18. Chapter 18- Nyx

The smell is overwhelming, calling to me. His taste still lingers on my tongue, keeping me thirsty.

Finish it. He breathes. More to eat.

"NO!" I scream, covering my ears with my hands. "Shut up! Shut up!"

Feed!

"Nyx?" a familiar voice tries to break through the chaos, to no avail.

Missed some, must finish it all.

I look to the male sprawled out on the floor, blissfully unaware of the war inside my head. His chest barely moves, and I can hear his heart struggling to beat. I crawl over him, tilting my head back and forth, studying, watching…waiting. But nothing happens.

Very carefully, I push his glasses back up his nose. He needs them, doesn't he? I watch as my fingers brush his hair away from his forehead, unsure why I am doing it. But it feels right. Him lying on the floor feels wrong. He should be up, fighting with…someone.

"Nyx… I need to help him. He isn't going to survive if I don't get him blood soon." The voice comes again, and I hiss at it as it touches my bare shoulder.

It has no right to touch me. It smells good, but not as good as him. I want more of him. More…no, not just blood…something.

I squeeze my head between my heads to try to alleviate the pressure.

Feed. Drink. Drain him.

But I need him. He means…he means something to me? He means something to me. But what? Why?

"Felix needs help, Nyx. Please!" they beg.

Felix.

Memories come pouring in at an alarming pace. I close my eyes against the onslaught, but it only makes it worse. His kiss. The little touches and promises that I am okay. I can't breathe through the emotions that come with it. My parents…I never got to see what happened to them. I was whisked away and placed in the darkness for so many years. Too many to count.

But I got out. I freed myself from the torment and built myself back up into something better. Fiercer. A weapon to destroy all of those who ruined my life. I killed over and over again when they stepped out of line. I strung them up and gutted them like the vermin they are.

And then, he—Felix—took me. He stopped me from doing my work, turned my world upside down, and forced me to question things…feel things, and trust my enemies.

He turned me! All that hard work and sacrifice to not complete the change has been wasted!

I am the monster I have been fighting all this time. Rage pours through me as my scream pierces the air. My throat aches, but as I run out of breath, my anger transforms into anguish. There is no going back. I am stuck like this.

Every altercation before had one enemy, one Keryth, to blame. But now there are too many. First, there is HIM—Dominic—the start of it all. Then there is Felix, who turned my world upside down. And finally, there is me. I am strong and capable, yet I allowed myself to be put in this position. Separate entities, but all cogs in the same mechanism that produced this outcome.

My brain is desperate to stay angry at Felix for taking this choice out of my hands, but my heart won't allow it. I swallow thickly, and the warmth of his blood washes through me.

"Felix!" Realization slams into me. I fed from him. He let me almost drain him because my beast demanded it.

I rush to him, grab his head, and pull it into my lap. "Felix, please, no. I am so sorry." I sob. "Don't leave me. You can't force me to feel and then abandon me to figure them all out. That's not fair!"

"He needs blood in order to survive," Tia says, bending down to meet my eyes. Her hands cover mine over Felix's weakening heart.

"I will give him mine. He—" She shakes her head, cutting me off.

"You just fed from him. He needs to replenish from another source."

She stands and walks over to something moaning in the corner; the sound of her dragging it toward us destroys the silence and makes my hair stand on end. HIS smell reaches me before I realize who it is. My body itches to run away, but at the same time, rip him apart with my bare hands. I want to make him pay for each and every scar on my body. He made it hurt! And now I want him to scream in agony, unable to do anything but endure the torture I would put him through.

"He is mine! My kill," I growl.

"Of course. But right now, he will feed our prince."

I jerk his wrist out of her hand and rake my claws across it, digging them in as deep as they can go. Blood sprays across us as I tear open an artery.

Laughter bubbles out of my chest with the thrill of finally having him at my mercy. I place his destroyed wrist against Felix's mouth and continue to laugh as the Prince's fangs dig in deeper than my claws went.

After a few strong pulls of blood into his mouth, Felix sits up and looks down at Dominic. His beautiful face transforms into something terrifying, leaving me in awe. I have never seen anything as transfixing as this male at this very moment. The violence radiating off of him calls to my own, making my body hum with anticipation,

He rips Dominic's arm roughly and buries his fangs back into the ragged flesh, his blazing gaze meeting mine. Agonizing screams echo around us, but I can't enjoy them. I can't focus on anything other than the gorgeous male before me. He is making it hurt for me, exacting revenge on my behalf. No one has ever done that for me before. Not even when my parents were still alive, and yet this strong, stubborn, persistent male, who barely knows me, cares enough to do it.

My chest bursts with feelings that are bright and potent. I have never felt anything like it before. It is addicting and scary. I want to bask in it and run away all at the same time. It's confusing and so easy. It's…love. I fucking love this male.

I kick Dominic away, using my newfound strength, and leap on Felix, kissing him and devouring the taste of our shared enemy on his tongue. He returns my kiss with a fevered one of his own. I feel like I am burning alive and asking for more. My nerve endings are so sensitive that I could come from his touch alone.

But I don't want that. I want more.

I NEED more!

"More." My inner voice seeps through, sounding needy and breathless.

"Anything," Felix breathes between kisses.

"You two take it to the tower. I'll clean up here," Tia chuckles behind us.

"Thank you, Tia." Felix gets to his feet and hugs the surprised female. "You saved not only me, but my mate tonight. I owe you so much."

"I know. Now, get out of here." She shoos him with a raised brow.

Felix removes his shirt and helps me into it before buttoning it.

"Come." He holds his hand out to me, but I hesitate to take it. It feels so final, like a commitment.

"Mate?" I ask.

"Yes, Mate, Little Thief. You own me. You have since the first day I laid eyes on you. And I won't let us deny it any longer." He continues to hold his hand out to me, waiting patiently for me to decide. He isn't pressuring me, just watching me carefully.

I slip my hand into his, sealing my fate to the male I once craved to kill, and now find myself longing to love. It's funny how one can go from being owned to being the owner. But if I am truly honest, I am both. Because now, he owns me in more ways than I ever believed possible.

I should be angry with myself for letting it get to this point. I should deny him and go back to my old life. But it no longer holds an appeal. The tower will never compare to waking up in his arms every morning. Killing the Keryth will do nothing to feed the new obsession of bantering with my mate and watching his eyes light up at my violence.

I allow him to lead me up to our room so that we can explore this new connection and become acquainted with our monsters together. We can't truly connect as male and female if our monsters don't get along.