Page 27 of The Veil of Blood and Magic

I note this as I look for an exit, but there’s only the door Jagger stands in front of.

“Why is it a bad idea?” Jagger asks, making no move to pursue me further save for the longing in his eyes. He carefully removes the guitar from his back, settling it in the corner of the room.

I open and close my mouth a few times. There are so many reasons. Logical reasons that are hard to think of around the intensity of my anger. It’s like Sirius’s magic has propelled the need flaring in my veins.

Feed, feed, feed.

And feed off someone powerful. A half-siren drifter is most certainly powerful.

I blink once, twice, trying to force the idea from my mind.

“Zev wouldn’t like it,” I say, a pathetic excuse that Jagger laughs at.

“You would be surprised at what Zev does and doesn’t like, dove. And since when do you care?”

Good point.

“You can’t Link with me,” I force out the words.

“I said I wanted to feed you,” he says, not entirely an answer to my demand. “Not Link with you. But I’m flattered you think I might fuck you three times while we’re in here.” He takes one step closer.

I don’t retreat.

Can’t.

He smells mouthwateringly good, like ginger and cinnamon dancing on my tongue. It’s a comforting, exciting flavor that I want to savor for as long as possible.

“You’re starving, dove,” he says, finally spanning the distance I put between us. Timidly, he reaches out and traces the line ofmy jaw before tipping my chin up to meet his gaze. “Let me feed you.”

“You’re not afraid?” I ask, my voice a whisper.

His smile stretches wider, his full lips looking way too tempting. “I’d be a fool to not be afraid of you,” he says, smoothing his thumb over my chin.

The answer is honest and raw, and I can’t help but sink into it a little bit. He’s right. It’s reckless not to fear me and that’s without him knowing everything.

“But that doesn’t mean I want to see you hurting,” he continues.

“What do you think the Collector is going to do with me when you hand me in?” I counter. “Grant me a grand room in his palace? A royal title to wield? All the blood and desire I can eat?”

His smile falls, and he visibly swallows.

It’s an unfair jab, but I’ve never been one to fight fair. And if it’s enough to sway him of this risk he’s trying to take, then he’ll be better off for it.

“You don’t know this about me,” he says, his voice low and coaxing without any hint of his power trying to sway me. “But you’ll learn it the longer you’re with me. I live my life one day at a time. One night at a time. One minute. One second. Each one could be my last,” he continues. “This world has taught me that since conception. I don’t trouble myself with the worries of tomorrow.”

I huff out a laugh. “That’s an interesting way to live.”

“It’s the only way to live, dove,” he says, that light returning to his eyes. “You should try it sometime.”

Try it tonight, his eyes plea.Try it with me.

I scan the lines of his face, hunting for any hint of deception, any sign of a trick, a trap, a humiliation waiting to be sprung on his silly little bounty.

There is none. Nothing but way the hushed, golden light in this room flickers off him, the, he way his pulse hammers in his veins with need, the way the taste of his desire flares and swirls around us both.

I need blood.

I need desire.

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