Page 71 of Crave Me

And now…

I glanced down, noticing the blood on my fingertips.

I…

My knees buckled again, sending me to the ground. I caught myself on one palm, then fell sideways to curl into a ball.

This… this is no ordinary… bullet.

I could feel it…shreddingme.

No.

Burningme.

Like poison. Like… likeacid.

A scream left my lips, the sound one of agony and fear andanger.

I tried to claw at the sensation, to pull the source of it out of me. But the world… the world was… blackening.

My enchantment touched my skin, the sentient energy concerned.

I tried to grasp it, to… to pull it to… into me.

Only, I couldn’t.

I couldn’t… I couldn’t do anything.

I could barely even…breathe.

CHAPTERSEVENTEEN

VESPERUS

A Few Minutes Earlier

“Hmm,it sounds like Sabrina approved the liaison role,” I said, my eyes on the email I’d just read from Kieran. “So if you want to stay in Ireland, you can. But they may eventually ask you to relocate to Scotland.”

Niamh nodded, her focus on the relocation reports in front of her. “I’ll think about it, but that sounds like the best route to take, as Zabra isn’t very interested in relocating. She prefers the seas around Dublin, as do I.”

“Less icy,” I agreed. I wasn’t a sea dragon shifter like Niamh or her mate, Zabra, but I imagined the waters off the Irish coast were more accommodating than the frigid waters in Iceland.

Not that Ireland didn’t experience the cold—it definitely did. Just on a less severe scale than we did up here.

“Perhaps you can take over training Bane and Nox, too,” I suggested, thinking of other tasks Niamh could do in her new role. “The phantoms may feel more comfortable near their home soil as they go through their trials.”

“I’m not sure Kaspian will want to give them up.” Her turquoise eyes flashed with amusement as she glanced up at me, the color a vibrant contrast to her dark skin and black hair. “He seems to have taken to them.”

I snorted. “He’s been beating them up all week.”

“Isn’t that his version of flirting?” she asked, her lips curling a little. “Just yesterday, he had Nox pinned beneath him out in the training yard. I could swear I heard growling.”

“Talking about me again, darling?” Kaspian drawled from the doorway. “See something you might want to experiment with later?”

Niamh smirked up at him. “Zabra doesn’t invite cocks into our nest.”

“Pity,” he murmured, taking a seat across from her. “But she’s right. I’m keeping Nox and Bane.”