It seemed like I wasn’t in control of any of it.
“Relax, Gray,” Emilio said, his voice gentle. “You’re okay. We’ll take care of this right now.” He passed one of the bags to Darius, then cut the corner off the other one with his pocketknife and tilted it toward my lips.
My body settled instantly, the moment I tasted the first drop.
Relief.It was the only word in my mind as the tangy liquid flooded my mouth. Drinking cold blood felt a bit like drinking warm beer, but at the moment, I didn’t care. It was food—the only kind that would truly sate me—and for that reason alone, it was practically a gourmet feast.
Besides, I didn’t want so much as asmearof warm blood touching my lips. Better to not know what I was missing than to ever develop a real taste for it.
The guys watched me closely, a mixture of wonder and curiosity on their faces as I downed the entire bag. Even Darius seemed mesmerized, despite the fact that we were sharing the same meal.
When I’d literally sucked it dry, I let out a small burp, then smiled, feeling much more like myself. “Okay, you guys are starting to freak me out. Why are you staring at me? It’s like you’ve never seen a bloodsucker before.”
“We’ve seen plenty,” Emilio said. “Just… Just not you.”
“Am I that revolting?” Suddenly self-conscious, I licked my lips, hoping I hadn’t spilled anything.
“Revolting?” Asher laughed. “That’s a negative, Cupcake.”
“I think we’re all still a bit awestruck, love,” Darius said. “You’re quite different now.”
“Different how?” I asked.
“You’re kind of radiating,” Asher said. “Like, you’ve always been super-hot, right? That hasn’t changed. But now you’re… well, you’re just more.”
“More hot?” I rolled my eyes.
“More everything. Not just how you look, but your vibe. Your energy. We can just… feel it.” He shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other, and I glanced down, finally noticing the massive bulge in his jeans.
“Yeah,” he confirmed, before I could even ask. “That’s exactly what I’m talking about.”
“Seriously?” I couldn’t help but laugh. “Areallof you getting hard watching me eat, or is that just another special incubus thing? Because I realize some guys have food fetishes, but if you’re sprouting boners every time I take a snack break, we’re going to have a serious problem.”
“One person’s problem is another person’s opportunity,” Ash said.
“Your power affects us, Gray,” Emilio said. “Each in different ways, maybe, but there’s no denying it.”
The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Darius had always had an effect on me—even before we’d become blood bound.
I looked from Emilio to Asher, to Ronan, to Darius, and my chest tightened with a fresh wave of emotion. The last time we’d all been together, I was convincing them to let Darius turn me.
And they’d stood by my side through all of it.
“It’s so good to see you guys,” I said, tears flooding my eyes.
“You havenoidea,” Ronan said. The relief in his voice was plain.
Emilio squeezed my foot, and Ash ran his fingers through my hair, while Darius held my hand.
They were all here with me save for Liam, who now fell under the “no humans allowed” restriction. I really wanted to see him, as well as my sisters and the others, but it was better to wait. Tied up, bloody mouth, still a little wobbly inside from the hawthorn… Yeah, I wasn’t exactly a welcome sight.
As everyone dug into their takeout, they updated me on everything that had happened since my turning, including Jael’s decision to take my moonglass back to his home realm—a move the guys didn’t seem too thrilled about.
“But Jael… he’s okay, right?” I asked.
“All evidence suggests he made it back to his home realm with your soul intact,” Emilio said, sharing a few more details about Jael’s portal and the hunters they’d taken out in the woods, as well as the ones he and Asher had chased down after the ambush.
“Lucky for us, they weren’t very careful about covering their tracks,” Emilio continued. “We followed the path they’d made back to an abandoned park service lodge a little deeper into the woods. By our estimate, the whole group had been holing up there, roughing it for the past few weeks at least. Seems most of them were dispatched up to the cemetery during our attack, but two hunters hung back.”
