Page 150 of Voracious

He moves up, slowly finding my lips, and I’m not a ghost anymore. I’m real and Dima won’t hurt me, ever. It’s my first real birthday and it couldn’t be any better as I wrap myself around him, knowing I get to have him forever.

His arms tighten around me as he says against my lips, “You’re getting your tattoo next month, pick anything you want. Not because of that cunt or to save you, just because you want it.”

I wrap my arms around his neck and lean back to look up at the sky and the branches breaking up the clear blue. Soft lips brush my neck, directly over my scar. The second time I died is marked on my skin but it somehow reversed my first death and I know everything now.

There’s no Yulia or Marlo, no Ana. Everything from then is dead and I get to be Vanya, someone who exists, is remembered, and has a family who won’t let anyone else near me.

My chin drops down and excitement makes my voice higher pitched as I say, “I know what I’m getting.”

Dima kisses my cheek, his lips roving across my face as he asks, “Hmm, what?”

“The moon in the forest, with a wolf.”

My old family is my real family, Dima is the moon, and the others surround me too. I’m not B, but I have my forest and moon every day. The wolves are new, the protectors who let me hunt with them while covering every angle.

I don’t need to wait for Venus or have a sticker to smile at me because Dima does it every day and even when I get confused, forget, or feel like I’m not a person he’s there to remind me and I look at him, knowing what I feel isn’t a thought, it’s a fact like I am.

“I love you.”

His eyes soften as he rests his forehead on mine then abruptly dips me as he bends in half. I laugh as I tighten my limbs around him and he brushes the tip of his nose against mine.

“Whatever your name is, however many people are in your head, I love every part of you, my beautiful hellion.” He kisses my cheek and closes his eyes as he whispers, “Happy first birthday, Vanya.”

1 I adore you

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Volatile,Tali & Anastasia’s book, is next (and last). Preorder here. And keep scrolling for a bonus scene from Vlad’s POV to make up for the emotional damage.

Bonus Scene

vlad

The sound of a knife scraping against the holder has me moving and my tone is low as I stop at the threshold of the kitchen to give a warning.

“Touch it and I’ll chop your hand off.”

Vitali flinches, his hand freezing with the tip of the knife an inch above the cake sitting on the middle of the island. Viktor turns his head as he kneels on the stool with his elbows on the marble. They both slowly look at each other then back to me, and my nephew’s brows go up as he whispers to his co-conspirator, “I don’t think we’re allowed it yet.”

Vitali sets the knife beside the pink cake and steps back, raising his hands in surrender as heels click against the floor. Inessa walks into the kitchen with Verena on her hip, my little queen is careful not to kick her feet into her mama’s swollen belly as she stretches her arms out for me. Blindly taking her, I sit her on my shoulders and turn to go back to my office. Her little hands slap against my temples as she kisses the back of my head then whispers, “Papa think?”

“Yeah, malen’kaya zvezdva, just thinking.”

I nod and sit behind my desk, turning to watch the driveway for my Vanya to come home. Lifting Verena off my shoulders, I stand her between my thighs so she can twirl how she likes to. Her fingers go to the hem of her dress and she holds it out to me as she asks, “Vanya wear dress like me?”

“Yeah,” I nod, “your mama gave it to her.”

“She play ‘gain?”

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