Chapter 15 #2
He swallowed hard.
“I need to tell you something else.”
His hesitation made my chest tighten. Lark’s voice floated in my head. Better the devil you know than the one we don’t.
“Rack,” I said, sharper now, “just say it.”
His words came out all at once in a rush, “I had Calix turn you. You’re a vampire now.”
Everything inside me froze. A vampire? Me?
Not a second later, I ripped my hands free from his, breaking the contact, pushing back from him like I didn’t recognize the man in front of me.
“W—what did you say?”
My eyes dropped to my hands, arms, legs, searching for something, anything that looked different. They didn’t, but that feeling of difference I’d noticed earlier only intensified.
Everything was stronger, sharper. My hand went to my belly as I felt it rumble. I was hungrier.
“What did you do to me?” My voice cracked, betraying the fact that I was barely holding together.
Rack’s head dipped, shoulders pulling in, bracing for a blow.
I didn’t wait. I bolted for the bathroom and slammed my hand on the door as words tumbled over each other under my breath. “No, that’s not possible. There’s just no way.”
Staring in the mirror at my reflection, I could see that I was still me, not some bloodthirsty monster.
I had the same dark hair, same red tips and body structure. My face was still round and everything in its normal place, but everything else was… sharper. More angled.
My skin was just a shade lighter, any color I had before was wiped clean, leaving this pale version, but the biggest difference was my eyes. A deep, vibrant red stared back at me, watching me, like a predator.
It was me, and yet… not me.
I stepped closer without meaning to. My breath caught as I leaned in, staring, searching. Slowly, almost hesitantly, I dragged my tongue along my teeth.
If I was a vampire… where were my fangs? Maybe he was wrong. Maybe it didn't take. Could that happen?
Before I could ask, a scent cut through my thoughts. The sweet, rich aroma hooked into something deep in my chest. Something primal.
My head snapped toward it, and before I even realized, I’d moved. My stomach tightened as a low, involuntary growl slipped out. Chase. Hunt. Feed.
Rack stood in the doorway, one shoulder braced against the frame, a small blade glinting in his hand while the other hovered in front of me. He held out his finger, from which, a dark line of blood slipped down, slow and deliberate.
My eyes tracked the movement, and I licked my lips before a sharp, foreign pressure came from my mouth. I swung toward the mirror, lips parting as I stared at the two ivory points that peeked out.
Fangs. Here they were.
“It's going to take time,” Rack started, his words steady, almost careful. “They react to hunger, to the scent right now, but eventually you’ll be able to—”
The rest of his words fell away as my fingers circled around his wrist, gripping tight. I wrapped my lips around his finger, and the taste hit my tongue with the strength of a spark dropped into dry kindling.
Heat surged, flooding my senses as it raced through my veins, filling every hollow place I didn’t know existed.
Yanking his arm closer, I pulled at the cut harder, greedier, chasing that taste as it bloomed across my tongue.
It was a smoky, sweet flavor, with something wild underneath that made my head spin.
“Olivia.” His voice broke, breath catching, and the way he said my name had something else curling low in my stomach. “That—feels—”
I barely heard him as something inside me thumped, pulsing through my whole body until it took over my thoughts. Blood. Need. More.
Every cell in my body was hammered with that all-consuming need. As the taste fell down my throat, a memory of feeling this way before flooded my mind.
A strong taut body on top of me. Calix. His arm. His blood. The rich, overwhelming taste had filled me until I thought I’d drown in it, wanted to drown in it.
I jerked back with a gasp. His finger slipped from my mouth, and the world snapped into place around me. My stomach twisted as more memories from that night followed.
The way my body instantly reacted once I saw it was him. The thirst surging through my soul pointed in only one direction before this dark force growled in my head and my body took over.
Muscles grew taut as strength and speed took over, and I switched positions in the blink of an eye. His eyes widened in shock as I pushed him down, moving without thinking, without stopping, rubbing myself against his crotch. I was hungry for more than just blood.
“Oh my god!” My hands flew to my face, pressing hard like I could shove the memory back where it came from. “Oh my god!”
I began pacing without direction, needing some kind of energy outlet. Lost in that hungry, lustful state, I’d assaulted Calix.
