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“I don’t care, Ceroes. I do not fear death.” My gaze slides to him. “Which explains why I am not afraid of you.” The nurse lies on her side, eyes wide open, blood pooled under her head from where he bit into her neck.

It’s unsettling but not my first time seeing a dead body.

“Why are you not killing me?” I point towards the door where his friends are still feasting. “Seems you are killing everyone else here. Why not me?”

“Because not everyone has what it takes,” he explains, his red tongue licking the front of his teeth. “You have to be worthy of our blood. Your soul must hold promise.” He leans in, the flame on his claw still burning bright. “A soul that holds destiny.”

I laugh the best I can. The vibrations cause a tickle in my throat which causes me to have a coughing fit all over again.

Destiny. I’ve heard that one too many times in my forty years.

“Death is everyone’s destiny.” I wheeze and lie back down, to my shock, the violent hungry vampire helps me, easing me back until my head hits the sweat-drenched pillow.

“Not yours.” He pushes my damp hair out of my face, a surprisingly kind gesture I don’t expect from him since he killed my nurse in front of me. “Say yes to another chance to beat the world of all of its wrongdoings. You are meant for more.” He lifts my head from the pillow, biting into his wrist. “Drink and you will no longer cough. Your fever will disappear. Set yourself free, Alaska,” he whispers my name in a solid exhale of breath that makes goosebumps arise on my skin.

Not in a good way.

If I had the energy to experience fear, it would have been in that moment.

“I don’t want to live forever, Ceroes. Forever sounds like its own death sentence. Why wait for the inevitable?” I wheeze, the illness in my lungs and chest becoming thicker and wetter.

“You will change your mind.” A twisted smile appears across his fangs, a wickedness narrowing his eyes.

Quicker than what I can see in a blink, his bleeding wrist is against my lips.

“Thank me later.” He kisses the side of my cheek, holding me down in a way that has me questioning how strong he is.

My eyes round when the first taste of his blood coats my tongue. Thick and metallic, it makes its way down my throat. I protest, trying to scream but it’s muffled by his wrist.

I do my best to fight him off with my broken-down body. Even if I had all of my strength, I would not win against him. He has the strength of a thousand men. Pushing against his chest does nothing. He doesn’t move.

“Calm,” he orders, locking his eyes with mine.

I do as he says. The fight leaves my body. Something in his gaze mutes the panic in my mind.

“Good. Drink. And when you are done, I will teach you the ways of being a vampire, my child.” He pets my hair, humming as if I am an actual child.

There’s a voice inside me that is quiet, a faint whisper in the corner of my mind.

You don’t want this.

You don’t want to be a creature like him.

You don’t want to be death when all you want is to die.

I easily ignore the protest, gulping down blood that coats my insides. It’s warm and thick, spreading through every damaged organ.

I toss my head back and gasp, my lungs expanding without pain for the first time in months.

“Notice the energy revitalizing your body. You will have that. Forever.”

A burning floods my veins and a scream rips its way from my throat.

“You will need to die for the transformation to be complete.”

“The transformation I never wanted?” I shout, my eyes becoming hot, my teeth and gums ache, and my nails sting with new agony.

He grabs the sides of my head and presses his forehead against mine. “You will learn to want it.”