Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Adeline
Eli takes me to the spare room; it is quite nice and has a huge king-size bed and an ensuite.
“This is fancy for a spare room.”
“Yes, Emery has a thing for the finer things in life. Every room has a bathroom. A bit over the top if you ask me,” Eli says as I climb onto the bed, sitting on the edge. It is nearly 5AM, and we will be getting up in a few hours.
“Eli?” Cyrus says, and Eli glares at him.
“No, forget it, Cyrus.”
“He has a point, and you know it,” Cyrus says, sitting on the bed with me.
“I said no. End of discussion,” Eli snaps at him.
I watch as he walks into the bathroom.
Sighing, I get up and follow Eli into the shower. All of us have blood on us. The bathroom is all white and so bright with the lights on and has double sinks with vases on them and a reed diffuser.
I strip off my dressing gown and my ruined pajamas.
“I will go ask Emery for some clothes. And your father,” Cyrus says before reaching under the sink, grabbing some towels, and placing them on the sink basin.
“I would rather walk around naked,” Eli growls.
Cyrus ignores him before walking out of the room.
Opening the shower screen, I step in, and Eli pulls me to him and wraps his arms around my shoulders.
“Maybe it’s a good idea,” I whisper, and I feel his body tremble as fur grows on his arms at my words.
“No, it is a terrible decision. He can’t be trusted.”
“If Emery thinks he can be, maybe trust her then,” I tell him, looking up at him.
“No!” he snaps at me.
I shake my head, and he grips my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze.
“I said no.”
“But if Sam won’t go out there… Please, Eli, be reasonable.”
“You be reasonable. You don’t even know him and yet already trust him.”
“I know what he did, Eli. I never said I trusted him, but I am sick of looking over my goddamn shoulder, waiting for him to pounce,” I tell him.
“You know what, who told you? Did Cyrus tell you? He is a fucking monster, Addie.”
“He is your father, and he seems okay. I don’t know him, you’re right, but he seems genuine,” I tell him, and he laughs, shaking his head.
“You are all so gullible. It’s pathetic,” he says, pushing me away.
“People change, Eli.”
“Not him. He hasn’t changed, Adeline.”
“Only one way to find out, and I am going with or without you.”
“You will do no such thing.”
“Watch me then,” I tell him, grabbing the soap from the holder.
Eli growls before pushing me against the shower wall.
“You don’t go anywhere I say you can’t. He hasn’t changed, and I won’t let you put our child at risk or yourself.”
“People change. Now get your hands off me. I never get a say in anything, and I am sick of it,” I tell him, suddenly becoming angry at his controlling ways.
His grip only tightens when he suddenly shifts. He tries to step away, but his emotions get the better of him. His claws slip down my arms and hips before he stands up, the glass shower screen shattering from his abrupt shifting.
He growls, and goosebumps rise on my arms at the sound. The bedroom door bursts open as Cyrus rushes in, but I don’t take my eyes off Eli, who looks like he wants to kill me.
“What have you done?” Cyrus gasps, and I can feel my blood running down my arms and legs, though I am too angry that he would shift this close to me.
“You don’t get a say in this,” Eli growls.
“Move!” I tell him, pushing on his chest.
“Adeline!” Eli warns.
“Don’t ‘Adeline’ me, Eli. I am done with your crap. Now step aside. We are going, and that’s final. Come or don’t. I no longer give a shit, but I am not sitting here waiting for Sam to attack again.”
“Sam won’t get you. You are safe with us,” he says as I try to step around his huge furry figure.
I’d rather deal with his wolf form, not this monstrosity of a form; he really looks like the thing of nightmares, a monster, and right now, he is acting like one.
“Yeah, like at the other place. Real fucking safe when he set it on fire. I am not sitting around for him to come back. You have no idea the shit I endured at his hands, and I will not be subjected to that again. He ruined me once. He won’t be getting a second chance at it.
Now step aside and let me out!” I scream at him, leaving me breathless and red-faced.
Eli growls before hitting the tile beside my head, making me jump. Cyrus grips his shoulder, looking at me in panic.
Eli steps aside. “Get out of my sight,” he snaps, and I rush past him.
Cyrus grabs me and pushes me toward the door. “You ever shift near her again—”
“I know!” Eli says, looking over his shoulder at him before his eyes go to me, and he looks away.
“Come, Addie,” Cyrus says, grabbing a towel and pushing me out the door.
The bedroom door opens. Emery sticks her head in.
“Clean it, or I will kill him,” she says, handing Cyrus a broom before her eyes dart to me and her white towel that now has blood on it.
“Help her first,” Emery says, pressing her lips in a line.
“Was going to,” Cyrus says, biting his wrist and offering it to me.
I step closer to him and grab his wrist, and Emery closes the door.
