Free Everafter Series 1 - Everafter by Nell Stark, Trinity Tam Page A

the thirst eased. I drank and drank, tilting both my head and the mug to catch every last drop. When it was empty, I set it onto the table and licked my lips. My throat throbbed greedily. The fire was slightly muted, but still present.
    “More.” It was a demand, an imperative. My rational thought was bound and gagged. I channeled the will of the parasite.
    “Yes, more. You will always want more.” Helen’s long, low laugh began to wake me from the feeding-induced haze. The aftertaste lingered on my teeth, my tongue, a so-sweet hint of copper. “What you just consumed has barely taken the edge off. Cold, preserved blood is a poor substitute for that taken from the source.”
    I blinked and shook my head. Coming out of the thirst-induced fog felt like waking from a lucid dream. I looked at the mug on the table. I had drained it. The hairs on my neck stood straight up, but otherwise, my body refused to react. It was satisfied. Sort of. And my nausea had disappeared. “The source?”
    “Bagged blood will not sustain you,” Clavier said, stepping forward to dispose of the remnants of the bag. “Only blood taken directly from a live human is truly nourishing.”
    My brain rebelled again, and without the enticement of that rich aroma to distract me, the panic returned full force. “You want me to kill people? Just to…to get a fucking meal?” Oh God. How the hell had this happened? What was I going to do? I had to go to the police. To turn them in. And myself. I would starve without blood. The parasite would destroy me—I’d seen that for myself. But did that even matter, if I saved countless lives?
    “Of course not,” said Helen. Once again, her silky voice silenced my gibbering internal monologue. “We don’t countenance murder. It is quite possible to take enough blood for your needs without harming the donor.”
    My brain, racing a mile a minute, was on to her euphemisms. Suddenly, the bite mark on my side made perfect sense. He had infected me—bitten me to gorge himself and in the process, transmitted the parasite. “Taking blood” was violent. There weren’t any “donors”—only victims. Like I had been. But I wasn’t innocent anymore. Now I was part of the problem.
    My head was spinning. This was just too fucking much. I sank into one of the free chairs around the table.
    Vampires existed.
    And I was one of them.
    “Who are you?” I whispered.
    Helen rested her palm on my hand before lightly brushing my knuckles with her crimson-tipped fingers. The scrape of her nails against my skin sent shivers up my spine. “We call ourselves the Consortium,” she said. “Here in the City, we have many resources. All of them will be at your disposal.” She paused in her relentless stroking to squeeze my hand. “You deserve a full explanation, Valentine. And you will get one.”
    Alexa. The thought pierced through my anxious confusion and I looked down at my watch. I needed to get home to her. But what the hell was I going to tell her? Would she believe me? Would she be afraid? Would she leave me?
    “Alexa…my girlfriend will start to worry,” I managed to say. “I have to figure out how to—to tell her about…this.” I rubbed at my temples. How the fuck was I going to do this? “Can I come back? For the explanation?”
    Helen’s fingertips migrated to my chin. She raised my head so that I was forced to meet her gaze. Eternal, she had said. I wondered how old she was, and shivered.
    And then she spoke the most terrifying words that I could imagine.
    “You must realize, Valentine: Alexa is in danger. From you.”

Chapter Six
     
    The car moved slowly down Second Avenue, caught in rush hour traffic. I stared out the window at the lights of St. Mark’s, winking cheerfully at me in the gathering dusk. Almost home. I wanted to beg the driver to turn around. I couldn’t do this. But I had to. I had to.
    My teeth sank through the layers of her skin, cutting through the vessels below. She screamed,