ANMELDENHis pain squeezes my chest. “I don’t want you to . . . If when you look at me you see Constantine, I don’t want you to— ”“Anna.” He shakes his head. “When I say that I would do it all over again, I also mean that I would go through what he did all over again. If it brought me to you.”It’s a lovely thought: that the mistakes of our parents could have as little impact on our relationship as a butterfly flapping its wings. That us is a choice we can make. That we might not be constantly running out of time. Too lovely, maybe.I lift my fists. “Right or left?”He snorts. “Fuck this losing game.”“Do you really want to renounce one of two prizes, both of inestimable cash value— ”He takes my left fist, gently peels my fingers back, and holds my eyes as he brings my palm to his mouth and—“Ouch.”“It’s what you get.” His lips brush against the soft bite he left there. I try not to shiver as he slides lower, to the mark on my inner wrist. His eyes do odd things as he inhales deeply.“Kill
SHOWERING FEELS LIKE A THOUSAND FOUNTAIN PENS SCRAPING my body head to toe, but smelling like blood, grime, and my deranged aunt’s homemade tea is worse than the pain, so I grit my teeth and do it anyway.Heat, I’m starting to realize, might not be a misnomer. I put on a sleeveless top and shorts, sweating despite the cool November air. When I walk into the living room, Zane is facing away from me, talking on the phone about winning friends and influencing people. Regular Alpha stuff.I lean against the doorway, eager to observe him, unobserved, for a moment. The strain in his broad shoulders constricts my chest. But he must pick up my scent, because he spins around to face me, and it feels a little like his senses are sloping the room, giving him no choice but to roll toward me, and—The phone slips out of his hand and thuds against the wooden floor. Several pieces break off and skitter in every direction, but he doesn’t even glance at them.“I think you dropped your phone?” I say, p
“It could make your Heat last longer or be more painful. Worse, it could inflict long-term damage to your reproductive system.”“What if I’m willing to take the risk?”“Anna.” She pins my eyes with hers. Listen carefully, they say. Because I’m in charge. In her own way, she’s as scary as Zane. Scarier. “No self-respecting healthcare professional will give you that shot right now. What I can give you, however”— she turns to her bag and pulls out a small packet— “is this.”It’s so unsubstantial, as I hold it up to the light, I wonder if she’s joking. “What is it?”“Contraceptive pills.”I blink. “What? I can’t even . .“We don’t know that for sure. These will prevent pregnancy. If you would like that, take them after your Heat is over.”“How will I know— when is the Heat over?”“You’ll know, believe me.”I don’t want to believe her. Or to know. “Why would I need contraceptives? Is there some kind of asexual reproduction . . . I can’t get pregnant just by having a Heat, right?”She stand
WHEN I OPEN MY EYES AGAIN, IT’S DARK. THE MIDLEVEL HEADACHE that has been my loyal golden retriever companion is finally gone. In its stead, a dragon-worthy migraine pummels at my temples, clear proof that I’m dead and my corpse was sold to med students for skull-trepanning practice.And yet.If I were waking up in any other angle of the observable universe, I’d be rolling off the bed and lurching toward the toilet, ready to vomit my stomach lining. But whoever brought me here had the good foresight to deposit me in the only place where I’m not constantly surrounded by hostile, belly-churning stimuli.Zane’s room.The scent of him has a morphine-like effect on me. I bury my face in the pillow, take several deep, lung-filling breaths, and use the bathroom. On my way to the living room, I make a pit stop on the bed, inhale a few more times, and walk down the hallway feeling like new.I expect— no, I want to find Zane alone. Instead, I count six more people, maxing out every sittable s
“How angry are you, Anna?” Irene asks. “At this man who murdered your family in cold blood? He took away your childhood and your home and didn’t even stick around long enough to make sure that you were taken care of. If he hadn’t killed Fiona, the three of us could have been together. There would have been no orphanage. No Vampyres. No Northwest. You could have been happy. But Zane took that away from you. So let me ask you one more time . . . How angry are you?”“I’m not— ” I start, shaking my head— and then stop.Slowly, I let my eyes settle on Zane. His quiet expression betrays none of the turmoil I’m feeling. How angry am I?A lot. A lot.“Here.” The knife makes its way into my hand, already unfolded. “This man was angry, and he hurt you and your family. Now that you are angry, what will you do, Eva?”This is a dream. A nightmare. I can’t be awake as I clutch the plastic handle and walk around Irene’s chair, dazed but determined. But I know what I must do.I know that it’s right.
IHOLD MY BREATH. STAY PERFECTLY STILL. MY MUSCLES COIL, AS if to keep my body from breaking open, stop my organs and blood from pouring onto the floor.Then Zane says, “I’ve been suspecting it for a few days,” and I fall apart.“What?” I sound reedy.Maybe that’s why Zane ignores my question. Doesn’t look at me. Continues his conversation with Irene, composed, detached, like the topic is only mildly diverting. Broken boilers. The weather. Him, killing my mother.“And yet you didn’t tell her. How self-serving of you.”“I wanted to be certain, before informing her that one or more of her parents were high-profile figures in a cult with a sky-high body count.”Irene sneers. “Now you know for sure.” She points at me with a flourish. “Tell her what happened that night. The Favored would like to know, too, wouldn’t we, friends? All we had to go by were the rotting corpses.”“Very well.” Zane takes a deep breath. Turns to me. Lifts his bound hands onto the table, leaning over his elbows, and
“You are so beautiful,” he murmurs into my temple.“I thought so since they gave me that first picture of you. You came walking down the aisle, and I was afraid to look. I hadn’t even smelled you yet, and I already couldn’t stop myself from staring.”A stray notion crosses my mind, sweet and terrif
He tilts his head, curious and wolflike, and hums for me to continue.“Anna was a lot of things, but computer savvy wasn’t one of them. Nothing as tragic as you”—I power through Lucien’s glare—“but if I wasn’t able to find traces of Daisy while snooping around, it’s very unlikely she came across it
The next few hours are sheer, concentrated agony.The mere act of breathing is an ordeal. My stomach hurts like it’s about to digest itself, bruised from the inside out by a thousand wild creatures who are having way too much fun carving their name in its lining with a rusty knife.There are severa
It’s a messy kiss. Instantly, stunningly good. I’m cautious, afraid I’ll hurt him, but Lucien’s the unrestrained one. Feral.He’s the one who moves everything along, who nibbles and sucks and bruises. He uses his thumb to tilt my jaw upward, gripping my neck with his large palm once he’s satisfied







