𝙒𝙝𝙤 𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙤 𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙨?
Newly graduated accountant Cordelia Ashling has come to terms with the fact that her life is destined to be absolutely uneventful. That is until her parents gift her wi...
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I'm physically spent when Elias finally drinks his fill and he's taken me three more times on top of the tomb in that mausoleum. I stifle a giggle when I think about how my poor mother would react to know I've just fucked a vampire on top of someone's dead body in their final resting place. Or with her fascination with the paranormal, she might give me a high-five if I told her.
For fuck's sake, what is wrong with me?
"Cordelia?" Elias says from beside me. "You okay?"
I look over at him and he's peering down at me curiously like I'm finally cracking up. "Yeah, I was just thinking about where you chose to feed from me for the first time. In a mausoleum? Really?"
He chuckles. "Hey, you wanted to be chased. It was the best place available in the woods. We had to make do with what we had."
I smile and lean into him, and he brushes his fingers over the two puncture wounds on my neck. "I'm just teasing, herra. I wouldn't change anything about it. It was perfect."
He wraps his arm around my shoulder and kisses the crown of my head. "You are perfect, belle rêveur."
I open my mouth to respond but then I see a familiar scrap of fabric dangling from a tree branch directly in front of us and my world tilts on its axis.
My veil.
What Cane was holding when I saw him over Elias's shoulder right before he bit me.
Or at least, I think I did.
I step out of his hold and walk over toward the tree. "Hey, I meant to tell you, but I didn't really want to ruin the moment by mentioning it..."
"What?" he asks. "Wait, what is—"
I reach the tree, grab the veil, and turn back to walk toward him. "While you were feeding from me, I saw Ca—"
Thunk.
Instead of closing the distance between me and Elias, I meet what I can only describe as an invisible wall. "What the fuck?" I exclaim, trying to take another step but thwarted once again.
"Cordelia!" Elias exclaims, running over to me. "What the hell is going on?"
"I don't know!" I cry, beating my palms against the invisible wall, unable to move more than a few steps in any direction. The veil slips from my fingers onto the ground, and I feel my panic begin to rise. "Elias, help me!"
He pounds against the barrier, trying to break it with his fist to no avail.
"You won't be able to break it. Only I can release her from her prison."
Elias and I freeze and turn to watch Jolene step out of a thicket of trees. Her wings flutter behind her, ruffling the tulle and lace skirt of her pink ballgown. Like a cat stalking her prey, she walks around Elias and me. Her purple eyes don't leave us, narrowing to thin slits as she watches our every move.
