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“Of course,” Moxin chirps, disrupting me from my musings. “Maybe we’ll get lucky enough to be caught by one of you.” Her wishful words are directed more toward Ashen, as has been her attention since they stopped here. Not that I mind. If anything, my sights would be for the head of blue rather than the siren, and even that’s not doing anything for me.
I can’t say I’m not excited for The Hunt though. There is nothing more exhilarating than the chase, except maybe the catch. It’s an endorphin high like no other. Stalking, capturing, immobilizing while you consume your victory.
We get blood easily. Take it when it isn’t offered. Though, most people don’t put up much of a fight. It’s just the way things are. That being said, The Hunt isn’t a necessity, more of a game. The vampires get to chase, everyone else gets to try their luck at escaping us, born hunters. That’s why so many choose to participate. It’s a challenge they all want to succeed in, exiting the match un-bitten.
Ashen and Moxin continue their conversation, so the girls sit down. Moxin takes the booth beside him, leaving Siena no choice but to climb in next to me.
Neither of us knows what to do with our proximity to the other. She seems nervous, and I feel more on edge than that time I sprouted a tail after accidently drinking a glass of Rai’s mystery juice when she was still learning her potions. Took three days before the damn thing went away.
The problem is that it isn’t the girl at my side causing this unease.
I feel suffocated, like I’m being torn in two very conflicting pieces. Anger and desire. I want Sumner, and I hate Sumner. More importantly, I hate Sumner for making me want her. Why does she have to tempt me the way she does? Why does the thing inside me react so strongly to everything inside of her? And my biggest why, the one I’ve asked myself a thousand times, why did it have to be her?
Needing to be anywhere else, I make up a poor excuse of why I’ve got to bounce.
Pushing through the swinging doors, I’m halted before making it to the other side. Someone had attempted to enter at the same moment I was exiting, causing us to bump into each other. That someone, of course, is Sumner. Not that it should surprise me. She does work here.
I reach for her on instinct, stopping her from falling back. She, too, grabs my arms for balance, dropping them the moment she looks up and sees it’s me. My release isn’t as sudden before lowering my hands back to my sides, and we share a moment of watching each other.
The skies have since dried from the storm. She still smells like the rain, a fresh richness of earth and water. The scent lingers on her skin, dampening her long hair.
Normally, she might flip me the bird, then continue in. I might make a comment about how clumsy she is, or say something stupid about having just eaten, but dessert sounds nice too, just to see her squirm at the possibility of being bit.
This isn’t like that. This is uncomfortable and awkward as hell.
A secret part of me wants to put my hands back on her, just as much as I know she wants me never to touch her again. Though, she doesn’t seem to be in a rush to get away from me. She also wore very few clothes in the rain knowing damn well there was a possibility I’d see her.
Maybe she doesn’t completely hate that we happened. Apart from accidently drinking more from her than I should have, last night was fucking great. The problem isn’t what we did, it’s who we are to each other. It’s that it can’t happen again.
It’s that she won’t stop looking at me.
Sumner isn’t someone I can sleep with. For more reasons than she knows.
I’ll never be her boyfriend. I’m not even her friend. And she will never not be her.
“Move, Vix,” I tell her, deadpan. I need to keep things impassive, show her I don’t care. Not because I don’t want to. Because I can’t.
She’s complicating everything.
There’s a heavy discomfort pressing against my temples as I step around her. Dark blurs circle near my peripheral, surging all the way to the center of my pupils. I try to blink it away, only to have my vision fog over completely. The streets flash away, appearing now as a desolate landscape. The shadows are calling to me, luring me deeper. Ice creeps down my spine, the whispers of my name hanging in the air…
My eyes spring open and the world is back to normal.
An emptiness fills my stomach, a knowing so strong it almost knocks me over. It’s never been this bad before. I’ve never been pulled to the dying land like that. I saw the shadows, felt the nearness of their king.
My fate is trying to claim me, reminding me the clock is still ticking.
I can’t control it. I never could.
With a deep inhale, I turn left. There is one last stop on the road of remaining hope. No more avoiding it.
I need to see the witch.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
SUMNER
One little crack. It was all he needed to knock down an entire wall.
