Chapter 80 - An Unraveling

Chapter 80 - An Unraveling

Erica's POV

Sleep wouldn't come.

I lay in Edward's bed, his bed, in his private room, surrounded by the scent of old books and something darker, something that reminded me of midnight and blood, and stared at the ornate ceiling while my body hummed with a restless energy that had nothing to do with exhaustion.

Everything that had happened felt like a fever dream. Elijah on the hospital bed, rough and desperate, his hands bruising my hips as he'd taken me over and over, that final bite on my shoulder still throbbing. Then Edward in the shower, methodical and possessive, washing Elijah away while promising filthy things that made my core clench even now.

My thighs pressed together involuntarily. I should be sore. I should be exhausted. I'd been fucked senseless by two supernatural creatures in the span of an hour, and yet my body was “hungry”. Aching. Like I hadn't been touched at all.

What the hell was wrong with me?

I turned my head on the pillow to look at Edward beside me. He lay on his back, perfectly still in that unnerving way vampires had when they truly slept. No rise and fall of chest. No soft breathing. Just marble-perfect features relaxed in something that looked like death.

I'd let him carry me here. Let him tuck me into his bed like I belonged there. And some traitorous part of me had wanted to belong there, just like another part had wanted to stay knotted to Elijah until the nurses physically separated us.

I want them both.

The thought made my stomach twist with guilt and arousal in equal measure. What kind of person wanted two men like this? What kind of omega couldn't choose?

But it was more than just wanting. It was a need. Raw and physical and growing stronger by the minute. My skin felt too tight. My pulse thrummed between my legs. Just thinking about Elijah's knot, about Edward's fingers, about the promise of both of them together made my breath quicken.

This wasn't normal. This wasn't just attraction or even the heightened arousal that came with being near an alpha or a vampire. This was something else. Something wrong.

The curse.

The word settled in my mind like ice water. My mark was burned out, dormant and scarred across my wrist, but the curse itself was still active. Still counting down to my twenty-first birthday. Still binding me to both wolf and vampire across lifetimes.

What if this is part of it?

I sat up slowly, careful not to disturb the mattress. Edward didn't move. Didn't even twitch. Whatever rest vampires took, it was deep.

I needed answers. I needed to understand what was happening to my body before I did something stupid. Before this hunger drove me to crawl back to Elijah's room or wake Edward with my hands and mouth and beg him to fuck me until I couldn't think anymore.

Only two people could explain this. Two people who understood curses and omega magic and the supernatural bonds that tied creatures together.

Professor Caroline. And Grandma.

Well, Grandma isn't here, which was odd considering the fact that I just lost my powers. The other time Lucien attacked she came in the dead of night.

Oh well, my only option is Caroline who is here and has access to centuries of magical knowledge.

I slipped out of bed, my bare feet silent on the cold floor. I was still naked, Edward had brought me here without bothering with clothes, but his shirt lay draped over a chair. I pulled it on. It fell to my mid-thigh, smelling like him, and I hated how much comfort that brought me.

I had to get away. Had to put distance between myself and both men before this need consumed me entirely.

The door opened without a sound. Edward's rooms were at the end of a private corridor in the guest wing, far from prying eyes. I padded down the hallway, hyper-aware of every shadow, every flicker of torchlight.

There was a curfew. Lucien's attack had left the whole place on lockdown. Guards patrolled the corridors at night, and students caught wandering faced immediate detention or worse.

But I know exactly how to move through this place unseen. And now, without my mark's glow to give me away, I was just another shadow.

I made it past the first patrol by pressing myself into an alcove, holding my breath as two werewolf guards passed within feet of me. Their conversation drifted back, something about reinforcing the eastern wards, but they never looked my way.

The second patrol was an older werewolf. Harder to fool with superhuman senses. But I timed it perfectly, slipping through a servants' passage just as they rounded the corner.

My heart hammered the entire way. Not from fear of being caught, but from the effort of not turning back. Of not running to Elijah's dorm. Of not crawling back into Edward's bed and waking him with my mouth on his cock.

God, what is wrong with me?

The professors' quarters were at the highest point of the summit, where the most powerful faculty and royals had their private chambers. Caroline's door was third from the end, marked with subtle ward-work that made my burned-out mark itch.

I raised my hand to knock.

"You left me all alone, my love."

The voice came from directly behind me. Soft and velvet-dark and edged with something dangerous.

Cold shivers ran down my spine. I froze, hand still raised, heart suddenly in my throat.

Damn. I was so close.