As soon as I press his wrist to my lips and his blood floods my mouth, something rushes over me, something that is definitely a foreign feeling.
I always get strange reactions while drinking their blood, but this is something else.
My nails sink into his wrist, and I sink my blunt teeth into him, making him jerk away from me, yet I need his blood.
“Need” isn’t even a strong enough word for it as I step closer to him.
I feel almost crazed, and his blood is the antidote.
I need to stop the sudden overwhelming craving.
“Addie, love, what are you doing?” Cyrus says, his hands out in front of him like he is trying to fend off a wild animal.
Eli steps out back in his human form, and I can see him from the corner of my eye, yet, I can’t pull my eyes from Cyrus and the blood staining his wrist. I lunge at him when I feel an arm wrap around my waist, jerking me back.
“What’s wrong with her?” Eli asks.
Yet I can’t process what he means. I just need blood, like I need oxygen to breathe.
I turn in Eli’s arms, trying to shove him off, when I notice the vein in his neck pulsates under his skin.
I become transfixed on it, and instead of pushing away, I grab him, biting into his neck.
He growls, his shock making him stumble back into the dresser before he braces himself to move to the bed.
I feel hands grip me, trying to pull me off as I lock my legs around his waist. I crave his blood so much more than Cyrus’s as it floods into my mouth, and I bite him again, sucking on his skin.
It is intoxicating. I feel high on his blood before feeling the strange urge dissolve as I return to my senses and realize I am drinking blood.
“For the love of god. It’s new. Can you please stop ruining my apartment?” Emery says, bursting into the room.
I pull away and feel his blood running down my chin, my eyes going to the bite marks on his neck.
“Did she feed on you?” Emery asks, making me look at her before looking back at Eli. “I have no idea what freaky shit you’re into, but this takes the cake. I’m just going to go now.”
Yet I can’t tear my eyes from what I have done to my mate; I touch it with my fingertips. It is already healing, but it looks painful.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to,” I tell him, jumping off his lap.
He tries reaching for me; the look he gives me makes shame smash into me. I’ve just attacked him like an animal, like some savage. I turn to run for the door, only to smack into Cyrus.
“Shh, it’s not your fault,” Cyrus says, gripping my face in his hands.
I tug his hands away. “I didn’t mean to. I don’t know why I did it.”
“It’s okay, Addie. We know it isn’t you. Don’t be embarrassed,” Cyrus says, and I hear Eli get up behind me, making me step closer to Cyrus.
My face is so hot with embarrassment. Eli suddenly kneels before me, undoing my towel before pressing his lips to my stomach.
“It’s normal, Addie. You just shocked us,” Eli says before kissing my belly. He runs his nose across my skin before stopping at my belly button and looking up at me.
“I’m sorry.”
“You shouldn’t be. We heal quickly, so don’t be embarrassed. It wasn’t you wanting blood. It was—” He doesn’t finish, instead pressing his lips to my stomach.
“I shouldn’t have shifted near you,” he says, standing up and pulling me to him, Cyrus’s hand going to my hips.
“But now I know why I got so angry, picking up on bub’s hunger,” he says, and Cyrus presses his forehead to my shoulder.
“We are okay. You are okay. That’s all that matters. Besides, I drink blood all the time, don’t see me getting embarrassed over it,” Cyrus tells me.
“But you’re a vampire,” I tell him.
“And so is part of this one,” he says, his hand moving to my belly and gently rubbing it.
I relax, inhaling their masculine scent, which is suddenly a lot stronger, or maybe it is just the baby growing inside me.
“You okay now?” Cyrus asks, and I nod, pressing my cheek to Eli’s chest.
He kisses my wet hair, and I step away from him. Picking up my towel, I wipe my mouth, and Cyrus walks into the bathroom before returning with a wet face washer. Eli takes it from him.
“I’ll do it. I am the one who did it,” he says before wiping the blood of his claw marks off me. He then wipes his neck before showing me.
“See? All healed. Worrying for no reason,” he says, and I nod. Yet knowing it isn’t me doesn’t help with the embarrassment that I’ve literally taken a chunk out of him.
“Hop into bed, Addie. We will have to get up soon,” Eli says, pulling the covers back.
Cyrus hands him some shorts before walking into the bathroom with the broom.
“Where are you going?” I ask Eli when he walks out.
He stops, coming over to me. “To speak with my father, Addie. But I am not making any promises. If I don’t believe him, you won’t be going, understand?”
“I’m sick of hiding, Eli. I am sick of being trapped inside all the time,” I tell him, and his eyes soften.
“I won’t have you put at risk. You don’t know him the way I do. But I will hear what he has to say,” he says before leaning down and kissing my lips. “Now get some sleep. I will be back in a few minutes.”