They Both Wanted Me

med of

nd hearths and the hearts of stars. It burned behind my eyes, warm and golden,

es around her eyes, the silver in her hair, the way her hands bore the scars

aid. The awakening. I can

now what t

hat hunger that isn't quite hunger. You've felt it your whole life and called it somethin

ds, too aware of emotions that weren't mine, too prone to knowing things I shouldn't kn

. Both of them. And soon, others will come-those who want

dy h

. The power is inside you. It's been inside y

't kno

To be quiet. To take up less space. That's what the human world does to girls like you-teaches them to dim their own light. But you're

uched my chest, right

ke

d in sweat, the pendant

my chest, staring at me with the profound judgment only c

t it

s-with something else. Something new. I could feel my own heartbeat like a drum, could sense th

the

sounds more distinct. I could hear my neighbor three floors up making coffee. Could smell the bacon frying in the diner two b

. It was

ely-I pushed. Pushed the sensations away, pushed them back, p

my eyes again,

ing my whole life with muted senses, with a volume knob turned way down, and I

ewhere deep inside, that coil of po

one b

You're awake.

feel it. We were bound now

s happeni

s sensory-you'll hear, see, smell everything within a certain radius.

do I con

a conversation for t

Wh

brary. Your lib

he place where I spent forty hours a week reshelving books an

y the

't enter it without invitation. Because you're comfortab

in bed, shaking, and wondered

d like paper and d

this time of morning-just me, the books, and the faint hum of the ancient heating system. I w

ped. S

8:47 AM,

my newly awakened senses like a brand. I turned, and there he was. Caspian, standing in t

ame,"

ook up from the book. "I don'

ysterious, brooding vampire t

controlling it better than I expected. Most hybrids spend their first few days

I thought I was

ut history. Rare. Powerful. Short-lived, usually. The vampire clans and wo

fort

connecting us, warm despite his coldness. "I do truth. And the truth is, you

hy

in his irises. "Because of me. Because of the bond. My presence, my age, my power-it's acting

d have put distance between us. I

that

erous. For me?" Something flickered in his eyes-hung

that need to be closer. It wasn't just the bond. It was him. His presence. His intensit

I whispered. "That the bond would m

s voice had dropped, gone lower, rougher. "Vampire bon

gnize

away, and touched the pendant at my throat. His

made me feel alive. Recognize that I would burn this city to the grou

low. This ancient, powerful creature-te

spi

e here for that. I came here to teach you control, because if you don't learn, t

k, and the mom

el the world around you. Every sound, every smell

t three floors up, the scurry of mice in the walls, the distant traffic,

wledge it. And then-one by one-let them go. The sounds you don't n

t the world kept rushing

he bond. A steadying presence, cold and calm,

me h

t. Didn't hesitate.

de me-not just physically, but inside my head, showing me how to build walls, how

ose enough that I could count his eyelashes. Close e

said softly. "You'

e in m

oth ways. You could enter my mind too, if yo

feel the truth of it-that door, slight

find?" I asked

the last word. Actually cracked. "I'm not a good man, Lena. I've done things that would make you run screaming.

built my walls higher, protected myself from this an

ched up and to

e. His skin was cold beneath my fingers, smooth as marble, but beneath i

d my chest, over my heart. "I don't know if that's the bond or s

y red, like embers catch

y. But I

er. The library hummed around us. Somewhere,

covered mine where it re

r bange

garet, my coworker, stood in the entrance with an

came to drop off these donations and-" She stopped, staring at Caspian. At his cl

something passed between us-a promise, a warning, a qu

oor, leaving me flushed and flustered and

ice was carefully neu

friend. He was r

Well, your 'friend' is gorgeous in a 'I might murde

ot a mu

n't kno

asn't

trons, answered phones, and tried very hard not to think about a

e couple arguing three floors up, the dog sleeping in that apartment, the teenager playing video ga

had give

ed my buildi

on my fro

't slept. His clothes were rumpled, his hair uncombed, and whe

en

few feet away. "What

g a wild animal. "This morning. Something changed. Your presence

m f

tly. "I can smell him on you. The

n in his voice. Just s

the sensory overload. My awakening-it'

that-accelerate things. It's part of why they're so

e help

mething. "I'm glad. Whatever else he i

a who looked at me like I was something p

ut your past. About who hid you, and why." He reached into his pock

hoto with tr

wrapped in white, and behind her stood two men. One I recognized immediately: a

an made my

Standing on the other side of the woman, one han

tly. "And that baby-" He pointed to

orld

ispered. "They both

hat's why they're so desperate now, Lena. Not just because of what you are. B

men flanking my mother, at the baby w

led her?

nt those wolves after you. The same person who's been hunting hybrids for centuries." He met my eyes