His gaze seemed tormented. She felt tormented.
“You still breathe. Your heart still beats,” Luke continued. “I mean, if it didn’t, your body would start to decompose. Your flesh would rot. You’d be all gross and disgusting and basically a zombie. Which you are not,” he added hastily when Julian glared at him. “But since you still have a heartbeat and brain function and what not…that does mean you can die. See, that’s where the stories always go wrong again. Once more, courtesy of my dick brother.”
She didn’t care about his brother and Luke was just talking nonsense.
Why was Julian not speaking?
“So you can be killed with the usual methods,” Luke’s voice was flat. He snapped his fingers. “Pay attention here, okay? Focus. This shit is important.”
Rose blinked.
“A gunshot to the heart, drowning, stabbing…you get the idea.” His hand did a little roll in the air. “You’ll die, but you’ll come back. Lucky you.”
“This isn’t real,” she mumbled. It couldn’t be real. Her stomach wasn’t just twisting any longer. It was knotting. Cramping.
“You’ll come back,” Luke nodded, “but you’ll be damn thirsty. Just remember that blood is always of paramount importance for you. Drink up, drink, drink, drink.”
He’d just told her to drink blood.
And…
Her teeth were burning. Stretching?
“There they are.” Luke clapped his hands, as if proud. “Right on cue.” His head cocked. “Gorgeous fangs, by the way. They’ll help you with that whole blood drinking issue. You can also compel humans, to a certain extent, so they’ll pretty much just offer their throats to you.” He sighed. “A word of warning, though, try not to kill your prey. That will just attract my brother’s attention and, as previously noted, he can truly be a pain in the ass.”
Her fingers were over her mouth and she touched—fangs. Honest-to-God fangs were coming out of her mouth. Her canines had extended to wicked sharp points and when she talked—“This isn’t happening!”
When she spoke, she actually had a little lisp.
Luke just laughed. “You’ll get used to them. Give it time.”
She wasn’t giving this anything.
“Now, I said you’d come back from death, but there are a few exceptions.” Luke turned his back on her as he paced around the room. “Don’t ever take a stake to the heart. Your heart is key, my dead. Key. And don’t get yourself burned to ash. Oh, and if you lose your head—”
She ran for the bedroom door, but Julian suddenly stepped into her path. He’d moved fast. Way, way too fast. He didn’t touch her. His hands were clenched at his sides. “I’m…sorry. I couldn’t let you go.”
Her breath heaved in and out of her lungs. Her teeth burned in her mouth and hunger was clawing through her. “What did you do?” Talking was hard with those stupid fangs in her mouth.
“I made a deal with the devil.”
Someone tapped her shoulder. “That would be me, sweetheart.”
She didn’t look back. She couldn’t take her eyes off Julian. “I don’t believe in the devil.”
“Maybe you should,” Luke said, sounding annoyed now. “Maybe it’s time for you to start believing in a whole lot of things.”
She had to get out of there. Rose shoved against Julian and he actually backed away. She flew through the doorway and ran—ran faster than she’d ever gone before. In seconds, she was out of the house and barreling down the street. Her surroundings seemed to pass her in a blur and then—
Julian’s hands curled around her. He stopped her. Just appeared right in front of her and caught her hands in his. “I won’t always be able to catch up to you,” he muttered. “Luke just gave me a bonus tonight.”
“What is happening to me?” Because that dark, twisting hunger was so much worse and she found herself staring at his neck. She could see the pulse point there. Could almost hear the swoosh of his blood if she tried hard enough.
Everything seemed too bright. Too bright even though it was night time. And she could hear so many sounds…laughter, from people who weren’t even on the road. The drumbeat of music from a club that had to be miles away.
“You have to drink because you’re still weak.” He pulled her closer and even lifted her up against him, moving her so that her mouth was right at his throat. “Go ahead, love, take what you need. I’ll always give you what you need.”
Her mouth pressed to his skin. Her teeth—she bit him and his blood trickled into her mouth. Warm and strangely sweet and soon it wasn’t just a trickle because she had to take more. She needed more. She drank and she drank and—
Her hands shoved against him. Julian released her and she stumbled back, almost falling onto the pavement. Her hand went to her mouth and she swiped the back of it over her lips. Then she looked at her hand. His blood was on her skin. His blood was in her mouth.
Julian didn’t move. There were two puncture wounds on his neck. Blood dripped down his throat.
You are the nightmare.