Page 18 of Blind Bite (Best Fangs Forever #1)

Chapter Eighteen

Darkness swallowed me whole, then spat me back into a strange dimension. I floated somewhere between life and death, my consciousness bobbing like a cork that fell into the wine bottle.

I saw a blindingly bright light, then eternal darkness again.

Was this all that existed after life? No angels, no golden gates to welcome you? Truthfully, I’d always believed in reincarnation, and was mildly disappointed that I wasn't being reborn as a cute kitten. After what I just went through, I could use a little pampering.

“—completely irresponsible—” A woman’s voice rang out, sharp with anger bled through my haze.

I sank deeper and deeper into the void.

Coldness spread through my limbs. Yep, my life was fading, my body letting my soul go. My grandmother always said there’d be a tunnel of light. But every time the brightness came, it faded just as fast.

“—could have exposed us all—” it was the woman’s voice again.

A deep voice responded. “She was just supposed to be dinner.” The rich tone was familiar. Was it Jamie? The man who was my violent end.

I drifted away on a current of nothingness.

My mother’s face appeared, then dissolved. Her heart was going to break when she finds out what happened.

“—the elders will have your head—” the woman’s voice hissed.

“Felicity, I’ve never lost control like that before. You should’ve tasted her,” Jamie sounded almost petulant.

Felicity. The bar owner? Why was her voice carrying into my afterlife?

Suddenly, pain seared through me, white-hot and all-consuming. My back arched involuntarily.

“—kill her—” Felicity’s voice faded in and out.

“It’s not like I meant to do this. She bloody bit me!” Jamie’s voice had risen to an almost shout.

I felt something warm and thick being poured down my throat. I gagged but couldn’t stop swallowing.

“—you’ve doomed her for all eternity—”

“I’ll take responsibility.”

The ceiling materialized above me, then disappeared again.

Where was that damn tunnel?

“—breaking every protocol—”

I tried to move my fingers. Nothing responded.

“—centuries of secrecy—”

My heart stuttered in my chest, beating erratically, then stopped completely. Panic surged through me.

“—changing—”

The fire in my veins intensified, consuming everything.

“—won’t survive—”

My body convulsed. I felt hands holding me down.

“—not too much longer—”

I gasped, hoping for some sort of relief, but it never came.

“—contact the witches—”

“Let’s just get her through the first twenty-four hours.”

Their voices were clearer now, no longer coming through the fog.

“—learn to control her urges. What about her life—”

“I will take care of it, Felicity.”

My tongue felt heavy, foreign in my mouth. I tried to speak.

“Am I in hell?” I croaked.

A long pause followed.

“Fuck,” they said in unison.

Realizing I was alive, I bolted upright with a gasp. The world around me came into focus with alarming clarity—every dust particle floating in the air, every crack in the ceiling, the hum of electricity in the walls. Everything was too sharp, too loud, too much.

Then I saw him. Jamie. Standing there in his blood drenched shirt like nothing had happened, like he hadn’t just—

“You!” I scrambled backward on what felt like a leather couch, my heart racing. “St-stay away from me!”

My hand flew to my neck, expecting to find the wound, but my fingers felt nothing but smooth skin. I looked down at myself. Splotches of blood littered my black dress.

“Oh, my god.” The room spun. “You attacked me. What—”

Jamie took a step forward, hands raised in a placating gesture. “Lilith, I need you to calm down—”

“Calm down?” My voice shot up several octaves. “You tried to kill me!”

I grabbed the nearest object—an expensive-looking figurine that sat unassumingly on a side table—and hurled it at his face with surprising force. He caught it effortlessly, which only terrified me more.

“Lilith, please—”

“Don’t touch me!” I screamed, backing myself into the corner of the couch.

“For heaven’s sake,” Felicity pushed my attacker out of the way. “You’re absolutely useless, James.”

She approached me slowly, like I was a frightened animal. “Lilith, I understand you’re confused and scared. That’s normal. But I need you to take a deep breath so we can have a little chat.”

“Normal? Nothing about this is normal!” My hands were shaking uncontrollably. “I should be dead. He—he bit me, he fed off of me.”

A sharp pain twisted in my gut, doubling me over. It wasn’t like anything I’d ever felt before—it was primal, consuming, like my entire existence centered around this urge.

“What did you do to me?” I whispered, pressing a hand against my stomach. My skin felt cold to the touch. “Something’s wrong with me.”

“You’re just hungry,” Felicity said, her voice unnervingly calm.

“What’s happening to me?” My voice cracked as another wave of hunger tore through me. The smell of the bar owner's perfume began to overwhelm me. The room smelled as if it were soaked in alcohol and something rich and metallic that made my mouth water.

Jamie and Felicity exchanged a look before the woman shooed him out the door, sending him to retrieve something from her office.

“First things first,” Felicity said, turning back to me. “We need to get you something to eat. Then we’ll explain everything.”