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“That bitch!”
The first words that flew out of my mouth echoed in the darkness as soon as I was able to move my tongue. The return of sensation trickled from the neck down, my toes and fingers tingling like thousands of needles digging into my flesh.
Breathing had become a chore, and for a moment I wondered if the poison Aura had thrown at me would end my life after all.
Sitting up in the dark tunnel, I rubbed my bleary eyes. I struggled to my feet, gripping the walls as I waited for my legs to properly support my weight.
Aethermore was unforgiving. There were no bushes or trees to shelter within—, nothing but unyielding ground beneath my boots. Shifting into my wolf form would’ve incited too much fear if I were to stumble upon a human. They seemed more accepting of vampires and spellcasters than lycans, so I kept my head down as I crossed paths with others.
Aura had me at her mercy. She’d had me. She could’ve indeed cut my tongue out, slit my throat, and left me for dead without any proof pointing the crime to her. After all, with no bite marks on my neck, who would’ve suspected a vampire?
Her rage had been real. It had intensified within the span of mere seconds, and I could see her struggle to spare my life.
Maybe it was a life debt paid. Or maybe it was just self-control.
I was too tired to travel, and without even changing out of my clothes or washing up, I collapsed into my bed at the inn. My mind wandered to earlier, to the notes on the pages that slipped from Aura’s notebook. She needed lycan blood. But again, she had a chance to end me, and she hadn’t taken it.
Why hadn’t she taken it?
She certainly wanted to.
Aura Nygaard was entitled and dangerous, but she was damn intriguing. I needed to learn more about her. Before I drifted off, I made a decision. I wasn’t returning to Sublune Creek yet. For once, I had the opportunity to expand my horizons beyond my pack. The University of the Arcane was home to so many useful resources that could help me figure things out. I was tired of wallowing in my grief and ruminating over my brother’s death without doing something about it. It was too late for Antoine, but I was still very much alive, and I was tired of giving in to the complacent mentality of other lycans.
The pack would not be happy, but they were doing what many lycan packs had done for decades: burying the disease in the sand and pretending it didn’t exist. It was for our safety, but how much longer could we go on this way? Seeing Aura Nygaard’s notes on Lobofebris gave me an idea of how I could make a difference. I was going to make the bloodsucker an offer she would be stupid to decline.
10
THE OFFER
AURA
“Aura, are you dead?” Someone was shaking me. I lurched upright, my hair sticking to my face and neck. A shiver rolled through me as my skin pebbled with goose bumps. I wrapped my arms around myself to find that, for the second day in a row, I was completely naked and not in my bed. “You’ve got to be shitting me,” I mumbled to myself, my bleary eyes taking in slender legs in fitted trousers and a loose button-down shirt that hung partially open to reveal a scraggly chest.
I pulled my hair over my tits and crossed my arms, though Irving wasn’t looking at me. If he’d ever seen my bite marks before, he never mentioned it
“What do you want, Irving?”
“I thought for a second that someone had found a way to sneakily kill a Primal Born.”
“Sorry to disappoint you.”
He blinked, mouth agape. “Disappoint? Aura, are you alright?”
“Bloody perfect,” I replied.
He looked away out of respect as I stood and strode over to the bed to grab my robe. My body temperature seemed back to baseline—colder than a human’s but warmer than a vampire’s. The thin silk did nothing to warm me, but at least it covered my nudity. I walked over to Nidhogg’s cage and bent, peering at the snake. He uncoiled as if sensing me, tongue flicking out a couple of times before he curled back up again.
“Do Primals get illnesses?” Irving asked.
Thoughts of slapping a clawed hand across his face filled my mind, my blood rushing through my veins. I squeezed my eyes shut and kept my back to him, hoping my hands had not changed just because I envisioned it. He was my friend. My friend. Calm the hells down, Aura, I mentally scolded. Even in daylight with the full moon now in the past, I couldn’t get ahold of myself. “I need to get dressed,” I said as I marched toward him. “I’m fine. Step back.”
“What?”
“Step. Back.”
He obeyed, stepping into the doorway. I shut the door and threw my back against it. He didn’t need to be on the receiving end of unwarranted anger.
I wasn’t sure how long I stood there, but it took me a while to get to the bathroom to freshen up and prepare for the day where I hopefully wouldn’t snap at everyone.
