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"Oh, God, Ahna You s"

"That’s how it is"

"I can’t stopht in the place where I had bitten hi my face away

With a tortured breath, he bent overover an as a kiss, tender and warm, and then, at the last possible moment, there were teeth One sharp nip, and his lips settled around entler than I had expected, entler than I could have been, than I had been His teeth weren’t yet as sharp as mine

His hand came up to stroke my face and draw my hair back, and it washt him off when he was still so new and weak

It was a tender time, and the least little mistake could have been the end of either of us I felt every heartbeat, every pulittered init soh the thinnest skin of my body

And then it hit me, for one perfect, clear moment

This must be what it felt like to be a Pinky To spend your life hiding your true desires and feelings, feigning politeness andfor the moment when your neck either bent for your ers For the first time in my entire life, ever, I realized that the threat of death fro, that I wasn’t invincible The euphoria turned into panic

I started flailing and bucking, and Casper’s handsdown ht held ainst s I whimpered softly, but I had no hope that he heard me

"Casper?" I rasped, but he didn’t respond

I couldn’tMy thoughts went back to the book I had found under his bed, long before I knew him and even before I learned that the sentiments weren’t his own But I couldn’t remember the words written there, only scribbles and scratches I was getting weaker and weaker, ish My mouth opened and closed wordlessly, until I finally recalled the first sound I had heard from him, even before I had seen hih asmade no sense And yet it was there in my subconscious, as if it had become a part of me and I couldn’t quite escape it I told hiot to the part about skin, he pulled back, and I felt his breath whistle cold over the rip in my throat

"Ahna? What?"

Heit to my neck and ear He had fed like a child, fast and otten on the floor I tried to move ing

"What do I do? Oh, God, Ahna I can’t believe Iwhat do I do?"

I moaned and rolled my eyes toward the scrap of paper that had fallen from my hand to the floor He didn’t understand at first, but then he picked it up and scanned it I knew he’d found the right part when he sighed and said, "Is there no end to it?"

In response, Ifocused on his wrist, where the tiny blue veins fluttered like leaves in a chill auturimaced and looked at his arm

"I don’t think I can I mean, not my wrist Try this"

He picked me up, one arm under hed no more than an empty dress, and he carried me over to the wall and slid down until he sat with his back against a pillow My mouth opened and closed uselessly, inches away fro olden skin underneath

"Can you bite?" he asked "Are you strong enough?"

"Closer," I ed, I used every bit of strength I had to scrape hih to start a dribble of red As full as he was, it didn’t takeWithin h to wrap my arms around his neck and latch on for real The hter he held me But this ti before there was any danger to hitaken over by the beast, especially when on the verge of draining But it had always been i my people to show control and restraint whenever possible My hair was plastered to the nape of ht towels and rose water," I said, suddenly self-conscious "For after"

His face was dark, shadoith a beard and do like crushed sapphires "How er?" he whispered "How much more?"

"Until it’s done" I looked hie of his arry?"

"It’s the strangest hunger I’ve ever felt Not in my stomach"

"More like in your heart?"