“I have to apologize,” I muttered, the words tumbling over each other. “I have to—”
The memories didn’t stop there. Flashes of Calix’s hands on me.
The way everything burned, the way I begged him, pleaded with him to give me more.
The ache in my bones had been so deep, the pain of my body changing while I was conscious was almost unbearable.
The more he gave, the more I consumed, but it still wasn't enough.
I wanted to feel full, to be whole again. Then a different set of hands had joined in. Relax. You’ll have all the more you want, my flame.
Stopping in my tracks, I slowly turned toward Rack, my muscles moving inch by inch until I was facing him.
He was still in the doorway, arms crossed, watching me like a hawk. He was waiting for something, and I thought I knew what.
“Did we…” My voice came out thin, barely there.
His mouth twitched like he was trying to fight something amusing, but he eventually gave me a slow, certain nod. “Yes. Your change took all three of us.”
My breath hitched, and I stood there for a second, trying to piece all this information together. Instincts had me glancing down, knowing that I’d never done something like that before. I braced for soreness, but I felt nothing.
Everything felt fine, better than fine, actually, which didn't make sense. Two dicks inside me at the same time seemed like an abundance of dick, and that had to come with a price, but again, I felt nothing. No soreness. No pain.
Raising my hand in front of my face, I opened and closed it. Was this what being a vampire felt like? This surge of power that said my body was invincible, unbreakable. That I never had to worry about being maimed, broken, or killed again.
Rack pushed off the doorframe and slowly approached me. My gaze snapped up, and I watched him, this time with a hunter's eyes.
“You’re not human anymore,” he said, softer now. “Your body heals fast. Faster than you’re used to. Stronger than ever before.” He paused, his eyes wandering down before traveling back up to my face. “You won’t carry damage the same way.”
I understood what he was trying to hint at, and that just made that monster inside of me purr. I flinched at the sound, realizing that there was now this other side of me, this instinctual side that shared the reins over my body.
I wanted to know more. Needed to know more. One thought pushed through clearer than the rest.
Calix.
There was suddenly a second thump alongside my heartbeat, and that tripped me out. Why would I feel two heartbeats? My eyes lifted, scanning the room like he might just be there if I looked hard enough, but he wasn’t.
“Did he…” I started, then stopped, my foot dragging lightly against the tile. “Did Calix not want to turn me?”
Even as they left my mouth, the words felt wrong. Rack’s expression shifted subtly, but I still caught it. His gaze dropped briefly before he pulled it back up, a tight, crafted smile settling into place.
“He wanted to save you,” he said. “He did save you.” He closed his eyes and took a deep, exhausted breath. “It was his first time,” he admitted. “He’s probably trying to figure out what he needs to do now that he’s your maker.”
“My maker,” I repeated quietly.
Rack nodded, stepping closer.
“There’s a bond inside you now. One that doesn’t go away. Doesn’t fade with time. But from what I understand…” His jaw tightened slightly before he finished, “It’s his to control. His to manage.”
That word hit differently. Control. What exactly did that mean?
“I don’t know everything about it,” he admitted, one shoulder lifting in a small shrug, though the way his eyes slipped away made it look less casual than he tried to make it.
“But I’ve seen what happens when the maker doesn’t care for who they’ve sired.
” His jaw tightened briefly before he added, more quietly, “It’s not good for either party. ”
“And that’s why he’s staying away?” The question left me slower, my brows pulling together as I tried to make it fit.
Rack didn’t answer right away. His lips pressed together like he’d sealed them shut, gaze drifting somewhere past me as he stared into space for a second. When he finally looked back, it was with something more measured, reminding me of the Rack I had met before.
“That’s something you should hear from him,” he said, carefully. “You need to build that connection directly. I don’t want to step into something that’s between you and your maker.”
Just when I was about to argue, he stepped closer. His hand slid lightly down my arm, the touch gentle, grounding, and warm. I felt myself lean into it without thinking.
“But,” he added, softer now, “I’m glad it was him.”
My brows pulled in tight as I tried to measure the truth in his words from his eyes.
“You’ll be taken care of,” he continued, his thumb brushing over my skin in slow, absent strokes. “No matter what happens, you have him, and by extension, the Syndicate. That… matters more than you probably realize.”
The weight of that hit a second later. My eyes widened slightly as the thought settled in.