I Bite She Sucks, Bloom, Penelope [recommended reading TXT] 📗

to punch back at the Coven and the toxic fucking culture that led to someone like him. Tomorrow.”

She nodded. “You think we have a real chance to get them all back?”

“I’ve got a plan,” I said.

“Of course you do.”

45

Sylvie

I woke at sunset the night we were supposed to leave. It had been days since I fed, and when I looked in the mirror, I noticed how sunken in I looked. I looked like a grape that had been left in a hot car for a little too long. I was mortified and didn’t want Riggs to see me like this.

I went to Kyla, slipping out of the room while he was still asleep. For all his gruff desire to never take his eyes off me, the poor man was operating on scraps of sleep. That meant he was sleeping with both eyes these days, and I was able to go find Kyla without him knowing.

We’d been given a cute little cottage to stay in near the edge of town, and Kyla was set up right beside us. I knocked on her door.

“Shit,” she said as soon as she saw my face. “You look terrible.”

I pointed to my face. “This looks better than I feel.” It was the truth, too. I felt like I was about to pass out. My legs and arms felt as if there were weights attached to them.

“You need blood,” she said. Kyla looked frustrated with herself. “I knew this might happen. You’re still so young. I should’ve made sure we took the time to find you someone to feed on, but I got so distracted with everything going on. God. This was the whole reason I came and-”

“Nobody is perfect,” I said. I tried to give her a comforting smile, but worried I looked more like a ghoulish zombie craving a fresh squeeze of brains. “But what can we do?”

“Normally I’d say we hop in the truck and go hunting for the first human we can get our hands on. But Riggs said we have to leave tonight. Probably within the hour.” She crossed her arms.

“What about his blood?” I asked. “Riggs. You said it was taboo, but…”

She hesitated, then considered. “Knowing him, he would let you do it in a heartbeat. The man hates all things vampire, but you seem to have quickly re-written his stance on that. If he sees you like this, I’m sure he’ll let you. But you understand it has consequences, right? He’ll have a fuzzy sort of window into your thoughts. He’ll know where you are at all times. And that’s all just hearsay. I don’t know what it actually feels like or what really happens. I just know it is something nobody does. Vampires don’t feed on werewolves.”

“Well,” I said. “They also don’t usually date, right?”

She grinned. “Werewolves don’t date. They bond and take mates. You’ve got to learn the lingo.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Okay, well, they don’t usually take mates cross species. So we’re already breaking rules. Why not one more?”

“Come on. We need to ask him now while you’re still aware enough to feed without trying to drain him dry.”

“That’s a risk?” I asked. “Riggs is so-”

“It’s a risk. You’re like a bottomless pit for blood, Sylvie. You could drink him to death in a minute or two if you wanted to.”

“I don’t,” I said, slightly offended.

“Then let’s go while you still have the willpower to make that choice. If you get much more blood hungry, you’ll be like your sister was. The lights will turn off up there,” she said, tapping my head. “You’ll have to be nursed back to health, and we don’t have time for that.”

I turned down the lights so Riggs wouldn’t see the full extent of how much I’d shriveled. I thought his night vision must’ve been better than I anticipated, because when Kyla and I came in to wake him, he sat up, eyes wide.

“Sylvie,” he breathed. “What’s wrong with her?”

Kyla hung her head. “I overestimated how long she could go without feeding. Ana Black turned her, and it seemed like that was jumpstarting her development enough that she could go a week or two without feeding already. I was wrong. She needs blood. Now,” Kyla added.

Riggs seemed to process everything quickly. “What do I need to do?”

“Sit still and let her feed on you,” Kyla said.

Riggs didn’t hesitate. He surely knew all the risks that would come with any of his pack finding out about this, but I could tell the only thing he cared about was helping me. He sat on the edge of the bed shirtless and rolled his head to the side, exposing his muscular neck for me.

I felt a sudden, nearly unstoppable urge to rush to him and sink my teeth in where I could see his vein pulsing softly against his skin. It was like spending all day at the beach and coming home to find a cold glass of ice water on the counter, tempting little bubbles of condensation dripping from the sides.

Kyla took me by the shoulders and led me slowly to him. “Your body is going to try to grab control once you start. It’ll be like the first time you fed, but much worse. You’re starving right now for blood and you’ll want to drink too much. So you’ve got to do everything you can to stay present. Listen to me when I tell you to stop, and don’t take even one more sip than I allow. Drink too much, and you can lose control completely. Okay?”

I looked at Riggs, who was watching me with a mask of concern. I wanted to blush for how hideous he probably thought I looked, but it felt like there wasn’t even enough spare blood in my body for embarrassment. “You’re sure this is okay?” I asked him. “Kyla said it’s really taboo.”

“I’d do anything for you,” he said simply.

His words swirled around in me like hot cocoa after a cold walk in the