Page 84 of Vervain

With a shake of my head, I push up on the cushions and glare at him. “I’m still human…I think, and you aren’t. I may be naive when it comes to this nightwalker side of me, but I know enough to understand that what I did wasn’t normal. If nightwalkers could drain each other dry, there wouldn’t be such a desperate need for human blood.”

“My kamai⁠—”

“No, answer me, and hold your liar’s tongue.” My brows bunch inwards when I say, “What I did wasn’t normal, was it?”

The softness in his eyes turns a solid, dark red. “No. It wasn’t.”

I nod and look away in search of an escape. “I’d like to leave.”

As I reach up to open the coffin, Serun’s arms become a cage. My ear flicks back, and I curl my lip.

“It isn’t an issue,” he says. “I enjoyed it…perhaps a little too much. So, if you’re hungry, you can⁠—”

“No,” I snap. “I will not feed on you—and look at your liar’s tongue now. You liked it? You liked that I invaded your memories and witnessed how your parents died, and that you were an orphan because of some war between humans and vegodians?”

Serun’s eyes crinkle, and he chuckles.

My ears pull back with hostility. “What is so amusing, nightwalker?”

He sighs, and with a tilt of his head, those dark red eyes burn brighter. A tingling sensation crawls up my spine, warning me he can very much control me, but I hold my ground.

“The first time we met, I bit you. I stripped you of your memories and saw everything about you. It made me…yearn for you even more. It is only fair that you see mine.” He leans in, his eyes lowering to my mouth. “So, I care little if you bite me and uncover my memories. Drink my blood. You can take as much as you need.”

“I hate you,” I whisper as his mouth brushes against mine.

“Hold your liar’s tongue, my kamai, and fucking kiss me.”

He leans in, but before I can give in to the allure of what he is saying, I tip my chin higher and look down at the lustful lord. “Now, now, Nightwalker. We need to find your brother and his wife. There’s no time for this when my brother is with those slayers and white coats. How long was I out for?”

“Only a day.”

“Olivia is likely wondering where we went.”

His brow twitches as I turn my attention back to the coffin lid. I grunt as I try to push it open, but it’s as if we are fifty feet under with a solid stone above us.

I need to escape. One more heated kiss, and I know myself well enough to realise we wouldn’t be leaving this coffin. My body would tangle with his, and I’d demand that mouth of his explore my entire body.

“And I would have relished every moment,” he murmurs near the shell of my ear.

“What did I say about responding to my thoughts, nightwalker?” I grunt as I find a slight crack and start to claw at it.

He mutters his complaints, then in one swift motion, he drags the lid to the side until it thunks to the ground.

“Thank you,” I say as I rise from the coffin and shuffle out. Serun huffs a breathy laugh.

A smile spreads across my face. Now he can taste the frustration I felt every time he stepped away when I was longing for a kiss. And I know you can hear me, Serun.

He simply grunts his response.

PART THREE

TOPSIDE

And lost ones in tubes of creation.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

RIDE ME