Page 68 of Monster Girl Awakened

The quiet of the forest is like a balm on my soul, a balm that I can’t currently enjoy. Not yet. There is something I need to do first.

Letting out a long breath, I erect a large square barrier around myself. I seal it fully so even the earth under my feet is protected by it and I’m fully sealed into my barrier, then I unleash.

I scream, I curse, I let my magic tear out of me in a fiery purple and gold explosion. I scream and fucking scream until my voice is nothing but a croak, tears streaming down my cheeks. Chaos follows, lashing out with my power until the air is practically buzzing with the magic contained within my barrier. I don’t stop until the last of my energy winks out and I crumple to my knees with a laugh.

Tired, but finally calm, I let go of the barrier and my magic fades from sight, the energy absorbed by the forest surrounding me. The sounds of the forest wash over me and I stay, relishing in the simplicity of it all. It’s dusk and the long shadows dance from the gentle breeze. Birds chatter amongst each other and the low muttering of the night creatures waking from their slumber adds to the forest’s music.

I stay for a long time just watching and listening. Thinking about everything and nothing. Processing the emotional roller coaster that today has been.

It’s late when I finally push to my feet, legs weak from both the day and sitting in one place for so long. A tiny smile curls my lips as I walk back to my dorm and I let my head tip back so I can look at the stars. It’s all going to be okay, no matter what I decide.

*****

Steam billows from the doorway behind me as I step out of the bathroom, a towel in hand. I fumble with it as I wrap it around my wet hair, then head to the kitchen, switching on my stovetop kettle. I’m only half paying attention to what I’m doing as I make my coffee then sit down at the kitchen island, and Unicorn settles into my lap as I stare off into space.

Ezra’s offer has me all twisted up. It took me a minute, but I realised that I’d seen him before. A year or so ago an informant threw in his picture as a bonus on top of their payment for a job well done. Ezra. He’s practically one of the top bosses in the SFBI, a director of an entire branch, so it’s befuddling to have him take an interest in me, Lexi, and the guys. Even with Corin’s recommendation.

Corin.

I’m not mad at him. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to tear his balls off and feed them to him when Ezra revealed that one of my guys—theguys, I mean.Damn,I really need to stop slipping up with that or I’m going to accidentally say it out loud—had kept something so big from me. It took me a minute to process it, but then reality crashed in. It was his job, and there is no way he, as a plant for the SFBI, could have told me the truth.

I can’t say that it hasn’t created some seeds of doubt, though. Did he only get close to me because it helped his cause? Did what we have start out as him faking it? It’s so much to try and process. I swallow roughly and run a hand through my hair.

Okay, let’s start with making a plan of attack, Nessa.I pet Unicorn as I start to compile it, hot cup of coffee in my other hand. I need to have a conversation about this with Corin, preferably with the other guys present to make sure they’re okay because he betrayed them too by not revealing this. Then I need to talk to Ezra about his offer. First though, I need to get some sleep, take a break from classes for a few days, and feed. My tongue runs over my sharpened teeth and I groan.Tomorrow. Yeah, you can wait for tomorrow, Nessa.

Chapter Thirty-one

Nessa

WithaneasysmileI head through the school corridors. I sent an email to all my professors letting them know that I’m taking a week off as a break starting today, and I organised a meet-up with the guys in an hour's time to speak about Ezra’s offer and how Corin is a plant. I was so out of it when Ezra spoke to them that I’m not sure if Dylan and Oscar are aware of that yet or not.

I roll my lips between my teeth as a pang of hunger rolls through my gut. Leaving it this long between feeds was a mistake. It’s been an incessant need since I woke up this morning. So much so that I called Lexi to ask if she could do me a massive favour and I could feed from her, because until I’ve spoken with Corin I don’t feel comfortable doing something so intimate with him. I flex my hands, trying to distract myself, fangs literally burning with need. I’m so out of sorts from it that I couldn’t even stomach coffee this morning. Coffee! Letting out a breath, I do my best to ignore it and continue moving through the flow of students.

