Changeling (Book 1) Rated R

Chapter 11

I must've knocked out because the next thing I knew, Christian was shaking me awake.

"What, where's the fire?"

Christian shot me a puzzled look.

"No fire." He said. "Just food. You want some?"

On que, my stomach grumbled something mighty.

My cheeks flushed slightly as I tried my best to ignore it.

On the one hand, I could say yes to food and then go back to ignoring him.

Or I could just flip him the bird and be done with it.

Finally, I nodded my head, determined to remain neutral.

After all, I needed this jerk to help me find my family.

And I was hungry.

He handed me a box of take-out Chinese and my mouth watered at the smell of it.

"Thanks."

We ate in silence for a while.

"I hope it's good enough." He stated, managing to even look a bit sheepish.

Was this guy bipolar or something?

He had to be.

"I mean, steak would be better, but..."

"Tomorrow. When we meet with Brandon."

With a snap, the chopsticks he'd been fiddling with came apart in two clean pieces.

Even though it smelled like orange chicken, I couldn't resist the jab.

"What are you having, anyway? Rare beef with blood soup?

Christian chuckled and his face almost looked pleasant again, back to his usually cockiness.

"With a side of cow's heart, yeah."

"Sounds about right," I mused. "But why would you choose that over stalking some poor defenseless girl and drinking her blood fresh from the tap?"

"Why would I want to do that," He said as he ran a napkin along his lips so slow it did weird things to my insides. "When I've got a perfectly defenseless girl right in front of me?"

A bite of broccoli went down my throat in a lump.

"Be serious."

The amused glint was back in his eyes. A welcome contrast to his random shows of testosterone.

"Well, Aimee, if you must know there are two types of vampires in this world. My kind can survive on blood but it's not enough to keep our bodies running. Means I need regular food just like you."

"Human food. Huh." I mused. "Who would've thought."

"That's why I'm not off seducing some poor defenseless girl. Though, the poor part would be an understatement. Who wouldn't want to be bit by me?"

I rolled my eyes. "So you can survive on human food? But you still drink..." I let the question trail off, unable to say it.

"Blood?" His voice curled around the syllables as if it were a dirty word.

"Yeah."

"Blood makes me in every way faster and stronger than a human but I don't need it as regularly as the others of my kind—the Soulsuckers. They literally suck the life and soul out of you. Hence, the name."

"Do you kill?" I asked, my eyes on my food. "For the blood, I mean."

Christian laughed darkly and set down his chopsticks.