Anomaly (Causal Enchantment #4)(9)

I didn’t hear the rest of the argument as Caden led me in the direction that Bishop and Fiona had disappeared.

*

“Nothing at all? Still?” Caden yelled over the generator, its loud roar amplified by the long, narrow tunnel. Dark and dank, it smelled of cold earth and stale air. Far from comfortable.

Caden’s and Amelie’s intense gazes drilled into me. Waiting for my reaction. For my pupils to dilate, for the whites of my eyes to turn crimson, for the veins to throb.

For the eyes of a ravenous vampire to appear.

I shrugged, more concerned about what had happened to my friend and the delicate Veronique. The last time I saw them, upon awakening, there were smiles and an exchange of words and affectionate touches. Now the two sat hunched over their small coolers like coyotes over a corpse, their backs to me, empty medical bags tossed haphazardly to the ground. I couldn’t see their faces but I heard the small grunts and groans.

One word replayed in my head: feral.

It wasn’t a state I ever wanted to be seen in.

“I can smell it.” I inhaled as if to make my point. “It smells like …” Human blood certainly hadn’t had a scent before. Now, it smelled deliciously sweet. There was no mistaking a burning desire growing in the pit of my body. If I were human, perhaps it would inspire hunger pangs. “… like something I’d like.”

“Something you’d like?” Amelie’s springy blond curls bounced as she cocked her head, her emerald-green eyes dissecting me. Apparently there was something wrong with me, though I wasn’t too upset about it. In fact, if anything, I was relieved. Elated!

Then again, if I wasn’t a blood-crazed fiend by now, then what was I? Had the Fates found a way to perverse things yet again?

Amelie thrust a bag into my hands. She’d always been the exuberant one of the bunch. “Maybe you just need to taste it for the first time,” she said, her voice raspy, goading me like a puppy. “Go on … try it!”

Caden’s hand held mine. “Maybe we should talk to Sofie about your … differences first.”

My fingers gently squeezed the bag of red liquid. And then I looked at Veronique and Julian again. If I tried the blood, would I morph into a feral creature with the first taste? “How long will they be like that?”

Amelie’s eyes followed mine. “It should ease up after a few days, but …” Her face fell. “I miss him already.”

“They’ll be fine soon,” Caden said, his hand rubbing gently against the small of my back. “It’s a blink in our time, really.” I knew what he was really telling me. It’s not forever. I would be fine. Eventually.

I gritted my teeth with the thought of Caden seeing me with those eyes, the bag in my hand suddenly feeling like a lead weight. I’d be hideous. But, there was no point in stalling this any longer.

Shaking my head, I muttered, “Let’s not bug Sofie.” With everything else she had on her plate? She worried more than any biological mother ever could. “I want to get this over with.” My attention was on the red bag but I didn’t miss the sharp look between Caden and Amelie. I was probably the first reluctant fledgling in all of vampire history. I was probably also the first one to question how gross this might taste. “How do I open it?”

Amelie smirked. “Just bite it.”

“But I don’t—”

“Just bite it!”

Trusting my friend—a seven-hundred and fifty-odd-year-old vampire who knew more about this than I obviously did—I held the bag to my open mouth. With wary eyes on Caden, and a glib mumble of, “See you in a few days,” I sunk my teeth in, anticipating resistance.

My teeth sliced through the thick plastic and liquid burst out unexpectedly, rushing into my mouth, a small amount trickling down along my chin. Trying to stem the sudden flow, I took several long drags of the sweet liquid. It was like nothing I’d expected and nothing I could describe. It reminded me of a high-quality maple syrup, but without the sickly sugariness. I certainly couldn’t guzzle a bottle of maple syrup and yet here I was, draining the bag with little effort, my mental conflict dissolving as I felt the thick fluid flow down my throat into … where? How did this new body of mine process it?

Within seconds, my muscles felt stronger, my mind felt more alert. I felt more alive.

When nothing but a flimsy pouch remained, I pulled it away from my mouth.

“So?” Caden’s brow furrowed deeply. “How do you feel?”

“Fine. Great, I guess. Stronger?”

“Here.” Amelie tossed me another bag. It came fast and to the far left and yet all I had to do was think about catching it and it was in my hand. I drained four more bags in under five minutes and waved Amelie away when she moved to toss me a sixth, earning a hard look from her.

“What? I’ve had enough.” I wiped the blood from my chin.

Amelie and her brother exchanged another raised stare. One that finally spiked my irritation.

“Would you two stop doing that? I get it. I’m not normal! But you’re starting to freak me out!”

Amelie gestured at Veronique and Julian. “Those two haven’t so much as looked up to acknowledge you since you stepped in here, and yet you just waved this away with a ‘no thanks’?” Her ringlets whipped through the air as her head spun back, scowling. “And your eyes! They didn’t change.”