Page 14 of Taken By My Guardian's Fangs

When asked about this, Juliette would usually say that it was because she had always been a homebody, and that she was already beyond content just being able to cook in the Bellecourts' beautiful kitchen and take advantage of the family's well-stocked pantry.

Both statements were true...but at the same time, they were also lies. The truth was, she hated stepping foot outside the house because every time she did, Juliette felt as if someone from the shadows was watching and waiting for her to make the smallest mistake.

Fear and paranoia still lurked at the back of her mind as Juliette wandered aimlessly around town. Miami had changed a lot in the past three years, but these changes were the same changes that could be seen across the world.

As one historian had put it, the Information Age came to an end the moment vampires came out of hiding, and the Magical Age began from the moment preter races started living openly among humans. Despite the ever-present threat of supernatural attacks, most people believed it was the best time to be alive...and Juliette wished she could feel this way, too.

She wanted to experience the same kind of wonder and marvel that others experienced every time they saw a restaurant that boasted of blood-laced cocktails in their drinks menu or a boutique that sold winter coats made of real shifter fur (voluntarily shedded, naturally). She wanted to be just as excited as the others when the month of October came howling in, and one would have an excuse to pay an exorbitant amount of money in order to have "wing extensions" and look as angelic as Souris in the hottest Halloween parties in town.

Someday, she would be one of them.

But for now...

Juliette quickened her steps when the hairs on the back of her neck suddenly stood up, and taking a walk to avoid going home started feeling like the worst idea she had in a long, long time. Even though the sun had yet to set, and the streets were still packed with tourists and locals alike, it was already half past six in the evening, and evil preters could already be prowling in the shadows.

Seconds melded into minutes, but instead of fading, her fear only devolved into terror, and Juliette knew if she didn't go somewhere safe soon—-

Nope, nope, nope!

Juliette pushed away all thoughts of dying away and willed herself to stay calm. Relax, Juliette, and don't panic.

She forgot to use the anti-vampire scent-masking spray, which was bad, but what she did have with her was Gaël's gift on her eighteenth birthday: a necklace with a heart-shaped pendant that could actually turn into a silver-coated stake with the touch of a button.

That means you can protect yourself if you have to, she reminded herself valiantly.

But for now, it was still better to look for somewhere safe and crowded, and Juliette quickly looked around...oh thank God!

The familiar sight of a glass complex that towered over smaller buildings was like a beacon of hope, and she broke into a run just as the sun began to set. Hirsche Medical Center was only a block away, but anxiety made Juliette feel like she had miles and miles to cover, and her heart started pounding like it had done so...that day.

Juliette's eyes stung when she finally made it.

Oh, thank God, thank God, thank You, God!

But before she could even catch her breath, the doors of the center suddenly flew open, and out came...her guardian, his handsome face thunderous.

Gaël!

Juliette didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He was the last person she wanted to see right now, but maybe this was the heavens' way of telling her she was better off confronting her problem head on?

"What are you doing here?" Gaël demanded. "Are you ill? Are you hurt?"

Ah, what to say, what to say?

Her guardian raked a hand through his hair. "Well?"

Since she wasn't in the mood to reprimanded for taking a walk all on her own, Juliette then heard herself mumble, "I'm here to ask them to take my sangferia."

Snort.

GAËL STARED BLANKLY at his ward. Surely, he couldn't have heard his shy, sweet Juilette say such a thing. Impossible, he told himself, but when he was about to ask Juliette to repeat her words—-

"Do you think it's possible?"

"Possible?" He felt like a fucking idiot for repeating her words, but he simply couldn't believe he had heard her right. Had she really asked him—-

"For them to take my sangferia."

—-that?

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