Page 17 of Feeding Frenzy

Cobwebs seemed to cast a net over my thoughts. Disbelief, fear, and confusion all battled to be at the helm of the volatile emotions suffocating me. Jax answered my question and rocked my world in the process. The date lines up and the description. There was no other explanation.

Bastien was the Pale One.

That’s why he’d never come for me after I’d freed myself. He’d been chained to a wall. He couldn’t have come for me.

Everything I believed I knew was a lie.

The door creaked and I stilled, closing my eyes. For show, I let out a small snore.

“I can tell you’re not sleeping.” Asher sighed. His footsteps echoed closer. “Pet, you have to get out of bed.” I ignored Asher. He’d go away like he had before. I just had to hold off.

“I know Jaxon’s hurt you?—”

A hysteric laugh burst free, and I sat up, dashing the tears away.

“Yes, he did,” I choked out. And Bastien. The realization of who he was came out of left field. My blood-mad teddy bear vampire was the creature that dragged me into a hillside cave and fed on me for weeks. The one that had pinned me under him with the rise of daylight. The reason I’d resorted to eating bugs.

The crawling little legs . . . nausea lurched through my stomach. The overwhelming sensation of suffocation.

Asher’s lips pursed, eyebrows furrowing. His blue eyes scanned my face.

“You need air, socialization, food—” Asher’s eyes widened, and he perked up. “I know just the thing that will make you feel better.”

“No thanks to the orgasms, Asher,” I said sarcastically.

I couldn’t believe those words exited my mouth, but my mental state wasn’t in the right place for freaky time.

“Nonsense, orgasms make everything better.” Asher batted away my words. “But that’s not what I have in mind right now. You’re coming with me.” He was suddenly at my bedside, he grabbed my arm and hoisted me up.

“Asher,” I whined, yanking to be let go. No use though. I stumbled after him as he toted me to the door. Good thing I’d taken the time to go through my self-care routine this morning—night, ugh, it was so confusing to refer to the start of my day being dusk. I’d been trying to pull myself out of my funk, but showering, straightening my hair, and all the other self-care routines I had, hadn’t worked.

I trudged down the steps, staring at Asher’s silky hair as he guided me through the foyer. He’d tied his hair up in a short half-ponytail while the rest hung around his shoulders. He peeked back at me with a fang-y grin. It would never cease to amaze me how different the twins were.

He led me into the kitchen and across it toward the door where Jax and I had our argument. This time, I stepped into the hall. The sconces were on, illuminating the well-lit hall. There were no windows, and it stretched to a dead end. Except it wasn’t a dead end, it took a sharp turn to the left. The floor started to decline, the hall remaining the same the entire way.

I huffed on a breath. The garage was far, and from the feel and musty scent of it, underground. Double French doors came into view. Shrouded panes didn’t allow me a peek inside. Asher pulled the doors open with a dramatic flourish.

“Ta-da.”

I side-eyed him and finally turned toward the garage. But it was much larger than I imagined. Like so much larger. It looked like an underground mall garage, except there were so many luxury cars. I gawked at the row along the furthest wall.One. I kept counting.Ten. And that was only the first row.

There was maybe a twenty-yard distance between the French doors and the first row. I took another step forward. The mass amount of money in here was mind-blowing and I couldn’t wrap my head around it.

A car revved out of the third line-up and rounded the pathway between the other rows. The flashy bright-red car roared toward us. I gasped, stumbling back, but it squealed to a stop a foot away from me.

I squinted against the fluorescent light reflecting off the shiny windshield. The engine hummed and then hissed from being shut off.

The door popped open, and Ren’s large body emerged.

“What is going on, Asher,” I asked, completely confused.

Ren tossed the key up and down, his focus not leaving me.

“You will be taking a bat to the car Jaxon purchased for you,” Asher said.

“What?” I said sharply. “Jax bought me an Audi?” I scoffed. That was why he was bringing me down here before Imogen arrived? I stopped myself right there. He’d gotten it for me before she came, so it was meaningless. I wanted nothing from him. I scowled. “He has no right to buy me anyth?—”

“Whoa, whoa, don’t bite my cock off,” Asher chortled, his fangs fully out. He scanned my face and clasped both hands together with the slight widening of his eyes, he said, “You’re so pretty when you’re angry.”

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