The red garment must be a nightdress of some kind, because nothing about this woman makes me believe she is the type to wear such an immodest garment outside her boudoir.
She tugs on the fabric to better cover herself and I realize I was staring. My cock stiffens as my cheeks heat. I’ve never felt desire for any female other than Ulla, and the idea that this human has reawakened that part of me too, is as unwelcome as my transition to a vampire.
Her cheeks have reddened, making me wonder if she too feels an attraction, although the flush could be from the heat of the fire, now burning strongly again.
“That must have been horrible,” she says. “Was the vampire controlling your movements?”
I nod. “The vampire was a witch.”
Her eyes close and her face twists in pain.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” She shakes her head as if trying to empty its contents. “Hearing your story brings back memories that’s all.”
“What kind of memories?”
“More like dreams.” She wraps the blanket tightly around her and plants a forced smile on her lips. She’s hiding something.
“If my story is bringing back memories for you, I’ll stop.” It felt good to tell my story, but I don’t want to cause her pain, and…a worse thought enters my mind.
Humans don’t belong down here.
Is she a witch? Are her memories rooted in guilt?
“I really want to hear your story,” she says. “If it’s not too painful to tell.”
I study her expression, her posture. Nothing reads deceit anymore. I may have misread that, and it’s clear we both have painful memories in our past.
Closing my eyes, I draw a deep breath and put myself back in that horrible time. “The cages were inside a cave we often used,” I tell her, seeing it clearly in front of my eyes.
“We were held for weeks, months. I could hear my clan members who hadn’t been captured outside the cave, calling for us.” My gut tightens. “They could detect our scents, our presence, our pain, but they couldn’t enter the cave. They couldn’t even find its entrance. It was like it had moved, or been shrouded from sight.”
Her eyes widen. “I’ve seen things like that.”
I pounce, pushing her back and landing on top of her in a single leap. “Witch!”
“No.” Her voice is faint; her eyes filled with terror. I knocked the wind out of her lungs, and the courage out of her heart.
“If you are not a witch, thenhowdo you know of such things?” The bear inside me scratches to release.
The bear wants to rip this woman to shreds. The only thing I hate worse than vampires are witches.
Is that why she’s down here? To taunt me? Cast her magic?
But I breathe slowly as I look into the terror and confusion in her eyes. Not everybody in human form is a bear hunter or vampire or witch.
“How do you know about magic?”
Her chest rises and falls quickly, her breathing out of control. I feel badly for scaring her, but don’t back off. I don’t dare. Not until I’m sure she won’t cast a spell upon me. Or hasn’t already.
“My mother,” she says, her voice faint. “She could…she coulddothings.”
“Youarea witch!” How could I have been such a fool, feeling sympathy and affection for a witch!
She shakes her head quickly, wincing as if the movement causes her pain, and then the scent of her blood fills my senses.
She’s bleeding. Her scent was already enticing when it was under her skin, but now I’m struggling withallthe parts of myself—even the part I most detest. The human in me feels a mixture of compassion and suspicion, the bear wants to kill, but the vampire—the vampire is desperate for her blood.
