me. “Is he alright?” I settle for just asking, instead of checking on him myself. “Is he injured?”

“He’s completely fine besides having a wicked hangover tomorrow probably,” Benny explains. “Not sure how, but not even a bruise.”

My relief surges through me, and I find myself wrapping my arms around Bliss again, the contact bringing me even more relief. “What happened to her ex?”

Evan lets out a low growl. “Nothing yet.”

“Grim and Pinkie kicked his whole band out,” Shaun explains.

I look to Evan. “They need to know not to keep messing with us.”

“Agreed.”

Benny shakes his head. “Nothing good will come of that.”

“We have other problems right now,” Shaun agrees, pointing to Bliss. “You need to feed off her to break the lure.”

I shake my head. “No, I don’t think I need to. My siren teeth, they’re not bursting to come out.”

“I read that the lure has to be completed with feeding,” Shaun reiterates.

But something inside me knows I’m right. I slide my hands over her arms again, feeling the smooth skin. I let mypower reach for her, gently prodding. The wraith was right. It’s all instinct. I somehow connect to a wave of hopelessness, of desperation that almost knocks me over, but I canfeelit colliding with my power, growing, surging. The lights flicker as I feed, one lightbulb in a nearby lamp fizzling out altogether.

“Fuck,” Shaun whispers. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”