Thirsty

*Elowen*

I drifted in and out of consciousness, vaguely aware of voices around me—Kaius, Frost, their words blending together. The pain had subsided, replaced by a strange numbness that was almost worse. At least pain meant I was still alive.

"You are back." I forced my eyes open to find Kaius sitting beside my bed, his expression lightening with relief.

"I am; Kieran will be here soon, he says she could help," he replied, his voice gentle.

My throat burned with a thirst no water could quench. I'd never felt anything like it before—a desperate, consuming need that made my entire body ache. Without thinking, I reached for Kaius's hand, my fingers closing around his wrist where I could feel his pulse throbbing beneath my touch.

The steady rhythm called to me, igniting a hunger that had nothing to do with food and everything to do with what flowed through his veins.

"Elowen, are you alright?" Concern clouded his features as he studied my face.

I couldn't answer, transfixed by the blue veins visible beneath the skin of his wrist. My mouth watered, teeth aching with a need I didn't understand.

"Look at me," he urged, freeing his hand to cup my face. "Breathe in and breathe out very slowly."

I forced myself to meet his gaze, struggling to control the strange hunger rising within me. "I'm fine, thank you," I lied, my voice sounding foreign to my own ears.

"I'll get you something to eat," he said, starting to rise.

Panic surged through me at the thought of him leaving. "No, please don't leave me." I clutched at his arm, my grip stronger than I'd intended.

"I am here, always." He settled back into the chair, his thumb stroking my cheek in a gesture meant to be comforting.

All I could focus on was the scent of him—not his usual cologne or the pine-and-winter smell that was distinctly Kaius, but something deeper, richer. The scent of his blood, calling to me.

"Kiss me." The words escaped before I could stop them, a desperate attempt to get closer to what I truly craved.

Surprise flickered across his face, followed by a wary hesitation. But when I tugged him closer, he didn't resist, leaning down to press his lips to mine.

The kiss was tender at first, his mouth gentle against mine. But the proximity to what I truly wanted drove me wild with need. I deepened the kiss, my tongue exploring his mouth until I found what I was looking for—the sharp edge of my teeth against his lower lip.

I bit down, not hard enough to cause serious injury but enough to break the skin. The taste of his blood exploded across my tongue, rich and metallic and impossibly satisfying. A moan escaped me as I sucked at the wound, drinking in the essence of him.

Kaius made a sound—not protest but something closer to pleasure, his arms tightening around me as I drank. The taste was intoxicating, better than anything I'd ever experienced, filling me with a strength and vitality I'd thought lost forever.

"What the hell?" Frost's voice broke through my blood-induced haze.

I was vaguely aware of hands gripping my shoulders, pulling me away from Kaius with enough force to break our connection. I hissed—actually hissed—in frustration, instinctively fighting against whoever had interrupted my feeding.

"What are you doing? Let her go," Kaius demanded, reaching for me.

"She was drinking your blood," Frost replied, keeping a firm grip on my shoulders as I struggled.

"And it's bad because?" Kaius touched his lip, looking at the blood on his fingertips with more curiosity than alarm.

"She wasn't doing this for fun; she looked starved and hungry. Take a look at those teeth," Frost said, his voice tense.

For the first time, I became fully aware of the change in my mouth—my canines had elongated, sharpening to points designed for puncturing flesh. I raised a trembling hand to my lips, feeling the unfamiliar protrusions with growing horror.

Reality crashed back, the blood-hunger receding enough for me to realize what I'd done. "I'm sorry... I couldn't stop; I'm so sorry." Shame and confusion overwhelmed me, tears pricking at my eyes.

"It's fine." Kaius wiped the remaining blood from his lip, which was already healing. "You should eat. Frost, I need to talk to you."

As they stepped outside, I stumbled to the small bathroom attached to my room, needing to see what else had changed about me. The woman in the mirror was a ghastly caricature—skin pale as moonlight, eyes sunken with dark circles beneath them, cheekbones sharp with sudden weight loss. But most shocking was my abdomen, grotesquely swollen against my otherwise emaciated frame.

I pressed my hand against the distended flesh, feeling movement within—not the gentle flutter of a baby but something more alien, more predatory. Whatever was growing inside me was changing me, transforming me into something I didn't recognize.

The thirst was still there, a constant burn in the back of my throat. Kaius's blood had taken the edge off, but already the hunger was returning. How long before I attacked someone else? How long before I lost control completely?

I couldn't stay here, couldn't risk hurting anyone else. Especially not Kaius, who might let me drain him dry if I asked—all out of some misplaced sense of responsibility, or worse, love.

A plan formed in my mind, desperate and perhaps foolish, but necessary. I needed to get away, to figure out what was happening to me before I hurt someone I cared about.

The window was small but large enough for me to squeeze through. My new thinness made it easier than it should have been. I landed in the soft grass below with barely a sound, my body moving with a grace and strength that belied its weakened appearance.

An urge propelled me toward the forest again. As always, it offered a refuge, a path of escape. My feet carried me, unthinking, to a small creek where the water ran clear and musical. Kneeling by its edge, I gazed at my haggard face. The sound of the creek seemed to unlock something inside me, and I started to cry.