Page 30 of Watch Me Burn

“Sorry, Bridge. I couldn’t resist. But you’ll be fine. It won’t hurt, and I’ll only take a few sips. Just enough to get rid of the worst of the thirst. As long as you don’t bite me, there isn’t any blood exchange.”

It’s a good thing that I have no intention to find out what a vampire tastes like.

Elise is an amazing teacher. Though she obviously knows the most about vampires, and witches are some of the rarer types of supes so she doesn’t have firsthand knowledge about my kind, she’s been giving me a crash course on supes ever since I stopped pretending I was one.

And so far I’ve realized that the two most important things I need to know are that silver can incapacitate any powerful supernatural creature, and that one bonus to being most supes, is that they’re owed a fated mate.

Again, because witches have to be difficult, I don’t get one of those. On the plus side, that means I can screw around with whoever I want and Fate won’t get all pissy about it, but I’d belying if I said I didn’t like the idea that there was one guy out there meant specifically for me.

Unless it’s someone like Conall, that is. In that case, no thanks.

When it comes to vampires, their bonding ritual is fairly straightforward. There needs to be a blood exchange, so each part of the couple has to take a nip from their prospective mate, and then they seal it with sex.

Because I’m curious—and, to be honest, a bit horny since I haven’t gotten laid in, like,forever—I ask her about shifters. Of all the types of supes out there, vampires and shifters are the most common, and I wanted to know how the more beastly supes claimed their mates.

Claim, of course, being the right word for it. Not being a shifter herself, she only knew the basics. How a shifter has to make their mate, receive a mark in return, and then, like vamps, bang it out. The only difference is that while blood usually is drawn during the marking—whether it’s a bite or a scratch—there’s no drinking required. Instead, shifters usually leave a visible silvery scar somewhere on their mate’s body to prove that they’re taken.

Makes sense. In Dyea, we have a handful of mated couples that sought sanctuary together. Though none of the shifters here are predators, seems like all shifter are predatory when they have their mate under them.

Elise can take my blood. I’m just feeding a friend, and if the memory of Conall’s sneer as he asked Elise if she bites me runs through my mind at the moment, I quickly shove it aside as I shift a little closer to her.

“So how do we do this? Neck? Wrist? Forearm?”

“You’re right-handed. In case witches don’t heal as quickly as other supes, let’s go with your left wrist so it doesn’t interfere with your drawing hand. If that’s alright.”

In answer, I fist my hand to get the vein bulging a little, then offer her my left wrist.

Elise hesitates for only a few seconds, but the thirst must’ve been worst than she was letting on because, like a rattlesnake, she strikes. Her fangs sink right into my skin, and the piercing sensation only lasts a second before she takes a pull on my vein.

One sip. Elise manages one sip before she’s yanking her fangs out of my hand, hissing.

Uh oh.

“Elise?”

Her eyes had darkened, going from pale green to a vibrant red as she starts panting now that she’s no longer hissing. Her lips are painted with my blood, but her tongue is… blistered?

Holy shit.

“Did Iburnyou?”

I think I burned her.

“What can I do? How can I help?”

She shakes her head, her ruby-red hair falling forward into her face. A few seconds later, she shoves it away, and her eyes are back to the same pale green shade I know.

Her tongue looks better, too, but that doesn’t change what I saw.

Elise swallows, obviously testing her mouth out. Vampires, she’s taught me,doheal quickly so I’m not too surprised when she nods. “I’m better.”

“What happened?”

“I’m not sure,” admits Elise. “Only that I’ve never experienced anything like it. I was burned, and I think… I think it might be because your blood itself, it might befire.”

You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.

“I can’t feed you, can I?”

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