Lucky for me, I have an Avatar of Knowledge who, with a look of fierce determination and a wave of his hand, immediately creates a glowing heads-up display on the windshield that shows me where all the road obstacles are, and exactly where I need to drive. It’s like a video game and, even though I’m too broke-ass and too friendless to have ever actually played any of those, it just makesso much sense. I don’t even need to slow down.
Unlucky for me, rain does more than make you blind. It also destroys your traction. I make the turn at Harrison toward the on-ramp going nearly sixty, just straddling the outside edge of Collin’s glowing lines—and almost immediately, I’m in a full skid, a mile-a-minute spin.
I scream while I tear at the wheel, the car jolts up as it jumps the curb, and then?—
BAM!
The passenger side of the car smashes into one of the huge concrete columns of the overpass. The metallic screech of the impact rips through me. Everything throws forward and to the right. And since I’m not wearing a seatbelt, my head bashes hard into the side of the steering wheel.
Things are then very quiet. I don’t know for how long.
When I come back to myself, it’s like my ears, no, mywhole head, is stuffed full of cotton. Sounds return, one by one. Collin is yelling something at me. The car engine is dead, but there’s some kind of ticking noise coming from the front compartment. I notice the rain has stopped.
I lean back, bringing my hand to my eyes. I’m in a lot of pain. My neck, my arms, my nose… I can feel blood streaming down my face onto my chest. I think I bit my lip badly, too.
Even so, it still feels like I’m doing better than I should be. The pain is dulling. Things are stitching back together. Looks like my new healing powers are still there.Good.
But the mending is happening slower than before. And underneath it, there’s something else. Something stirring inside my chest. Something needy. And fierce.
The Obligation?
No.
It’s something I haven’t felt for years. Something that I only got the barest taste of before I locked it way, way down. My incubus hunger. The part that needs to feed. A compulsion that can become so strong it would make the Obligation feel like a gentle suggestion.
How?! I’m not doing anything remotely erotic rightnow. And I didn’t feel anything after…whateverCollin and I did. I would definitely have noticed it!
Then it hits me. It’s because I’m hurt. And still healing. I’ve never been this injured before, and I’ve used up all the juice I got from the sexy times with Collin. But even running on empty, there’s still something fighting for my life. Something that will save me for a cost. Something I’ve tried to deny my whole life.
I’m going into debt—cold, hard debt—to the monster inside me.
Collin is still in the passenger seat. Grabbing at my shirt. Tugging at me. But it feels like he’s at a distance.
“Alvin! Alvin! You have to get up! We have to run!”
I wish I could say that my monster puts rose-colored glasses on me when it’s hungry. That as I turn to look at Collin, dazed as I am, I see all his cuteness. His sweet desire to protect me. Those boyish good looks. That I’m reminded of his gentle kisses, and how nice his touch was. That I’m filled with love and affection, hearts and flowers. And thatthat’swhat makes me want to have him.
But that’s not how a predator’s hunger works.
It’s nothing like what you feel when you haven’t eaten for a long time, but it is similar to the way welookat food. As something to be consumed. Something that’s just there for your needs.
Not a person. But meat.
That’show I’m looking at Collin now. And already I can feel the tendrils of my innate power reaching out to him, trying to grip around his heart. Trying to make him want me so much he won’t be able to do anything but submit, helpless as I devour all that he is.
Of course, I’m badly hurt. And weak. I have no real experience using these powers. And Collin’s not even human, so there’s nothing for the tendrils to latch onto, right? He’s safe.
But I see the horror on his face as he realizes what’s happening to me.
“Oh. Oh,Alvin.”
He reaches out his hand toward my face. An act of tenderness that should move my heart, bring me back to myself, but it just ignites my hunger even more. This isn’t a cute guy worried about me. It’s prey showing weakness. And it makes me want to consume himmore.
God, I hate that this is part of me. I hate that this is who I really am.
There’s a staccato series of loud pops, then a scream of steel to my left. I drunkenly twist my head to see the elf rip off the driver’s side door with his bare hands. (Well, look at that, he’s even stronger than I was!) I watch him, barely able to keep my focus as he draws his sword. The fae has got blood on his own face, a nasty diagonal gash down his previously flawless cheek, and he’s really, really angry.
My neck, mouth, and nose still hurt like hell. And even if I could get my muscles into gear, the passenger side of the car is smashed. The elf is blocking the only way out.
