Page 13 of Chosen, Eternally
I fold over him to kiss his up his perfect chest all the way to his neck. It’s there that I pause, my entire blood running cold.
“Your vampire bite.”
His smirk falls. “Do we need to talk about thisnow? What about it?”
“It’s gone.”
James sits up beneath me and wraps his arms around my waist. When he looks up at me, his voice is full of tenderness. Of calm strength. “Baby, it could’ve just been your Healing potion. Remember?”
“The Healing Potion takes longer to work. You’re not just back to 100% a few hours after drinking it. And your bruises…” I run my fingers over his cheekbone. The black eye that had started to form is long-gone, replaced only by redness. His busted lip is healed, too.
“I’m telling you, I feel totally normal. I think they never intended for me to turn into a vampire. I think if they did, we dodged a bullet, because I feel great.” He grins, trying to lighten the mood.
And at first it works—but only for a few seconds. Because as I stare at his beautiful smile, I notice a hint of two sharp teeth peeking out from beneath James’s lips.
Fangs.
“Shit.”
Just then, my phone rings on my bedside table. Ian’s name flashes.
“I don’t know what to do. What to say.”
“To me or to him?” James asks when I jump off him.
Scrambling for some clothes in my closet, my heart races, fear overtaking my system. My phone keeps ringing, but I refuse to pick it up. Lying to The Society seems unnatural, but betraying James is unthinkable.
As I begin to pull on a fresh pair of underwear, I wonder: am I going to dress for a fight or for comfort? Is he five seconds from turning on me? Or has he done so already and is pretending like everything is fine so he can get me to lower my guard and murder me? At what point in the transition do vamps lose their souls? I don’t think I was ever taught that in witch lessons.
Because I have no idea what to tell him, I decide it’s best not to try and fill the silence.
“Can you talk to me? Can you please tell me what’s going on?” His voice is so inherentlyJames, though, that I can’t help breaking my rule.
“I just… I need to prepare myself.”
His expression is quizzical at first, until the other shoe drops. “Oh. To kill me, you mean.”
I nod, choking up.
“I see.” James exhales, resigned, before feeling his fangs with the tips of his fingers. “They’re pretty sharp,” he says with awe.
This makes me sputter a laugh.
“What?”
“Just…” I shrug. “I don’t know. I love you.”
His answering smile is sad. “I know. I’m sorry you have to go through this.”
I sniff and wipe my nose with the back of my hand. “You feel sorry for me for having to kill you?”
“Of course.” He frowns, like his reasoning is obvious. “Why is it hard to believe?”
“Because you’re the one who has to die.” The sharp pain in my chest as I speak the words aloud is nearly debilitating.
“I know, baby. But I’m not the one who is going to have to live with it.”
Something slices right through my heart, cutting it in half.
