“What was that about?” Annika asked the moment we stepped into the alley behind the restaurant.
“What was what about?” I asked her.
“You told Tanya to forget she ever met you.”
“I did.” I nodded, and then I put the magic into my voice again, just in case she didn’t have wormwood on her today. “And you’re going to forget me as well.”
“I already told you I won’t do that.” She crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes. “I don’t believe you want me to do that either.”
“Really?” I asked, unable to hide the amusement from my tone. “And why’s that?”
“Because if you wanted nothing to do with me, you wouldn’t be here right now.”
“I suppose not,” I said, since she would be right—if I were a human.
“And you wanted to get out of the town square so quickly after the vampires showed up last night,” she continued, watching me carefully as she spoke. “As if you thought they were looking for you.”
“Why would they be looking for me?” I asked, since I’d always found that the best way to avoid answering a question was to respond with another question.
“That’s what I’ve been thinking about since you left last night,” she said. “It doesn’t make sense. Unless…”
“Unless what?” I asked, curious to hear her theories. Even if she guessed correctly, I wouldn’t tell her, of course. But it would be interesting to hear her ideas.
She paused, as if wondering if she should continue.
“Go on,” I told her. “I want to know.”
“It’s just a thought, and I’m probably completely wrong,” she started. “But… wolves have been getting past the boundary and into the Vale.”
“I’ve heard that.” I nodded, since of course I was well aware of what had been happening—and also aware of the limited information given to the humans. “But it was only one wolf. And the vampires quickly took care of it.”
“You believe that?” She chuckled and shook her head, as if she found the story ridiculous.
“Don’t you?” I asked.
“Partly,” she said, and before I could ask what part, she continued. “But I think the wolves are becoming more of a problem than the vampires are letting on.”
“The vampires are stronger than the wolves,” I told her. “They have them under control.”
“That’s what they want us to think,” she said.
“Okay,” I said, intrigued about where she might be going with this. “So… what do you think the wolves have to do with me wanting to leave the square last night?”
“The wolves are shifters,” she started. “They can change into human form.”
“They only change when necessary,” I told her. “They prefer being in wolf form.”
Her eyes lit up, and I worried that I’d said too much. “How do you know so much about wolves?” she asked.
“People talk.” I shrugged. “We might be new to the Vale, but some of the human families have been here for generations. They talk, and I listen.”
“That’s all?” She raised an eyebrow.
“It is.” The lie tasted bitter on my lips. I hated lying to her, but I couldn’t let her get even more suspicious of me. “What more do you think is going on?” I asked.
“I think the wolves are trying to infiltrate the Vale.” She stood straighter, as if challenging me to tell her otherwise. “I think that at least one of them got in last night, and that the vampires were searching for him.”
“Interesting theory,” I said. “But if a wolf got in, surely there would have been an attack on the humans—on us?” I added, catching myself at the last second.
“Let me finish.” She held a hand up, and I was silent. “Let’s say a wolf got in, and they were there for some sort of bigger plan,” she continued. “If that wolf saw the vampires, he would want to get as far away from them as possible. And I’d never seen you anywhere in the village before yesterday—no one had. You came out of nowhere… or from the forests outside of the boundary.”
“Back up,” I told her, barely suppressing my laughter. “You’re not implying that I’m a wolf… are you?”
“That’s exactly what I’m implying,” she said.
I couldn’t help myself any longer—I laughed.
“What?” She placed her hands on her hips, glaring at me. “What’s so funny?”
“I’m not a wolf.” I shook my head, still amused by her accusation. “Your theory was interesting, but you’re entirely off base.”
“Fine.” She stepped closer, watching me in challenge. “Let’s say I believe you.”
“Let’s.” I nodded, waiting for her to continue.
“If you’re not a wolf, then why did you run from the vampires last night?” she asked. “And why are you here now?”
I kept my eyes locked on hers, not wanting to back down from her challenge. Electricity buzzed over every inch of my skin at the intensity of her gaze. My senses went on overdrive, and I was hit with an awareness of the blood pounding through her veins, the sweet scent of it making my fangs ache in my gums.
But I clenched my fists, controlling the urge to drink from her. Luckily I’d thought to feed before coming here. If I hadn’t…
I shook my head, not letting myself contemplate it further. Thinking about it would only make the urge to taste her blood stronger.
Instead I thought about how to answer her question. She was looking at me with so much hope—so much trust. Suddenly, I stopped wanting to taste her blood.
I wanted to kiss her instead.
Would she be looking at me like that if she knew what I truly was? Or would she think I was a monster?
After what she’d told me last night—about how she wanted to become a vampire—I didn’t know. But it didn’t matter. Because turning her wasn’t an option. Even if she survived the change, Laila would kill her for being turned without permission. She would never have her chance to escape the Vale.
Turning her would be condemning her to death.
Which was why I needed to stop thinking about pushing her up against the wall and crushing my lips to hers. I needed to remember why I was here—to have her remove her wormwood charm so I could compel her to forget me.
But if I flat out asked if she had access to wormwood, she would think I was using her for the plant. And that wouldn’t be true. Because in a different world—a world where we were both human and unaware of the existence of vampires, witches, wolves, and all other supernaturals—I would have wanted to get to know her better. I would have asked her out on a date.
I definitely would have already kissed her.
But that world had been erased for both of us when we’d been taken here. We would never get it back.
There was no point in pining for what I’d lost.
Really, there was no point in worrying about hurting her feelings by asking her about the wormwood, either. Because soon I would compel her to forget me, and she would forget everything we ever did and all the conversations we ever had.
Whatever I said and did until then was irrelevant, because to her, it would all be erased.
“Well?” She crossed her arms, irritation crossing her eyes. “Are you just going to keep staring at me, or are you going to answer my question?”
“Your question…” I trailed, my thoughts having deviated so much that I’d forgotten what we’d been discussing.
“About why you’re here?”
“Right. That.” I swallowed and realized—to hell with it. I was just going to compel her anyway. She was going to forget everything, so until then, I might as well do I what I wanted. “I’m here for this.”
Before she could ask what I meant, I pinned her against the wall and crushed my lips to hers, losing myself in her kiss.
Annika
Kissing Jake felt as natural as breathing.