Page 28 of A Heart Of Bitter Poison
The steady drum of another heart pulls my attention away from my own body. I look down to my side . Ashen sits next to my bed in the chair he dragged next to me during the procedure. He rests his head on his folded arms and part of one of mine. His face is turned toward me, his steady breath spilling warmth over my uncovered shoulder. He’s beautiful even in sleep. His dark hair falls across his forehead and skims his brows. Thick lashes fan beneath his closed eyes. His full lips are squished by his arm, making an adorable, tiny ‘O’. Half of me has an urge to smack it. The other half wants that mouth to do other very reckless, ill-advised things, and the mere thought sends a rush of feral heat to my core.
I trap a sudden swell of need and contain it in my chest. I just watch for a while. I’ve never seen the demon sleep, he always woke before me in the short time we were together. And now, in this moment of solitude, I think it’s maybe the most angelic thing I’ve ever seen. I reach out a tentative hand and move the strands of hair that obscure his skin in a touch so gentle that he doesn’t even stir.
I smell lilacs before I notice the faint beat of another heart in the hall. I look to the door and find Davina standing in the shadows of the corridor, watching. I think I should say something but I don’t know what, or if I even can. I’m not sure if my voice is really back or not. And this might sound selfish, but I don’t want to spend my first words on her, even if I know deep down it’s not her fault. She looks at me for a long, silent moment, then gives a twitch of a fleeting and sorrowful smile before she gently closes the door and pads away down the hall.
I have an urge to thank her. But, for some reason, also a much, much greater urge to kill her. Viciously. Like, a bathe-in-her-blood, cast-spells-from-her-bones kind of killing. I’m not sure why.
No, scratch that. Iamsure why.
For re-existing. For taking what wasmine.
I shudder as a murderous urge slithers down my spine. More murderous than usual. By a lot. And that’s saying something, because, hello…vampire.
Fuck, I’m feeling really weird. Notbadweird, more like maniacal weird. I’ve determined that my emotional state has distilled into two primal emotions:
A desire to fuck people up,
Or,
A desire to just… fuck… people.
Specifically one person.
One person whose cognac eyes are now fused to mine with a legit note of suspicion and alarm. Which is probably wise, because right now my desires are balanced on the sharpened edge of a knife.
Fuck it,
Or,
Fuck it up.
Ashen sits up a little with his arm still resting against my side. He moves slowly, as though cornered by a wild beast. His eyes dart across my face. He’s assessing the threat. Now that he’s awake, the crackle in my veins is ten times stronger. My need ignites like a fuse. To do what, I’m not sure. And I don’t think I’m fully in control of the decision.
“Lu-”
I hiss. Ohfuckyeah, that felt good.
“Leucosia-”
I hiss again.
“...vampire?”
I narrow my eyes in a fierce glare. Ashen sits a bit straighter and glances over his shoulder toward the door. He must have heard it click closed when Davina left. Maybe he even knew she was here. Or worse, expected her. My mind spirals into a jealous rage and I hiss again, a deep, enraged, vicious hiss. Ashen’s eyes snap back to mine and his spine fuses as straight as a sword, his palms facing me in a placating gesture.
“Okaaay vampire…”
I sit up, moving with careful precision. My muscles feel taut with the power I once had. But there’s more. There’s a spark in my flesh. I sit straight and pay only passing attention to the blanket that falls away from my torso. I hold my arms out, expecting to see the light that I feel beneath my skin. Nothing looks different. It’s definitely there, though. And zipping through it is the charge of Ashen’s blood. It’s like I swallowed an electric current and captured the power in my veins.
I look down at my body and run my hand over the spot where the feeding tube had been. There’s no pain. Not even a mark. I wonder how long I’ve been out, but I don’t want to ask. Those will not be my first spoken words. I’m saving those for something special.
I’m still running my fingers across my cool, clean skin when I hear Ashen’s chair creak as though he’s trying to edge away. My head whips in his direction and I pin him with a fierce glare. He leans back a fraction, his hands raised toward me in a bid to invoke calm. I see him swallow and it finally registers in my head that I’m topless. His eyes haven’t left mine and that enrages me even more. He was supposed to like boobs. I even have a note about it. Why isn’t he fucking looking at my boobs? Though if he does, I might slap him. I haven’t decided. But either way, he’s a fucking asshole.
I turn my torso fully toward him like a dare. I can see in his eyes that he has no idea what to make of me. Hell,Ihave no idea what to make of me. I tilt my head and my glare constricts into thin slits of brightening red light. There’s a cacophonous argument in my head of why-aren’t-you-looking, look-down-you-motherfucker, if-you-look-I-will-murder-you, and I’m not sure which voice is going to win.
“All right, vampire?” Ashen asks with a note so thick with wariness that it hangs like a bright star in his voice.
My head dips low like a tiger homing in on its prey. My fangs descend and venom floods my mouth. And then I see it, the quick flash of his eyes to my boobs.