I’m almost at the stairs I need to go down to get outside when I’m stopped by a woman from my runes class. A scowl tightens my features, but it doesn’t seem to dissuade her as she starts droning on about our end of term assignment and how she’d love my help on some stuff if I have time. She seems like a sweet girl, but I honestly don’t have the time or patience right now so I’m seconds from snapping at her that I have somewhere I need to be right now when a hint of the most glorious scent reaches my nose. It’s sweet—mouthwateringly so. Like the best vanilla cupcake in the world is calling out to me, and Goddess do I want to take abite.It has me breaking out in chills and my world narrows in on that one smell. I need to find the source. If possible my fangs seem to get even longer and I brush past the girl, my other senses distant as I hunt down the person who’s creating that delicious smell.

It doesn’t take me long to locate the source. My eyes lock onto Foster and a groan rumbles low in my throat. He’s in the library standing beside a booth, looking down at his finger with a frown on his face. A single bead of blood rests on the pad of his index finger. A paper cut by my guess, and a small one at that. It doesn’t matter though, his blood is calling to me like a siren’s song. I find myself walking towards him, focus narrowed in on that single bead of blood. Ineedit.

His head snaps up when I’m about ten feet away and his eyes flare wide. “Nessa?” he asks, but it barely registers. Before he has a chance to react, I have my hand wrapped around his wrist and I’m licking the blood off of his finger. The intoxicating vanilla taste explodes on my tongue and I groan again.It’s like the fucking nectar of the gods.

Foster goes curiously still and for a second the haze in my head clears and I let go of his wrist, jerking back in horror. The worry that I’m biting someone without their consent outweighs the need to feed, briefly. The urge for blood is almost like food in an extreme way where it hits you in waves—a brief reprieve only to lose your mind completely the next. I hold my hands up, noting my extended black claws as I blink repeatedly, while simultaneously battling with the part of my brain that wants me to dive for his throat and sink my fangs into his throat. “I’m so sorry,” I croak, stumbling back another few steps.

His eyebrows draw down and instead of bolting like you’d expect someone to do when a person randomly comes up and licks the blood off of your finger, he advances on me, nothing but concern in his expression. “What’s going on? You look like you’re starving,” he intones softly.

“I am,” I grunt, bending over and wrapping an arm around my stomach.

“Have you fed since yesterday? I heard there was an altercation and when vampires and vampire hybrids use a lot of magic it always leaves them starving afterwards.”

Panting, I shake my head. “I did not know that. That information would have been extremely useful yesterday, and no I haven’t fed. Clearly,” I say, gesturing to his finger that I defiled not three minutes ago.

He cracks a smile and I glare at him. He shakes his head and rolls his lips in. “Alright, who do I need to get you to then? To feed from, I mean.” My eyes drop to his throat and the vein pulsing there as his scent lingers around us still. My lips part, tongue darting over my lower lip. “Nessa, do you have someone?” Foster prompts again, but I struggle to drag my attention away from his neck. Saliva floods my mouth and I can tell I’m too far gone. When the next wave of hunger floods me, I pounce.

Foster catches me with a strained laugh, and spins me around so I’m in a hold, unable to reach his throat. “Nessa, I know you’re probably too far gone to register this, but I give you my permission to drink from me,” Foster says, voice firm.

I don’t get a chance to try and process his words or answer him because he releases me and then all I can think about is getting my teeth into his vein.

I spin around and thread my fingers into his hair, then jerk his head back to expose his throat, my other hand going to his waist. I’m practically vibrating with the need to bite when Foster’s calm words filter through the haze in my head. “You’ve got me, Nessa. I’m not going anywhere, okay?”

My eyebrows furrow as I try to make sense of his words, but they soothe some of the urgency in my movements and my hands unclench so I’m simply holding him rather than my death grip.

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