Chapter 21

His hands were still shaking. Getting home after what happened with Hook was a blur. Reece only had one thing on his mind, seeing Zamina. He’d showered, dressed, and grabbed his backpack for the night. He’d didn’t want to wake his brother up to get the keys to the car. Reece slid onto his motorcycle with the moon high in the sky and the cool fog of the evening hanging low and so close that, if he stood on his motorcycle, he could feel the dampness of the massive thick cover of the mist.

Gripping the handlebars on his motorcycle didn’t stop his hands from shaking. He wanted to throw up. Megan’s threat vibrated through his bones, but what he and Hook did, that could mean being torn apart by…werewolves? He could be hallucinating like his brother had since putting on that ring. Reece should never have touched it. Maybe touching the ring was causing him to have some type of trippy drug side effect. That ring must have had some LSD or some other kind of drug on it. That had to be the reason he thought Megan was some type of creature with beautiful yet grotesque features that melded together into a ‘joker’ like form when she got angry.

It was dark out, but the moon was bright and high in the sky. Reece was glad school was almost over and the coolness of the spring night was filled with the sweet scent of flowers and the sea. His first thought was Zamina and putting his arms around her. She’d soothe him even though he couldn’t tell her what had happened.

Reece pulled up in front of the small structure. The lights were on; she was already there. He was relieved that she was waiting for him.

The door was slightly ajar, so he pushed it open. Zamina was mixing up the special concoction she’d started making for him. It was a mix of grape soda, strawberries, and something else she wouldn’t tell him. But it was addictive and gave him energy for days.

“Hey, babe.” He smiled.

She jumped a little while stirring his drink. “Hey back at you.” She winked.

Reece hurried over to her and grabbed her around the waist. He lifted Zamina up, and she wrapped her legs above his waist. “I love you.” Reece slid his hands into her dark tresses.

Zamina sighed into his kiss and, after a moment, pulled back. “I made you a drink.”

“I know. I need it.” He let her slide down, his eyes never leaving her hungry gaze. He knew what she wanted, and until now, he never wondered about it. After what he’d seen earlier, her need to bite him, leave hickey marks all over his chest, down his back, made him think of Alanis and the wolves. Reece hesitated before taking the glass from her hands.

“It’s a special recipe passed down from my mother.” Zamina placed a finger on his chest. “You never hesitated to drink my concoctions before. Is it distasteful?”

“Not at all.” Reece shrugged and gulped it down. The taste exploded on his tongue. There was a liveliness to the drink that gave him a burst of euphoria as if he’d been drinking wine mixed with an energy drink.

“Did she make this for you?”

Zamina giggled. “No, she only made it for my father and my siblings. It’s like an aphrodisiac. She told me to only make it for the one I love but especially the one I want to be with forever.”

“If you want me forever, why don’t I know where you live?”

Megan’s nagging demand drummed in his head as he watched her play with her hair and cast her gaze to the floor.

“It’s dangerous for you to ever follow me there. There are people in my home that would kill you just for looking at me.”

“I’m willing to take the chance. Show me how to get to your home. I know you don’t have to drive there. So, either someone drops you off, or you walk here.”

“Reece, please. I don’t think it would be safe if I gave you that information. No one knows how to get to my home, not even Ora.”

“Then this is over.” Reece put down the glass. “You don’t love me. You are playing games still. You won’t acknowledge me in school. I don’t know where you live, and all we do is meet here to hook up. Why am I wasting my time?” He pushed past Zamina. It hurt him to threaten her like this, but he didn’t have a choice. Time was running out for him, for his family. If Megan didn’t have him killed, Brec and Volk’s people would. Reece didn’t even know if they’d survived the prank he and Hook pulled.

She grabbed him by the shirt. “Please! Don’t leave me.”

“I’m gone, and this time, lose my number, and forget my name.”

“Fine! I will take you there. But I need something from you when we return.”

Reece closed his eyes and swallowed. It hurt him to deceive her like this, but he needed to do this before Brec and his friends killed him. So, he stayed still and didn’t turn to look at her, which helped him to stay strong through this.

“Anything. I’ll give you whatever you want”—or what was left of him—“but you have to show me now. No more playing me off.”

“Let’s go.” Zamina grasped his hand and glanced back at him, worry marring her features, “When I take what I want, please promise me you will still look at me with love.”

Reece frowned. “If, after this, you can do the same for me.”

She nodded and opened the door. Zamina held his hand as they walked through the dark woods. Reece couldn’t see very far in front of them, but she moved as if the path was lit by the brightness of day. The low-hanging branches tore at his shirt, and she muttered for him to step over a rock or two as she led him. After what felt like they’d walked a few miles through dark, thick woods, a tightly enclosed area of trees and thorned bushes seemed to mark a dead end.

“This leads to nowhere.” Reece released her hand.

Zamina stood in front of him and rubbed one hand with the other, a nervous tick she had whenever she asked to bite him or give him a hickey. “There is only one way you can see the opening as I do.”

Reece observed her shivering form, downcast eyes, and his heart clenched in his chest. He could deny her nothing, really, even though he tried and fought, he loved her, and if she asked, he’d do it.

“What do you need?” His voice came out deep, raspy, and more desperate than he wanted.

“C-can you bite me as I do you when we are…when we…” Zamina glanced up at him.

“I told you I would never hurt you. Why would you want me to do that?” Honestly, Reece didn’t want the answer. He was disturbed that his mouth was watering to do so. What was wrong with him? He stepped close to her, so close they were nearly pressed against one another. He slid his hands into her thick hair and put his thumbs under her chin to lift her gaze to him. “Tell me why.”

“Because it’s in my blood that the concealed stairwell can’t be seen. It’s a family failsafe.”

“Is it the only way in? Can we not do it another way?”

She sighed. “There are other ways based on magic, but I can’t do magic and would never ask you to do this. You are sure you can love me forever?”

“I am sure I will.”

“Then do it. Bite me.” Her demand was low, needy, and forceful.

Without thought of what he was doing, Reece bit her, deeply. The taste of her blood was like the sweetest elixir he’d ever known. He opened his eyes with his teeth still firmly on her shoulder and her moans of pleasure ringing in his ear. The thick brush of the forest parted as if the trees and bushes had feet. The trees moved in a slow zigzag fashion, their roots pulling up from the ground as they trudged through the dirt, widening a path. A stairwell of rocks led up to a low-hanging, gray cloud. Reece knew then he’d made a mistake in biting Zamina. Something in him was changing, shifting, turning her blood into sustenance, and he didn’t know how to stop it.