Page 40 of Hot Vampire Next Door: Season Five

My mouth is a little dry, but no big deal. I feel a little woozy, but that’s probably because I’ve been in a sauna for…how many hours?

The buzzing in my legs is completely gone and when I give my shoulders a roll, testing the joints, I’m surprised to find no ache, no tension, no pain.

Everything feels lighter, looser, less human.

Had I always been achy and never noticed it? Did the binding make me feel human? Prone to muscle soreness, joint pain, just the regular ache of existing in this world?

Or was it my fae side always trying to push to the surface? The power struggling against the binding?

That flame of anger aimed at my mother returns for a second before I remind myself of what she sacrificed to protect me.

I can’t be mad at a dead woman who raised a child that was not her own. Mom could have easily tossed me to another fae family, and who knows what they would have done with me if they found out my origins.

The anger at my mother will always be fruitless. And worse, not entirely warranted.

I glance over at Bran, still hunched forward. He’s watching me with an intensity that scalds, his eyes flaring amber orange in a cloud of thick steam.

My heart kicks up and there’s an answering pull at my core.

“You’re hot when you look at me like that.”

The line of his dark brow sinks in annoyance. “Don’t make me ask a second time.” His voice is vibrating with warning now and when he’s like this, I know I’m either going to get fucked or scolded. Or option three: both.

“I’m fine.”

“‘Fine?’ Don’t lie to me.”

I heave out a sigh and rub at my forehead. “I feel better than ever. I feel…not human anymore.”

The admission comes out in a rush, like the words have been dying to get out.

“You were never human, Mouse.” Bran’s voice softens as a tear spills over the edge.

I nod. “I know.” My teeth rake over my bottom lip. “I know that, obviously. But…I could pretend.”

Steam hisses into the air and I lurch away from the bench, feeling the instant chill on my skin.

I turn around to find frost on the wooden bench.

“Shit. Shit. Get out, Bran. I can’t control it!”

More tears spill over. I don’t know why I’m freaking out, but I suddenly am and my heart races in my chest making it hard to breathe.

Snow forms in the air.

“Get out! Before I hurt you!”

He’s on his feet in a blur, across the sauna in less than a second, and then he grabs me by the throat, driving me back against the flat side of the barrel.

I lose the towel and it puddles at my feet.

Bran towers over me. “Look at me, Mouse.”

Frost climbs up his arm.

“Bran, please.”

“Look at me!”

---