Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 131708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
Her chest panged with sympathy. Maybe she should have recoiled in horror—it would certainly be understandable—but it was impossible when he looked so damn tense, clearly braced for revulsion and rejection.
To have to survive on the life-force of others … Ella couldn’t imagine what kind of existence that would be. She only knew she’d hate it.
Mia narrowed her eyes. “Do you generally kill those you feed from?”
It was Dice who answered, “Not unless it’s during battle.”
“I never heard any rumors about how the Fallen might drink blood,” Mia said. “Not even a few whispers about it. How are you forcing people to keep it quiet if you’re not killing those whose blood you take?”
“They don’t remember us taking it,” Dice explained. “We can rid them of the memory, and we heal the puncture wounds.”
“None of us like our new reality,” said Viper. “We were prepared for it. For the cravings, the bloodlust, the unquenchable hunger. But we quickly came to see that there is no real way to prepare yourself for this life. You’re a parasite, plain and simple.”
Ella’s heart ached for him. To consider yourself a parasite, to feel that you’d been reduced to such a creature … It would be a mindfuck for sure. He must have had one hell of a good reason to choose to fall.
“We make the best of it,” Viper continued. “It’s all we can do.”
“We also have ironclad rules,” Dice added. “We never make the feeding painful. We never drink from the young, the ill, or the weak. And we never take more blood than we need.”
“Unless, of course, there’s a battle—then all bets are off,” Viper tacked on.
As the puzzle pieces knitted together, Ella said, “The brunettes at the bar are people you feed from routinely, aren’t they? That’s why Prophet called them your regulars.”
“Yes,” Viper verified. “But let me be clear. I don’t fuck the people I feed from, Ella. I take their blood and walk away. That’s it.”
“Same goes for me,” Dice told Mia.
Ella rubbed at her face, considering all they’d told her. She was a little thrown by it. She recalled once catching a glimpse of one of the Black Saints in a shadowy alcove, his mouth on the neck of a woman—she’d thought they were just having a little sexual fumble, hadn’t once guessed there was more going on.
Though Viper had talked of how sharing his secrets presented risks to his brothers, she’d half-thought he might be making excuses. But no, it truly was risky. There had once been a few blood-drinking breeds of demon. Feeding on life had made them tremendously powerful. Other demonic breeds hadn’t liked that, so they’d wiped them out. They would do the same to the Fallen for certain.
“I see why you held this stuff back. If it got out, you’d all be hunted and killed.” It wasn’t only his brothers at risk, since … “Any members of the Fallen worldwide would be tracked and executed.”
“That’s the reason for the geas,” said Viper. “It’s not that I don’t trust you. I just needed the extra bit of insurance. No truth spell or hypnotic energy could force the information out of you—you’re literally unable to share it.”
“I actually feel better knowing that. I was put under a truth spell once. It was horrible.”
His expression went dark. “The fuck? Who did it?”
“It was a long time ago. I was just seventeen. My cousin thought it would be funny to embarrass me by making me blurt out all kinds of private stuff.” Secret crushes, her menstrual cycle, the joys of masturbation, what powers she possessed. Hearing herself so casually spill it all, completely helpless to stop it, had been an instance of pure horror. “It’s all right, I got my revenge.”
“I don’t doubt it.” He paused, his eyes drifting over her face. “You’re taking all of this better than I thought you would.”
Her brow furrowed. “Hey, look, it’s not exactly happy news. But it’s not your fault. Yes, you made the decision to fall, but you didn’t ask to be cursed. You don’t kill who you feed from. You don’t take the blood of those who are young or vulnerable. You make the best of a shitty situation. The only people I’m disgusted at are those who created the curse.”
Viper felt some of the tension drain from his muscles. She wasn’t running. Wasn’t judging. Wasn’t going to reject him.
His entity cast him an I told you so smirk, the smug fucker.
“What happens if you resist drinking blood?” Mia asked Dice, the threads of anger gone from her voice; replaced by compassion.
“We go into bloodlust. That happens, we’re isolated until it passes.” Dice held his hand out to Mia. “Can we go somewhere to talk? Alone?”
Mia’s mouth went tight, but then it relaxed. She placed her hand in his. “Okay.” She looked at Ella, her brow flicking up.