Charlotte

Chapter Twenty-Two

A/N: Nearing the end! Only about three chapters left, and I'm going to be pumping them out since the semester ended. Thank you to everyone who has stuck with me! Let me know your thoughts! 

I blinked myself awake for the second time today. My entire body was radiating pain, the worst of it being in my ribs and my ankle. I looked over at Rose, Mason, and Eddie. Eddie was still in a stupid blissful state, but there were more bite marks on his neck. Mason and Rose looked tired, and weak, but Mia and Christian looked like skeletons. Their faces were gaunt, their skin almost as chalky and dry as the Strigoi's who kept us hostage. It startled me, and I had to double check to make sure there were no red rings around their pupils. 

Their eyes were their own still, and I let out a painful breath of relief. The only difference to what I usually see in them was that they were hungry. Starving, even. I'd been out for longer than a couple hours. "H-how long...?" I tried to ask, but my voice was scratchy and my mouth dry. I needed water. And my stomach was growling up a storm. 

"Two days. Almost three," Rose whispered. Her lips were pale and cracked. She looked like she was going to say more, but the door slammed open and in strode Isaiah and Elena. 

"Hello, children," he said. "How are we doing today?" 

We all glared at him hatefully. He strolled over to Mia and Christian, hands folded behind his back. "Any changes of heart since my last visit? You're taking an awfully long time, and it's upsetting Elena." The woman in question snarled at us. "She's very hungry, you see, but-I suspect-not as hungry as you two." 

"Fuck off," Christian said through gritted teeth. 

Elena snarled and lunged toward him. "Don't you dare-" 

Isaiah waved her off. "Leave him alone. It just means we wait a little longer, and really, it's an entertaining wait." 

Elena's eyes shot daggers at Christian, until they fell on me. "What about the spare? You get to have nibbles of the dhampir but I can't get a taste?" She was snarling at her master now, rage making her rimmed eyes look like they were bleeding. "She's not even part of the decision!" 

"Oh, alright-" Isaiah relented. Before he even finished, she was on me, and I didn't have the opportunity to scream before her hand was wrapped around me and she hoisted me up a wall and sank her fangs into my neck. My eyes rolled into the back of my head, barely registering him tell her not to kill me just yet. I didn't care whether she did or not. It felt so good that I could die happy just as long as she did not stop. 

A strangled moan left my lips, and the vibrations of Elena's own moans echoed inside my body as she pressed herself against me. My skin goose bumped, my toes curling at how good it felt and I felt the soft parts of my body prickle with the erotic feeling her bite was giving me. I could understand why some women let Moroi bite them during sex. This was so good. 

With my eyes closed, I could picture Dimitri's warm brown eyes above me, a stark contrast and much better sight than the vampires around me. I could imagine his hands on my skin, his body moving over me with precision and intent. I felt that familiar pressure building in me, making my head light and my body weaker than it already was before...just as Elena was yanked away and her fangs were practically ripped out of my neck. 

I cried out in pain and slid to the floor again. My vision was blurry, and I felt too lightheaded to feel ashamed of what just happened to my body. Isaiah was roaring something at the female Strigoi, who yelled back at him and pushed him aside as she stormed out, slamming the door behind her. Isaiah came over and checked my pulse; it thrummed weakly against his fingers. His face was level with mine as he spoke next. "You should appreciate your friends. I'm sure you didn't hear them, but they all turned into Spartacus for you."