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The fist around my lungs tightens painfully. My hand flies to my chest.

Am I having a fucking heart attack?

No. Don’t be an idiot, Daxen. Vampires don’t have heart attacks. You know that.

Then… what the fuck is this feeling?

Why does it feel like something’s about to explode in my chest? Why does it feel like my lungs are fraying apart?

My eyes snap back to the Omega. At that vacant fucking stare that isn’t normal. I don’t want to look at her anymore. I don’t want to look at her pale face and sad eyes and vacant stare, standing in the aftermath of my loss of control.

“Get out,” I bark, not quite a Command, but close.

The girl doesn’t move. She just stands there, back against the wall, body trembling with fear, staring at the flames with eyes full of nothing.

My eyes catch on the pulse point at her throat.

Not once have I had the desire to feed from a human. I’ve done so when faced with no alternative, but human blood simply does not sustain us long enough to bother. Their blood lacks substance. Like ordering chicken broth when there’s a steak on the same menu.

Despite that, I can’t pull my eyes away from the vein beating steadily under the skin of her pale throat. I can fucking hear it from across the room. My fangs throb, mere seconds from dropping.

My mouth waters.

Finally, after far too long to be acceptable, I convince my legs to move. Turning away from the girl, I tunnel my fingers through my hair and tug at the roots, hoping the slight pain will focus me.

This isn’t right. Everything feels off kilter and sideways. I need her out of here before I do something I can’t take back.

“Omega! I said, get the fuck out of here!” I take a deliberate, menacing step toward her.

It’s not until I’m less than three feet away that the vacancy in her sapphire eyes clears and she finally registers my proximity.

She jolts into motion with a startled, terrified yelp.

The fist gripping my heart tightens at the sound. I advance on her step for step as she scrambles for the library doors. The moment she gets close enough, I reach around her and shove them open with so much force they nearly clock an unsuspecting Vaelenor in the face.

“Fates, asswipe, watch what you’re—” Vae cuts off when he sees my expression, and his own shifts as he notices the way I’m looming over the Omega.

Sensing additional danger, the Omega’s head snaps frantically between the Vae and me.

She must realize she’s in the middle of a vampire sandwich because fear fills her eyes right before she visibly wilts. Then, like a dying flower, her body leans wildly to the side like she’s lost her balance.

I watch her fall, landing against the wall with a soft thud.

There’s half a second where I’m overcome with a tidal wave of shame and self-loathing knowing I not only scared her, but I also just watched her fall and made no move to catch her.

Then the image of Caelan, still and weak in his hospital bed, hooked to monitors and tubes and oxygen, flashes before my eyes.

And any shame is shoved so far down I won’t even remember I felt it five minutes from now.

The Omega’s legs buckle as she slides down the side of the wall. She lands on her knees, slamming against the stone with a crack. Vae reaches for her instinctively, but she recoils from him.

Then, using the wall as leverage, she pulls herself up with trembling fingers and turns away from us. The moment she’s facing the right direction, she takes off on wobbly, shaking legs like a baby deer being hunted by a wolf.

I watch until she reaches the end of the hall and disappears behind the door to the attic stairs.

The moment she’s out of sight, Vae frowns at me.

“The actual fuck was that?” He demands, pushing me back into the library with a hand against my chest. He locks the doors behind us and turns back, throwing his hands into the air in exasperation.