As I listened in to the cheerful conversation going on next door, a sense of excitement rose within me. Even though I was still bound to the jinn, the thought of finally being rid of the Elder left me feeling high. Although I couldn’t live back in The Shade, I could at least request to visit River, my family and friends. And while I was there, if this problem was truly solved, I could mix freely with everyone and roam the island that was my home for the first time in many months.
I drank the blood much quicker this time, downing it confidently, until once again I felt satiated and could drink no more. Although the blood tasted revolting, the sheer relief that I was able to ingest it made me almost forget about the taste.
I’d never thought in my life that I would relish such a vile substance the way I did that snake blood. Every gulp felt miraculous.
Once I finished drinking, I picked up the container again and carried it back toward the pantry. Passing a sink along the way, I dropped my dirty glass into it. I placed the blood right at the back of the storage room where I’d found it and re-entered the kitchen.
Now I planned to return to my apartment, rest for a few hours, and then come back down yet again after the break to drink some more—as much as my stomach could hold.
But as I moved toward the exit of the kitchen, I realized just what a fool I’d been.
The very moment I passed by the narrow staircase that led to the atrium above, it started as a slight irritation at the back of my throat. Then it developed into a cough, until before I knew it, I was doubled over and retching. It happened so fast, so violently, and I was expelling so much, the floor was soon a pool of undigested blood.
My vision blurred and became shrouded.
A familiar heaviness settled in my chest.
I barely registered what happened next. All I could feel was the rage of hunger ripping through my stomach, making my entire body shake. A hunger so powerful, there was no room for any thought in my mind other than how to satisfy it.
My legs jolted forward up the staircase leading to the human prison. Reaching the top, I barged through the gap between the wall and the cupboard that concealed the entrance to the jinn’s abode. I staggered out into the storage room, tore open the door, and appeared in a dark narrow corridor. I lunged for the nearest cell, smashing through the door with uncontrollable strength, and all that followed was a blur of red, punctuated by screaming and pervaded by smooth, rich liquid coursing down my throat. The nectar I could never live without.
Chapter 9: Ben
The euphoria that pulsed through my body was indescribable. My senses felt heightened, every nerve electrified, satisfaction filling every fiber of my being. It was as though my very bones groaned with relief.
After my fangs withdrew from a particularly tender body, I stood up, my chest heaving. I didn’t know how many throats I had ripped open. All I knew was that I’d drunk as much as I wanted.
My legs jolted again, not back down to the kitchen, but deeper into the prison. I ran with such speed, I would be nothing but a blur to any onlooker. I didn’t know how I found my way so easily through the complex network of cells considering I’d only traveled through the basement in its entirety once, while following the leopard. But somehow, I didn’t take a single wrong turn and it wasn’t long before I found myself stepping out into the gardens of Jeramiah’s atrium.
I barely took a moment to look over my surroundings. If there was anybody around, I didn’t notice them. It was as if I had tunnel vision. I just felt the urge to keep running upward, right up to the highest level, and reach the desert above. I wasn’t even sure what was calling me to do it, but I couldn’t fight it.
Forsaking the elevators, I launched myself upward and leapt from level to level until I reached the highest point of the atrium—the glass-covered level just beneath the exit. I smashed through the glass and raced up the stairs toward the trapdoor. I forced it open and broke out into the desert night.
As I gazed around the shadowy dunes, it was as if the cool wind blowing against my skin instilled within me another objective.
I need to exit the boundary… and I need to reach a gate.
A gate.
Where is the nearest portal to the supernatural realm?
I racked my brain, trying to recall the copy of Mona’s map that I’d taken with me from The Shade and lost to the hunters back in Chile. I had studied that map intensely, but perhaps not intensely enough…
Come on. Where is the nearest gate?
I began running as I continued to think. A strong wind swept up around me, scattering sand in my eyes, but I barely felt the stinging. My focus was fixed on the boundary and my destination beyond. Now I was a member of the jinn’s family, I could step outside of the invisible barrier, as other vampire residents like Jeramiah were able to.