Page 6 of Tempting the Dhampir

“No need to try and convince me. You know I’m always up for an adventure.” My smile builds until it’s a full grin and those flutters in my stomach return tenfold.

Cece shares my grin, sunset view all but forgotten. “Let’s just step carefully, we don’t want any kinds of thorns stabbing into our bare feet.”

“Good idea. Tippy toes, it is,” I agree brightly, a tingling sensation at the base of my neck urging me forward.

We slowly and carefully maneuver through the vegetation, taking deliberate steps to avoid treading on the extraordinary, glowy flowers, hardly making a sound.

My senses feel heightened, the music from the beach party having long since faded away. There is a strange stillness to the forest, as if it’s lying in wait for something to happen.

“Cece, does this feel weird to you?” I whisper so softly I doubt she can hear me.

“The air feels charged, like right before a storm. It’s got the hairs on the back of my neck standing up,” Cece whispers back, voice equally soft.

“Be careful, okay?”

“You too.”

Cece and I fall silent again, as do our surroundings, and that eerie feeling grows thicker.

I lead the way with an ever-growing sense of urgency guiding my steps through the darkening forest, following the flowers through the dense foliage.

For a moment, the stillness makes me uneasy, and I almost consider turning back, but that invisible magnetic pull compels me toward the center of the island. Cece follows closely behind, raised skirt in hand as she lightly pads across the forest floor.

We reach a small clearing and pause in front of a natural curtain of leaves overlapping each other. The flowers’ trail disappears behind it.

The air feels thickest here, yet the humidity hasn’t increased.

I take a deep breath and reach my hand out to Cece. Wordlessly, she clasps her hand with mine.

The curiosity to see what’s on the other side of it, where the flowers have disappeared, is gnawing at me.

I nod and, just like when we were younger, she counts us down, silently mouthing the words…

Three…

Two…

One…

We each reach out a free hand and cautiously part the foliage, our knuckles turning white where we grip each other tighter.

My body locks up, momentarily stunned by what we’re seeing. Hearing.

A wave of sounds—of deep masculine voices chatting, the rushing of a waterfall, sounds of splashing, rumbling laughter—washes over me.

I blink, sure I must be mistaken. I blink again, tempted to rub at my eyes as I process what I’m seeing.

Men, but not.

Horns. Tails. Wings. Fur.

Monsters.

Monsters of all kinds hanging out in a clearing in the forest, resting on the rocks surrounding the most picturesque waterfall, jumping into the pool below.

My body sways slightly as I take it all in.

I give Cece’s hand two quick, successive squeezes, checking if she’s also seeing what I’m seeing.

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