CHAPTER SEVEN : PREFRENCES

Cassian POV

Jessa Malraux. Big boobs, nice ass, a bit thicker overall than I usually liked them, but still hot when she put any effort into her appearance.

I’d thought about fucking her in the past. Thought about seeing how hard she could grip me with those luscious thighs of hers. But she never seemed worth it, not when I knew people would wonder why I was stooping to an Omega like her.

So why the fuck was I here, my wolf snarling, my body brimming with aggression at the smell of her blood in the air? Why did I want to find whatever had hurt her and kill it?

“Can you see it?” Jessa asked, her voice rising to a high pitch. “Can you?”

I ground my teeth, my eyes locked on the vague, shadowy shape within the dark trees. With the eclipse hiding the moon, I could hardly see anything. The shadow could be an animal for all I knew—except for that suffocating energy coming off it. It was a sense I’d felt only once before, when I was in high school and some of the others dared Denric to go into the dark woods. I’d heard about it just in time to drag the crazy bastard out.

I’d felt this same energy then.

Jessa limped closer, moving as easily as if she could see. She didn’t even have a wolf. How could she see better than us in this dark place?

Unless it wasn’t dark for her. Unless she was more of a freak than any of us knew.

Which begged the question, why was I so goddamn protective of her? Why was my wolf ready to tear apart the forest and kill everything it found just to make sure she got out of there alive?

Denric being right by my side was even more surprising. I didn’t know about Jarek. He’d seemed agitated while we all accompanied Jessa out here in the first place. He didn’t like the whole sacrifice to begin with, so it wasn’t surprising that he’d come find her. Denric, though, hated her guts. Ever since she’d humiliated him as kids, he couldn’t stand her. So why was he here, too?

Maybe he followed to make sure I didn’t get myself killed.

I pushed the thought aside as the energy around us crackled with the same charge as a thunderstorm. I rolled to the balls of my feet, letting my wolf start to surface. The shadow flitted around, seemingly looking for an opening. The three of us stood in a protective circle around Jessa. Her hands were tight on Jarek’s arms, and a surge of jealousy shot through me.

Shaking it off, I focused on the shadow. Normally, I couldn’t see even that much of the spirits. This one must be extremely powerful. So why wasn’t it attacking? If it wanted Jessa, why not just shove us aside and take her?

A growl ripped through my throat as I realized that I wouldn’t stand much chance against this spirit, even in my wolf form.

“Spirit, we can see your presence,” Jarek said. His voice was steady and bold. Almost casual. “What’s your name?”

Name? What the fuck was he asking its name for? Spirits didn’t have names. Not ones they cared to share with us mortals, at least.

Jessa shuddered and gasped. “It says you can call it Vampire.”

“Vampire?” Denric snorted, shooting her a distrustful look. “Really?”

Jessa flinched back from him, and I growled, fighting the urge to shove Denric away. Seriously, what was this?

The shadow grew to a halt, facing Jarek. If I strained, I could catch a slight definition around it—the vague shape of some creature walking upright with arms and… a head? Maybe?

“Very well, Vampire. What do you want?” Jarek asked, still calm as you please.

A strange hissing, whispering noise filled the glade.

Jessa took a shuddering breath. “It says it wants blood.”

Fitting for a spirit that called itself Vampire. I scanned the darkness around the clearing, searching for any other shadows that might indicate other spirits. How were we going to fight it? There were some stories about wolves being able to tear spirits apart, but those were only stories. Or were they? If the thing wasn’t afraid of us, surely it would have attacked already.

“We can arrange that,” Jarek answered. “There are lots of beasts in the forest we can bring to you.”

The spirit barked out a sound that almost sounded like laughter.

“Human blood,” Jessa said. “Shifter blood. Not the blood of mindless beasts. The vampire can hunt. The vampire wants blood from shattered dreams.”

Shattered dreams?

“Are you some sort of sadist, Vampire?” I barked, unable to hold back the agitation. “Animals have dreams, too, you know. They mourn loss just as much as anyone.”

Denric shot me a surprised look as he shifted from foot to foot. Like me, he kept scanning the area for any other threat. No doubt he thought I was an idiot for standing here, shielding Jessa Malraux of all people.

Jessa’s trembling body moved closer to Denric as she flinched back from the spirit. It made another noise, sounding more insistent.

“What’s it saying?” Denric snapped.

“It says that you can… buy me from it,” Jessa murmured, sounding strangely reluctant. “But it doesn’t matter if I tell them, they won’t do it,” she said, a little louder.

The hopelessness in her voice made me cringe. She was so certain we’d let her die?

Why not? I thought. We sent her here in the first place. We already condemned her to death. Why would she believe we’d pay any price to save her now?

I crushed down the flare of guilt that went through me. It was the Elders, not us, that made the decision. And she could have done something. Argued. Fought more.

Really? When her own brother was more than willing to hand her over to the dark woods, I expected that she’d try to fight? She was probably holding onto the last shreds of dignity she had.