Page 79 of Veil of Shadows

Right on cue, my stomach growled out as he ushered me to the table.

He pulled a seat out for me, and I promptly sat. I didn’t want to admit that I was starving, but if I was going to keep my eyes peeled, I had to have the energy to be on high alert. Jacob sat in front of me, watching me with those dark brown eyes of his. Thewhites of his eyes glowed that same sort of red I saw in the other vampire’s eyes, but my hunger overrode my need for answers.

I didn’t even have the equivalent of a plate of food all day, and my stomach surged with a need for sustenance.

“Please, dig in,” Jacob said.

Instead, I reached for a jeweled chalice and peeked inside. Jacob snickered.

“It’s just water, Bex.”

I peeked at him from over the rim and sipped the water. The cool liquid touched my tongue, and it was as if something inside of me snapped. I tipped the chalice, chugging as much of the crystal-clear liquid as I could. And when I was done, I held the chalice in my lap.

I watched it magically refill with water.

“Jesus,” I whispered breathlessly.

Jacob chuckled once more. “If you want me to take a bite or two first to calm your mind, I can do that.”

His voice snapped my attention back to him. “You’re a vampire. Even if the food was poisoned, would it even affect you?”

That trademark grin of his spread across his face and I couldn’t help but smile. Dear God, I missed my brother from another mother more than I cared to admit.

“Jacob,” I whispered to myself as tears crested my eyes.

“I was scared when she found me,” he said.

I paused. “What?”

He leaned back. “You’re right. If I ingested any of this food, I wouldn’t know if it was poisoned or not. We don’t need food the way other beings do.”

My head grew light with dizziness. “Right.”

“But,” he said as he pushed a plate of fruit toward me, “if it’ll help settle your mind enough to eat, I’ll answer your questions.”

“Really?”

He tilted his head. “You have to eat if I’m going to, Bex.”

“Why?”

He snickered. “Why? Because you’ll starve to death otherwise, that’s why. There’s no ulterior motive.”

“For you, maybe,” I muttered.

“She’s not as bad as you think. You’ve just seen a rougher side of her.”

I finally put fruit and vegetables on my plate. “I take it we’re not talking about me any longer?”

His grin grew into a smile. “No, we’re not.”

I finally got brave enough to take a bite of pineapple. I chewed it slowly before I moved to the vegetables, making a slow round robin of the plate that I filled. And after a few minutes, when no immediate side effects set in, I picked up my fork.

I practically used it like a fucking shovel.

“As you were saying,” I said after taking a few bites and wiping off my mouth with the silk cloth napkin afforded to me.

Was everything in this fucking place so opulent?

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