Page 86

My heart begins hammering.

“Why?”

“Belinda.”

“Clarissa.”

Okay, so I’m being juvenile.

But what do you expect at a time like this?

“Where did he bite you?”

I pull the towel tighter around myself.

“Here.”

I touch the tender place again. Clarissa flies off the toilet so fast she nearly hits the ceiling.

“Holy Sprite dust.”

“What?”

“He marked you? Belinda!”

“I don't know! He bit me. We were a little busy at the time!”

“Oh my Goddess.”

“Would you stop saying that and explain?”

“A Jersey Devil’s claiming bite isn’t casual, Belinda.”

The room seems to tilt. I grab the edge of the vanity.

“What does that mean?”

Clarissa stares at me like she’s trying to figure out how to explain something obvious to a small child without insulting her intelligence.

“I think it means you’re his promised! That mark is binding, Belinda!”

“What?”

“He claimed you!”

No way. Damian didn’t claim me. He told me he had nothing to offer.

But even as I deny it to myself the truth rings clear inside my head.

He.

Claimed.

Me.

I pause. Eyes wide. Panic threatening my sanity.

What the actual fuck?