What secret is Osiah hiding? And will he be able to feed in time before the craze takes over?
I’ve spent hours weeping despite my best efforts to stop. Just knowing I’m crying over a guy has left me feeling pathetic, and that’s not something I’ve ever felt before and I hate it. It’s like it says in that Lee Marvin song, ‘mud can make you prisoner, and the plains can bake you dry. Snow can burn your eyes, but only people make you cry.’ What’s worse is I can’t shake these feelings in the back of my mind. I’m certain they’re not mine, which can only mean they belong to Osiah. I feel rage and a kind of fog. There’s something behind the fog but I just can’t pick up what it is, but it’s dark and if I’m honest, scares me a little bit. I would know for certain what it was if our bond was completed but Osiah made it clear that won’t be happening, not that he bothered to tell me why. I finally decide I’m done crying over him and jump in the shower in hopes I can clean off the feeling of rejection that is seeping into my skin like poison. I turn up the heat in the shower and will the s
“And this has been happening every night?” Ceren asks in concern. I take a sip of my Turkish coffee and bite into some freshly baked bread with sweet butter on top and swallow before I speak. “Not every night, but it has been getting more frequent.” “And you believe mother knows what’s going on?” “She has to. She sounded afraid for me, either because she didn’t see this coming, or she has seen something terrible happening to me. I don’t know which,” I shrug. “You’re taking this awful well,” says Ceren sceptically. “Hardly. I just acknowledge that it is happening.” I sit back in my chair, leaning my head back and let the afternoon sun warm my skin. We’ve been sitting at one of the dining spots in the garden so I could fill Ceren in on all the latest drama that has unfolded in my life recently. Including last night’s events. “But you said Osiah somehow shielded you last night. Any idea how he did that?” she asks curiously. I shake my head, “Not a clue. I would have asked him, but
Time seems to be standing still. I don’t know if it’s been hours or minutes sitting in the infirmary. It doesn’t even seem to matter. I can hear the movement and conversations of my sisters, but I can’t make out the words. I can hear the sounds of sobbing as my sisters grieve our loss, but the loudest cries come from Aulen. She hasn’t stopped wailing since I brought Nuray’s body into the infirmary. She keeps trying to heal her, but healing the dead is beyond her abilities. I just continue to sit by the bed holding Nuray’s hand in mine, and as time goes on her hand grows colder and colder, but I can’t let go. She was always there for me; I can’t leave her now. I won’t abandon her like that. “There. Took some time but she’s completely healed now,” says Arthwin. I breathe a sigh of relief knowing my sister Ece will be okay, but the pain in my heart doesn’t go away. If I had gotten there sooner, Nuray might still be alive. “Thank you, Arthwin,” says Feray. “Any idea what did this?” he
With slow, calculated movements I get myself dressed for Nuray’s funeral. Two words I never imagined I would ever say. We’ve hosted funerals at the Kartheca in the past, but never for one of my own sisters. I know mother will be there. Though we haven’t seen or spoken to her I just know inside that she will be there to oversee it. She may not be in our life that often, but she has loved and cared for each of us since the day she brought us into this world. I don’t have to see her to know she’s grieving too. I step into my gown and pull the material up my body and slide my arms through the shoulders of the gown. I untuck my hair as the collar of the dress brushes against my neck. “Let me help,” Osiah gently offers. I listen as he walks up behind me and gingerly pulls the zip up the back of my gown. “You look beautiful,” he says, squeezing my shoulders. “I don’t think I’m supposed to look beautiful for a funeral,” I say sombrely. “You’ll always look beautiful to me,” he promises, pl
We have all tried to resume normal life at the Kartheca. Many of us are diving into our duties to distract us from the emptiness left by Nuray’s passing. Osiah comes and goes, though I still don’t know where he vanishes off to. I really should ask, but I keep putting it off. I’ve just finished my twelve-hour shift guarding the Orraikam and to say it was the longest 12 hours of my life is an understatement. Standing in the chamber where Nuray died and Ece clung to life is painful, to say the least, so I’m glad to be out of there. I guess I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going because suddenly I’m colliding with a soft but sturdy body. “Je suis désolé!” cries a known French accent. I look up to see the familiar ivory aura with a dusting of French violet. “Manon,” I say in surprise, “What are you doing here?” I ask. “I summoned her,” says Arthwin, who I only just noticed standing beside Manon. “Yes, Arthwin told me that he and Aulen are certain that it was Isolde who broke in
The thunderous sound of a heart beating has my eyes snapping open and I can feel my irises burning bright. Tunnel vision is setting in and on instinct, all ten canines take form in my mouth. I turn my head and look down at the glittering beauty in my arms; a distant voice in my head telling me not to touch her, but it’s drowned out as I watch the movement of the pulse in her neck. I can hear the blood moving through her body and smell the way it sweetens the perfume of her scent. My vision turns into a red haze, and I find myself leaning in to brush my nose against her neck and inhale her scent deep into my lungs. The moment I feel the burn of her skin against mine it snaps some sense into me, just enough to make me leap out of bed. I have to get far away from Yildiz and her sisters. With so many blood banks destroyed and me not willing to feed on a living soul, I’ve gone too long without blood and now it’s the threads of the bond tying me to Yildiz that are the only thing allowing me
In a flash, I lift Yildiz and swing her around and feel my heart thump in my chest at the sound of her giggle. It’s even more glorious than the sound of all the bleeding hearts in the world. I set her down and push her hair back as I look in her golden eyes as she smiles up at me. “You are truly the most magnificent being I have met. What you did was so stupid and so dangerous,” I say shaking my head. “And I would do it again. I’m nothing without you, Osiah. I can’t lose you, not now, not ever. That includes losing you to your blood craze. If I have to feed you my blood every time it comes on then I’ll do it, I have plenty to spare. No more running, okay?” she says, holding my face in her hands. I smile a bright smile down at her, “No more running, Firefly. I give you my word.” “Why do you call me ‘firefly’?” she asks curiously. “Because you look like one to me. This beautiful ball of light glittering in my darkness,” I answer as I caress her cheek. She smiles wide, “I like that.
My peaceful sleep is disturbed for the second time when I suddenly feel a new sanguidae thread snapping into place. I bite back the anger it causes me to know another person has been inflicted with this curse, but there’s nothing I can do. What’s done is done and it can’t be undone. All I can do now is find them and get them some help.As I slowly sit up trying not to disturb Yildiz, I look around to find we are sprawled out in a very unusual position, and I have no idea how we got here. We’re just a tangled mass of body parts and I’m not entirely sure where she ends, and I begin. I smile down at my sleeping beauty and gently brush a few stray hairs from her face. She hasn’t had a nightmare since I’ve been spending my nights with her. Partly because I have been keeping her shielded from that bastard trying to get into her head. She’s had enough to deal with, with the passing of her sister. The last thing she needs is his sick games.Even without the nightmares, since Nuray died there