Page 38 of Tortured Soul
Francesca and I were left behind. She wiped her eyes with a trembling hand.
“What happened?” I signed as we walked, our pace slower.
Her breath was ragged but her shoulders more relaxed. Savi was going to be okay. She was going to reach the camp long before sunrise, and she’d recover quickly.
“I’ve never seen this kind of trap before,” she answered, moving her fingers erratically. “We were walking and she must have stepped on a hidden detonator or something. One second, everything was fine. The next, she had that huge thing going through her leg. It was attached to some kind of chain that was easy to rip out but I couldn’t move her before and—and then you showed up and…I’m sorry, it’s just that so many of us have gone missing by now, I thought we were going to be taken too.”
“You’re fine,” I signed, before placing one hand on her shoulder and giving her what I hoped was a reassuring nod. “Now that you’ve seen this kind of trap, maybe you’ll be able to detect it.”
“Yes. I’ll make the report to Carrie and the day team will try to look for it.” She stopped abruptly. “What were you doing out there?”
Her head was tilted to the side in wonder. I nibbled on my lower lip.
“My power is draining fast here. I’m not sure why. I was…hunting. Recharging in a nearby cabin.”
She let out a loud gasp.
“Are you insane? Did you tell anyone you were going out? What if something happened?Howdid you get out? I doubt any guard would have let you walk through the front gate unaccompanied so early after you just arrived.”
I pulled her arm so we could resume our walk back to the camp.
“I was perfectly fine. And look how it turned out? I got the little boost I neededandwas close enough to where you girls got attacked. Win-win.”
Still all about small victories.
She narrowed her eyes in response but didn’t answer, her skeptical eyes studying me.
“You feel different,” she signed after a few minutes.
“Have you ever met any of my kind?”
“Briefly, not long before the war. He was an ass.”
I chuckled. “I believe you. Even I don’t like my peers. When we met earlier, my power was somehow drained. When it is, it releases pheromones meant to lure people to me. Think of it as a survival mechanism. I probably don’t release any now, so that might be why I feel different to you.”
She snorted and shook her head softly.
“You mean that when you’re weak, people desire you more?”
“Basically, yes.” I shrugged. “But as I’m a Succubus, it’s meant to be stronger toward men or women attracted to other women.”
“Is that why you were anxious at dinner?”
It was my time to stop in my tracks. She halted too.
“Was that why Savi looked at me strangely?”
“Well, your pulse was strong and your blood smelled nice. So maybe it was a little bit of hungerandconfusion.”
A sigh escaped my throat and she grinned.
“I’ve been on edge about my unstable pheromones since I got here. Living with unbinded and untied Immortals is stressing me out a little.”
Her smile softened then.
“Don’t worry. If anyone in that house feels like ripping your clothes off for a bit of fun, we’ll know something is off and we’ll tell you to go fuck someone. And not in a mean way.”
Chapter 12
