The Blood Reader

The Blood Reader Chapter 12

My hand absently waved at Garreth's half naked form as I looked away. "Nothing."

Garreth situated the shirt atop my extended hand. "Nothing." He chuckled. "All right, Astra, just keep telling yourself that."

I narrowed my eyes. Garreth's playful expression confused me. Almost as much as why he wanted me to wear this clothing. "What am I supposed to do with this?" I tried passing it back in the hopes he'd redress himself.

"Simple." Garreth ignored my offering. Instead, he sidestepped me and forced both of my arms inside the garment. "You're going to wear it."

He made no sense at all!

"I'm already wearing something." I tugged the fabric of my cyan blue dress to reiterate my point. "If you can't tell."

"It's up to you." He stepped back, a satisfied smile framing the corners of his lips. "You can choose to button up it or not. Either way, I win."

"You win?" I asked as he started scanning our nearby neighbors here on the dancefloor. One by one, he appraised them from head to toe.

"Not too bad." He shrugged. "Only about ten others will even notice that you're naked."

I shook my head. "Naked? What are you even—"

Garreth moved close, his fingers fastening the shirt together with its buttons. The steady stream of energy pulling us toward another was palpable, a current of humming sensations and prickling sparks tickling my skin with every racing heartbeat.

"As I said, I win." His amused green eyes met mine. "You'll either do as I ask and wear this shirt without fighting me, like you always do, or else."

"Or else, what?" I glared at him in silence.

"I'll get to see you without any attire." He paused to bite his lower lip and fanning his hand at the blue individuals surrounding us. "Along with everyone else."

"That's not going to happen." I shrugged his shirt off my shoulders. He was lying, and it was far too big for me anyhow, with its long arms and reaching past the point of my knees.

Garreth exaggerated a sigh but kept that smug smile of his in place. Something about it irked me. Not a dare? Not in compromise? No, this was something else.

"Fine." He popped the top off the vial and handed it to me. "But don't go getting all mad at me whenever you make a fool out of yourself with having no clothes on."

"No clothes? Really?" I dangled the small glass bottle in my hands; the swirling motion caused wisps of smoke encased within to form and then burst. The vibrations surpassing the container had my entire arm trembling. "And why am I drinking this?"

"It's up to you," he said evenly. "But if you want answers, princess, you need to do as I say. So drink it and let me handle everything else."

Oh no. This did not sound good. "Everything else," I muttered.

He glanced at his watch again. "We don't have time for this." Without waiting for me to counter him, Garreth forced the vial to my open lips and tilted my chin back. "Drink it, Astra."

I jerked my head to the side. It took every rational thought of mine to say the word, "No!"

Garreth smirked and drew me into his bare chest. From this positioning, it proved difficult to have any more rational thoughts as his inviting .heartbeat garnered my full attention. Thump. Thump. Thump. The steady pounding muffled the background noise of this place.

"You will," he whispered. "Or I'll have to make you."

I groaned, and he chuckled at my faltering resolve. Something wasn't right about all this, and Garreth claimed to have answers. And I needed answers; like how I couldn't remember anything—even my name. Or how he knew me exactly.