Page 63 of High Noon

"What was that all about?" Titus asked curiously, ticking his jaw toward the tipi. "What did they want?"

If I lied, I knew Maru would be able to tell. Titus probably would, too. Instead, I decided to stall. "I'll tell you later," I promised. Maru opened his mouth to argue, but I stopped him. "Not here, Maru."

"Are we free to leave now?" I asked Enoch and Kohana.

Kohana confirmed with a sharp nod.

I wasn't sure where we should go. We were literally in the middle of nowhere. All I knew was that I was afraid, more afraid than I'd ever been before. I'd felt ‘off’ this entire journey, but now wondered if Tanuk was right about what was causing my symptoms.

Staring at Enoch for a long moment, I remembered the way his fangs felt sharp against my skin when he almost lost control in seventeen seventy-seven. He could have bitten me then, could have turned me. And then last night, I tempted him further by offering him a drink of my blood. I only wanted to help him, to curb the hunger I felt radiating off him in waves, but all I did was set fire to the fumes. Titus and Maru, and even Enoch, were right. I shouldn’t have let him taste my blood.

The very thought made my stomach turn.

I'd rather die than be a monster.

I knew a monster was what I would be if I was ever turned into a vampire, and it didn't take a sacred spring or a healer to bring me to that conclusion. I could feel it.

In my head.

In my heart.

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