17. Addie

17

ADDIE

A ddie woke up with a toothache. Two toothaches, in fact. And both were located in her upper row of teeth—one on either side.

"Ow!" she mumbled and reached up with her tongue to probe gingerly at her painful right canine.

The result was a sharp pain in the tip of her tongue that made her wince and sit bolt upright in bed.

"OW!" she repeated, with much more conviction this time. It felt like someone had poked her tongue with a needle!

The lights were on by now—Drago must have been right about them being on some kind of timer. Speaking of her Protector, where was he? He must not have come back last night. Was he out somewhere fighting with his Drake?

Addie had no idea, but she couldn't help feeling abandoned. Getting out of bed, she made her way to the small, closet-sized bathroom. Last night she hadn't been able to see much of anything in the mirror but with the lights on high, everything was much more visible.

She leaned forward, studying her reflection in the shiny surface. Then she bared her teeth. She had no idea what she might see but what she didn't expect was finding that she'd somehow sprouted vampire fangs in the night.

"Oh my God!" she mumbled, staring at herself. "No way—this can't be right!"

But there was no denying what her eyes were telling her. The girl in the mirror had her same long, wavy red hair and blue/green eyes. She also had two long, sharp fangs where her canine teeth should be. And a very sore tongue.

"What the hell?" Addie muttered, staring at herself. How could this be? She had no idea—none at all.

Then she remembered Ls Prissa ordering her to open her mouth and saying that her teeth "looked promising" or something like that, at the feast. Could the fact that she'd suddenly grown vampire fangs have anything to do with the Choosing Ceremony last night?

"Maybe it was that weird cup full of cum they made us all drink from," Addie muttered to herself and shivered at the memory. Or maybe it had to do with the spider bite that Drago had healed for her.

That thought gave her instant anxiety and she hiked up the skirt of the long black dress she was still wearing to stare at her right inner thigh.

Pure, unblemished skin greeted her gaze. There wasn't even a red mark to show where she'd been bitten—Drago really had healed her completely.

The memory of her Protector between her legs, licking her until she came, made her feel hot all over again. She wished he was here…but she wasn't sure what she would say to him if he was. How do you deal with a morning-after scenario with a guy who saved your life and made you come harder than you'd ever come in your life…and yet insisted the two of you couldn't be together because of the massive dragon he kept inside himself?

No solutions to that problem leaped readily to mind, so Addie decided to change her clothes and go looking for him. Maybe he would have an idea on how to get rid of her new fangs since he had been able to heal the spider bite. But then she hesitated—getting something new to wear would mean going back into the main bedchamber where the screaming spider was still lurking.

On second thought, maybe she would just keep on this same gown, she told herself. Only she wished it wasn't so itchy. It hadn't bothered her a bit last night, but now she felt an irritation at the back of her neck and between her shoulder blades. Was there a tag in the gown that she'd missed? Whatever it was, it was suddenly driving her crazy .

She reached back to scratch but couldn't quite reach the right spot. It was maddening. Maybe she ought to take a shower—there was a tiny shower cubical located in the corner of the small bathroom. Rinsing off might help.

She pulled off the black dress and was in the act of hanging it on the hook on the door when she caught sight of her bare back in the mirror.

"Oh, my God!"

The words came out in a horrified gasp. Addie pulled her hair to one side and craned her head around, trying to get a better look.

Right between her shoulder blades, reaching all the way up to the nape of her neck and all the way down to the small of her back, was a brand new tattoo. At least it looked like a tattoo but Addie didn't remember going to get any ink done. The only tattoo she had was a tiny, tasteful butterfly on her left wrist—she and her best friend in college had gotten matching ink to commemorate their friendship. They had been drunk at the time but Addie hadn't regretted it even after she sobered up.

This she regretted. It looked like a vast black spider web done in thick black lines and right in the center, between her shoulder blades, was a fist-sized spider with a human head.

"What the actual fuck?" Addie whispered, studying her new markings as well as she was able. What was happening to her? First she grew vampire fangs and now she had a huge new tattoo of a spider web and a spider on her back? Was she turning into a Goth or what?

But was the marking even a tattoo? What if someone had drugged her and had drawn the markings on her back while she was out? Maybe they would wash off?

Addie turned on the water in the tiny shower and didn't even wait for it to get warm. She jumped in and clenched her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering—she didn't want to injure herself with her bizarre new fangs.

There was a long-handled scrub brush hanging from a hook in the shower stall as well as a sweet-smelling block of soap. Addie applied the latter generously to the former and started scrubbing her back as best she could.

But she didn't scrub for long. Whatever the markings were, they were sensitive.

"Ouch!" she gasped as the rough bristles of the scrub brush abraded her back. It felt like she was using a cheese grater on her skin!

She hung the brush back up and turned to let the now warm water spray her instead. Even that made her wince—the water felt like needles piercing her skin. She stood it for as long as she could, but then she had to give up and get out of the shower—it was simply too painful. Also, she was really thirsty—she needed a glass of water before she did anything else.

There was no glass or cup anywhere in the bathroom so Addie wrapped a towel around herself and drank from the sink. At first she used her cupped hands but that wasn't fast enough —her throat was dry as sandpaper. Leaning down, she swept her hair out of the way and drank directly from the plain silver tap.

The ice-cold water was refreshing…but somehow not quite what she wanted. Addie kept drinking anyway because of the burning in her throat. But finally she felt like her stomach was sloshing with water and had to stop.

Straightening up, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and looked at herself in the mirror again.

"What's happening to me?" she muttered aloud. "Am I changing?"

If she was, it certainly wasn't for the better. She had to find out what was going on with her body—now!

At first she thought of asking Sparki, but she had no idea where in the palace her favorite lady-in-waiting was staying. Also, she wasn't quite as trusting of Sparki as she had been. The other woman had clearly known what to expect from the Choosing Ceremony—why hadn't she warned Addie about it? Maybe she wasn't the one to ask for information. Ditto for Lx Sambla, who had been the one to volunteer her for the ceremony in the first place.

But if she couldn't trust either of the Vargans she considered friends and Drago was MIA, where could she get information?

Suddenly she remembered the large library they had passed through the night before. Hadn't Sambla told her it was filled entirely with books about Sheelash? Maybe she could find some information on the Choosing Ceremony and its aftereffects there.

"That's it—that's where I'll go." Having completed a PhD in Xeno-anthropology, Addie was adept at research. Also, libraries were a safe and comforting space for her. She didn't need to risk asking anyone—she could get the information she needed for herself.

Quickly, she finished drying—blotting her sensitive back carefully—and slipped back on the black dress she'd worn the night before. She wished she could wear something new, but there was no way she was risking going back into the main bedchamber with the shrieking spider.

As soon as she was dressed, she headed out the small door of the servant's room and into the long stone corridor.

She was going to get some answers, damn it! There had to be some explanation for the weird things that were happening to her. She needed to know what was going on.

She had no idea she was about to find out the hard way.