Page 80 of Taste of Fate

Amy rolled up to a seat, rubbing her eyes a final time before she looked at me. Her eyes shouldn’t have startled me, but they did. The whites of her eyes had gone completely black, although her irises were the same cornflower blue.

“Tavia?” Her eyes flicked to Cyan for a second, but quickly refocused on me. “Why are you looking at me like that? How long have I been out?”

I swallowed, quickly realizing that, despite how much I’d hoped for this moment, I hadn’t prepared for it at all. I had hoped she’d wake up because I was grieving, because I wasn’t ready to lose her. But I hadn’t actually considered that Amy coming back from the dead was a true possibility.

“Amy.” My throat went dry so I swallowed again. “Ames, honey. Do you remember anything?”

“Um, it’s coming back.” She rubbed her forehead, and when her lips parted on a breath, I saw the tips of small fangs. “We were attacked, right? I got hurt and brought down here to the cellar.” She looked around, eyes pausing on Cyan at my side before lowering to the air mattress and mess of blankets we sat on. “It sounded bad, but I guess I pulled through. Sorry if I worried you, Tav. Did Robin call you out here?”

“Uh, yeah. She did.” Amy sounded so normal, exactly like herself. How was I supposed to tell her that she was no longer human?

“Did anyone else get hurt?” Amy rubbed her throat. “Damn, I’m thirsty. Is there water anywhere?”

I handed her my water bottle while Cyan pinned me with a hard look. “She’ll need to feed soon,” he whispered into my ear. “And it can’t be from you.”

I stared back at him, puzzled by that and wondered if it had to do with the blood mate thing. Whatever the reason, the first order of business was to drop this bombshell on Amy.

“Ames,” I said, and steeled myself with a breath. “You were hurt very badly. You…almost didn’t make it.”

Black and blue eyes widened as she set the water bottle down slowly. “Oh.” She gave me a smile with no awareness of her sharp little fangs. “Well, I’m okay now, Tav. No need to look so glum.”

It was Cyan’s hand making soothing passes over the small of my back that gave me the strength to keep talking.

“You wouldn’t have made it if it weren’t for Cyan,” I said. “You…you died, Amy. I felt your pulse stop. I begged him to bring you back, and…he did.”

Amy’s expression morphed into fear and disbelief as she looked at him. She clutched the edge of the blanket as she whispered, “What did you do to me?”

Cyan folded his hands together. “I gave you my blood, which your organs recognized as a life source. Biologically, you’re still human with some vampire adaptations. We call your kind brusang.”

Amy’s hand shook as it came to her face. “I’m…what?” She became aware of her teeth right then, and pressed her fingertips against her longer, sharper canines. Horror filled her eyes, and she went eerily still before darting out of bed.

“Amy, wait.”

I followed after her, but the vampire blood had heightened her speed. She reached the small, dusty mirror on the cellar wall before I could reach her. There was a shocked squeak, and then a moan of horror that became a deep, chest-wracking sob.

“I should probably go for a bit.” Cyan stood, looking concerned but made no move toward the door.

“Is it dark enough outside?”

He nodded. “I’ll be fine.”

I squeezed his forearm before he could leave. “She’ll adjust. It’s just a shock.”

“I know.” He planted a kiss on my forehead, then palmed the side of my neck. “She’s welcome to stay with us, of course. Bea will be happy to help too. In time, she’ll adjust to her new life.”

I reached for his face, finding his mouth for a kiss before releasing him. “Thank you again for bringing her back to me.”

His eyes were soft and warm as he ran his knuckles over my cheek. “Anything for you.”

We parted with another kiss, and he left the cellar while I cautiously approached a sobbing, curled up Amy.

I went to wrap my arms around her, but to my surprise, found myself shoved away.

“How could you?” she cried, her black eyes now lined in red from tears. “How could you let him do this to me? I’m a fucking monster!”

The words hit me like a punch to the gut and I tried to not take them personally. “You’re not a monster. You’re still you, Ames. And don’t put any of the blame on him. I begged him to do it because I couldn’t bear to lose you.”

“So you had him, what, Frankenstein me? I never asked for this, Tavia! I never wanted to have fangs and black eyes and—fuck.” A trembling hand came to her mouth. “I have to drink blood, don’t I? That’s why I’m still so thirsty. Oh my God…”

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