Page 16

Back in another van with the king, she slumped against the metal door. Trying to get Brie to be an active participant in their friendship was proving to be more challenging than she thought. Renee couldn’t figure out what it was about her that most annoyed Brie. It could be her constant talking, her inability to deal with violence, or just her general and somewhat bubbly personality, despite the circumstances. Popular people never changed. Girls like them were always so confident and posed. While girls like Renee were awkward and usually shy. Shit. Maybe Renee was being a judgy bitch and their personalities just weren’t compatible.

“You’re not going to read?” his voice filled the tiny space and pulled her from her thoughts.

“Yeah, I am. I was just thinking.”

“About what?”

Damn it. She never knew when he would try to have a regular conversation with her versus baiting her into some sort of argument. Other than Brie, he was the moodiest person - monster - she’d ever spent time with.

“The bunny.” The words slipped from her lips before she could stop them. She bit her lip. Not at all what she intended to say. She hadn’t worked out how she was going to bring the rabbit up yet, but she hadn’t intended to blurt it out. Shit. Shit. She always screwed up when she tried to talk to him.

His jaw tightened. “You were very upset.”

“I wanted to keep it,” she whispered.

His glowing eyes widened at her words. “Keep it?”

“Yeah, as a pet. It liked me and I thought…” Renee stared at her lap.

“Liked you?” His tone sounded almost strangled.

“It knew I wasn’t going to hurt it.”

His jaw worked as he frowned. “You cannot keep an animal with the horde. The same thing will happen every time. Animals are food. Humans are food. Nothing more.”

For reasons she didn’t understand, his words hurt. They hurt a lot. Why in the hell was he keeping her trapped with him if she wasn’t anything other than food? No one wanted to hang out with their lunch or dinner for as long as he had with her.

“If I’m just food, then just get it over with!” She raised her voice. “Why are you forcing me to stay with you if you’re just going to eat me? Do it already!” She picked up her book and threw it at him.

Before she could utter another nasty word, he had her pinned against the metal door. The entire van rocked from his quick movement. His fingers dug into her shoulders, his face only inches from hers.

“Don’t.”

His one word of warning should have shut her up. Anyone who wasn’t crazy would understand their life was at stake, but he’d more or less told her she had no future anyway, so what did it matter?

“Don’t what? Speed up the process? Are you trying to fatten me up first? Is that why someone feeds me every night? So, I’m good and juicy for when you finally decide to devour me?”

He showed his teeth, and her stomach tightened. She might’ve gone too far, said too much and ended her own life. However, as she stared at him, his expression morphed into something that was unmistakably like… desire.

“If I chose to devour you…” He released her shoulders and slid his hands up to cup her face. “You wouldn’t want me to stop.”

His breath mingled with hers and made her lightheaded. His words couldn’t mean what they sounded like. Surely, he was threatening her - right? He bent his head to hers. His lips were so close to hers they almost touched when he spoke.

“Do you want me to stop?” he whispered.

She couldn’t speak. If she did, she’d betray herself and every other human still breathing, since her honest answer was that she didn’t want him to stop. Renee balled her hands at her sides because she wanted to touch him so badly it was like trying to stay afloat on a raft in a storm at sea. Every beat of her heart, a wave that crashed against her, urging her to reach out and trace his jawline and tangle her fingers in his hair. He seemed, in some ways, so human. It was clear, given his translucent skin, the visible veins and arteries beneath it, that he was a zombie. And she couldn’t forget his eyes that glowed, the ones that seemed to be undressing her as he had her pinned inside the van. With no visible, fatal injury, her mind constantly ping-ponged about whether it was right or wrong to be attracted to someone who, for all intents and purposes was dead, but didn’t look, or act like he was.

Renee tried to move her head and caused her lips to brush against his for a second. The brief, tiny touch sent tingles down her limbs and made his expression heat. She froze. Not what she intended. She had to get away from him before she did something else equally as reckless.

“I should… I should read,” she mumbled.

Disappointment made the glow in his irises dim as he backed up. He tilted his head and stared at the ceiling.

Renee grabbed her book and pretended to read with her back to him, she berated herself for allowing him to get so close to her, again.