Page 13 of 1001 Dark Nights: Bundle Forty-Seven

Lilith

Present Day

“Where am I?” a low voice asks.

I jump awake and look down at myself. I have blood running down my wrists and am lying with Tarek on a mattress in a place I don’t recognize.

But all I see is his blood. All I feel is anger and need and lust. Then there are the memories I don’t recognize, ones that don’t make sense. It feels so real, like I’m still there right now, watching the boy, watching the world burn around me, and feeling like I might die with it.

Son of Enoch?

Who was the son of Enoch, and why couldn’t I remember him? And why the hell am I bleeding so much?

I check my wrists again and then my arms. Wait, that’s not my blood. None of it is. And my wrists have no markings.

I jerk around to look at Tarek, realizing exactly what the source is. He has small bites all over his body, down his arms and up his neck. A small trickle of blood runs from his mouth.

He’s awake but pale.

“I don’t feel the desire to repeat myself, Lilith. Where am I?” He’s literally handcuffed to the bed. Did I do that?

I quickly get to my feet and stumble toward him. When I get to the mattress, I notice how his jeans are ripped, along with what had been a whole black T-shirt. It’s now shredded, like someone took their fingers and tried to tear it open.

“That is a very long pause for a simple answer.” He sighs as if he’s not injured or chained to a headboard. “If you couldjust tell me where I am, I can visualize my escape much easier. Gotta hand it to you; your bite is strong. I didn’t realize my blood would make you feral since you weren’t injured anymore. But…” He tugs against the handcuffs anchored above his head. They make a jangling noise. “Apparently, you want to keep me as a special treat. I wonder when my life turned from feeding to being fed on. Oh, yes, the minute I tried to get you a car. Did not see that coming. You know, they should really be more random with their bingo cards this year. Ifanyonewas going to be chained to a bed, I had Alex down…damn it.”

“Stop talking.” My voice is hoarse, almost like I’ve been screaming. But I can’t focus on anything but his smooth skin. A full-on, in-real-life eight-pack with lean muscle stacked upon lean muscle, and finally, his ripped jeans, giving me the perfect view of the notorious werewolf thighs. Rumor has it women beg to be trapped between them for life because they’re—I shake my head and look down at my trembling hands.

It’s happening again, then.

I won’t survive this, and neither will he.

Now that I have enough blood in my system and have fed, I realize my current state of reality, and it’s not looking good for either of us.

I’ll need to consume. I won’t be able to stop. I’ll remember the next few days like a distant life I lived at one point. And then I’ll wake up in another random town and do it all over again.

Two days of ultimate power.

Two days with a werewolf prince.

And he says his bingo card is off.

My only goal is to survive. Now, I have to survive with him.

I sigh. “I didn’t bring you here. I merely brought you to her, like I do every time. Now, I’m trapped just as much as you are.”

Feminine laughter echoes in the dark room—the same as always with its high ceilings, castle-like vibes, a roaring fireplacein the corner, no windows, enough food, wine, and water piled onto the far wooden table to feed multiple people, and the bed.

There’s always the mattress.

I stare at the white velvet blanket just barely covering it and the blood staining parts of it. Everything’s the same, right down to the fact that it drips off into the very cup I always provide, sitting right next to the leg—the artery, if I’m being specific.

It’s a nightmare I’ll always relive, and now I’ve brought my savior into it.

“You did well this time.” She cackles in the dark. “I mean, you do well every time, Daughter of Discord.”

I hate being referred to as that. I don’t create chaos. I just want to live.

The first time this voice came into my life, I thought I was going crazy. And then she appeared in front of me and told me I was special, even used my name a few times, then finally just laughed and said I was Discord.

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