Page 12 of Hunted
“I don’t know what thoughts are mine anymore,”he signed, after a pause.“I dream about killing people I love.And then I wake up and want to do it.Not because I actuallywantto—but because something in me says it would feel so good.Just for a second.A moment’s euphoria, stronger than any narcotic.”
I didn’t reply right away.I wasn’t sure what to say to help him.Those weren’t Josh’s thoughts.I knew that was pure Acacia.But saying so felt like it would only remind him that his mind wasn’t his own.
He curled tighter around himself, like shrinking small enough might keep the hunger from using him like a marionette to get what it craved.
“Do you think I’m still me?”he asked, his hazel eyes searching my face, desperate for some sort of reassurance.
I nodded.
He shook his head, hands trembling as he signed,“You’re the only one, then.”
That wasn’t true.But he wouldn’t believe it if I said so.I knew Josh well enough to know the stubborn idiot would need to be shown, not just told.So, I didn’t bother with empty words.
Instead, I signed,“I’m not here to fix you.I’m here to be with you through this.”Then I slid my arm around his shoulders and pulled him in against my side, not caring if I got bitten in the process.
His breath hitched, and I thought he’d fight me.But eventually he relaxed into me, accepting some of the alpha influence I offered.He reached up—hesitantly—and wrapped his hand around my wrist.His grip was loose, but I wasn’t fooled.He was grasping onto me.Grounding himself.Craving the contact but too lost in his misery and self-loathing to act on the need.His skin was so cold.
I let him cling to me for as long as he needed, while I nuzzled into his hair and drew in his new scent, firmly telling the instinctual creature inside me that this was still Josh—our Josh—and we’d best learn this new scent, incorporate it into our senses and file it under the category labeled “mine.”
When he withdrew, I made the impulsive decision to grasp for more.I slid my hand into his soft hair and cupped the back of his head, drawing him into a gentle, chaste kiss, showing him I wasn’t afraid of him, or revolted by him.I let my aura flare outward slightly, my alpha instincts wanting to wrap our magic around him and squeeze him tight, show him he was loved.
I thought he might pull away, too worried about his bloodlust to risk kissing me.I was surprised when, after only a few seconds of gentle acceptance, he suddenly pulled me closer.His lips parted my own in a rare show of lustful demand, and I opened to him.I was secure enough in myself to quell my alpha instincts and let him take the lead.Whatever my hurting beta needed to heal.
The kiss was searing, and I moaned into it, surprised.Despite being asexual, Josh was affectionate, and he loved cuddling, and touch, and making out.But he didn’t usually come on so strong, with such an obvious sexual overtone.He nipped at my bottom lip, drawing a tiny drop of blood, then hummed appreciatively as he all but climbed into my lap while he lapped it up.
“Fuck me, Sadavir,” he demanded, his voice low and seductive, sending a shudder of want through me.
It was adamnedhard thing to do, but I forced myself to slow down, to pull back and hold the hungry demon at bay.How many times over the years had I wished he’s ask me that?Dreamed of what it might be like to have that with him?
“Josh?”I forced out.“She doesn’t own you,” I vocalized firmly as I gripped his upper arms and held him back.“Stay with me.”
The sneer that twisted his chiseled lips was confirmation of what I suspected.“What was that, snake?You’ll have to enunciate.I’m afraid I don’t speakbrain defect.”
I shook Josh, hard.I didn’t want to hurt him, but seeing Acacia so fully take over his body and speak through him like this was terrifying.“Leave him alone,” I said, slow and loud, so she would have no excuse of not understanding my blunted speech.
She just stared at me from the eyes of the man I loved, their gaze haughty and cruelly amused.“Oh, I willsoenjoy draining you once you’re back in my menagerie where you belong, naga.”Josh raised one eyebrow and gave me a sly look.“You know, initially Iwasplanning on simply using the useless human to get you to come back to the cathedral.But then I realized I could put him to much better use now that the two of you are cowering with the little rebel court.She tilted his head.“But I’ll make you a deal.”She leaned forward as she whispered, pressing Josh’s chest firmly against my hands and grinding our hips together while I fended her off.“Leave the rebels and willingly come back to my menagerie like a good little pet and I’ll sever my link with Josh.”
I laughed in her face.Even if Iwasokay with betraying the rebel court and walking away from Ruya—which I would never do—I knew Acacia was lying.She had a disgusting obsession with my blood and my body, and the high she got from making a prince into her slave.But there was no way she’d give up her goal of replacing the emperor just for the return of a blood and sex slave.If I went to her, she’d just imprison me—permanently this time—and continue to use Josh as she saw fit, until she achieved her goals and was done with him.At which time, he’d become useless to her and she’d have him killed just for fun.
I was not born yesterday.And I hadplentyof experience with this bitch and her insane whims.I didn’t bother vocalizing this time.I simply mouthed the words, since I was sure they’d be understood.
Fuck.You.
My head slammed into a table leg before I even knew I was being attacked.Apparently, Josh’s new vampire strength and speed were even more impressive than I’d realized.Acacia was standing over me in an instant, wearing Josh’s body like a borrowed suit.“Aww...poor baby,” she crooned as she leaned over me and swiped a finger through the blood leaking from my hairline, making sure to speak slowly so I could read her lips.“Just imagine how upset little Joshy is going to be when he realizes he just drained you dry.”She popped the bloody finger into her mouth and groaned as she sucked the blood off.Then she grinned with glee.“Oh!And that uppity bitch who calls herself a princess will belividover how badly she failed to protect her supposed people.Shifters are so easy to manipulate, with all their stupid animal instincts.Serves her right for dragging her feet when I gave her instructions.What fun!”
Josh reached for me, and I braced myself, prepared to let him hurt me, since I couldn’t stomach the idea of fighting back and hurting him in the process.
His movements went jerky, and he stumbled, falling to his knees on the floor beside me.“Oops!”he said, that manic light still in his eyes that said I was talking to Acacia.She spoke too fast for me to read her lips.“Looks....business calls.Ta for now, Sadavir.It’s been...chatting with you....again....time.”
Josh bent forward and gripped his head in his hands.His shoulders hunched and his body shook with what could either be pain, tears, or yelling.I sat up and reached for him, forcing him to lift his head so I could see what was going on, so I could figure out if she’d hurt him...
Blood dripped from his nose, and he angrily wiped it away.His hazel gaze was his own now, filled with fury and horror.“Sadavir,” he signed gasped.Then he started signing with bloody fingers.“I’m sorry.Did I hurt you?Did I...”He looked from his bloody fingers to me, as if he couldn’t quite remember everything that had happened but was slowly putting things together.“Did I...”he said as he patted his own body, down his chest, pelvis, and thighs, his hazel eyes gone wide and shocky.“I...I...”
Fuck.I was going to murder Acacia slowly with my bare hands when the time came.She had almost succeeded in making me violate Josh, tricking me into crossing a boundary that would feel wrong to him,especiallybecause he wasn’t in charge of his body at the time.I grabbed his hands and pressed them between mine, letting my aura swell out and suffuse the room, using it and his beta instincts to urge him to settle and let me deal with any threat.
“No,” I verbalized.“I might be a horny asshole, but I’m not that dumb.”
He let out a sigh and some of the tension left him.“Oh.”
