The realization guts me. How can it be that now—when I need to fight by their sides the most—I’m a liability?
As soon as I lock my apartment behind me, I run to the toilet and throw up again.
My organs twist and writhe, and no matter what I do, I can’t get any relief. The smell is nauseating. Stumbling to my feet, I splash water on my face, rinse my mouth out, and sag against the sink.
I need to keep them safe, but how? Information. It’s always been my greatest weapon. There’s nothing I can do about Celine’s father, but the enclave...
The djinn. I can use her against them.For the first time since I woke with my fangs pressed to Celine’s neck, I see the situation clearly.
Ciprian will hate me forever.
But for Celine, I’m willing to pay the price.
TWENTY-THREE
Unspoken rule of the Fringes #99:
One chance is an opportunity. Two means you wasted the first one.
CELINE
The covers are bunched in my lap, my wings blanketing more of the bed than they are. I stare at Luca in shock.What the fuck just happened?
I woke to Alistair kissing my neck. Pulse racing, I was about to give in and kiss him back. Then I realized something was off. He wasn’t kissing my neck; he was sucking on it. Scraping his teeth against the skin... everything but driving his fangs in.
“Are you okay?” Luca asks for the tenth time.
I shoot him an annoyed look. “I’m fine. Alistair wouldn’t hurt me.”
Luca scrubs his hand through his hair, chewing on his lip ring. “Normally, I would agree with you, but that wasn’t the normal Alistair, baby.”
I open my mouth to deny it, then close it again. He’s right.Alistair was lost to something. His thirst, maybe? Except he had every opportunity to bite me and didn’t.
That must mean something.
“What did he say before bed?” I ask, remembering how we found him hunched over the headboard. “Something about every swallow being agony?” He shut us down, but we should have pushed harder.
Luca groans. “I don’t remember exactly but it was something like that. He seemed strung out.”
“He was off last week too,” Ciprian says, popping his head into my room. He doesn’t bother pretending he wasn’t listening. “I thought he was just mad at me, but that doesn’t make complete sense. Are you?—”
“Don’t ask if I’m okay.” I sink into the pillows and consider pulling one over my face and screaming until I’m hoarse.
Luca glances between Ciprian and I, his brow furrowed. “When was the last time he drank from one of you?”
Ciprian shuffles his weight awkwardly. I squirm against the mattress.
Luca rolls his eyes. “Don’t be such babies. I’ve watched him bite both of you and turn you into mindless, horny fuck monsters. There’s no reason to be embarrassed, I’m trying to put together a timeline.”
I sigh and glance at Ciprian’s unusually pink cheeks. “Unless I missed something between you two, he drank from me last. It was right before we learned who you really were.”
Luca raises his eyebrows. “That was weeks ago.”
“But he drinks bagged blood all the time,” I argue. “I’ve seen it at his place.”
Luca shrugs. “I’m not saying it makes sense, but something has him rattled.”
“He left his shoes behind.” Ciprian points to the boots tucked beside the bedroom door. “Shoved past me barefoot and crazed.”
