The guy tapped the table when his alarm went off. I detached my fangs from his wrist and handed him one of my black bands. He handed over the red.
My hunger had abated significantly, but it still remained.
“Thanks, Kyle.”
“Like I said, any time. Make sure the werewolf Alpha doesn’t come after me?”
“You’ve got it.”
As long as I didn’t touch the humans I was feeding from with any part of me but my hands, I should be able to wash their scents off completely.
Reluctantly, I found another human I recognized, and fed from her. She tasted even worse than Kyle.
And a third, who I also fed from. It took everything I had not to gag at the taste of him.
Feeding wasn’t usually this hard.
Fucking Maverick.
Poem slid into the booth, sitting across from me just as I finally tried to get up and leave. He had brown skin and curly black hair that was shaved on the sides but long on the top.
“If you touch me, the werewolf Alpha will kill you,” I warned.
I could get used to having a werewolf threat on my side. I had been tired of handsy male vampires who wanted me as their mate since I was a teenager. All of us were told over and over again that we had to take a mate when we were young, and I was the only eligible single vampire chick in the city.
“I have an offer,” Poem said smoothly.
I was positive that he’d had a conversation with his family that was similar to the one Green had with his. “No, I’m not interested in mating with you to break whatever weird connection exists between me and the wolf.”
He scowled. “You’d rather mate with awerewolfthan spend immortality with me?”
Honestly, yes.
“Both options are unappealing. The wolf isn’t interested in sealing a bond, though, so he’s the lesser evil right now. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” I walked away.
After a stop in the bathroom to scrub any possible scents off my hands, I made it through the doors and to my car without any other problems.
Crisis averted.
Now, I had approximately two hours before Maverick was going to get to my house.
I pickedup groceries and Italian food on the way home, forgoing mine and Harper’s preferred dishes in favor the smelliest possible meals.
Garlic for the win.
I was glad the stories about vampires and garlic weren’t true, because it was the perfect tool for hiding scents.
What it wasn’t, was a magic wand to make Harper human again.
I couldn’t help but tear up a little as I processed everything she’d told me. The facts of the matter hadn’t completely set in when I talked to her earlier. I’d been too hungry, and too shocked.
But Harper could die.
Shewoulddie.
My best friend, who was basically my sister. I was closer to her than I was to Whimsy or Mouse, and I’d spent a lot more time with her than I had with either of them.
Being a turned vampire was a death sentence. There was no other way to look at it, or put it.
