wipe out a whole series of events after it too. That potentially includes the existence of Sophie, Alisha, Caitlin, Eden, me – everyone who wasn’t born before it started. So unless you’re willing to put almost half of this team on the line, that’s why it’s out of the equation.’
The room fell silent.
But Jask quickly realised it wasn’t just because of the hopelessness of the revelation.
He followed Leila’s uneasy gaze to where Sophia was making circular motions on the table with her nail – languid movements that could have been mistaken for a mindless act had her gaze not been so lascivious as she drank Kane in.
Worse was the minor upcurling of her lips – a smile that didn’t go unnoticed by Caitlin either, her frown then matching Leila’s.
In that moment, it was as though his Sophia wasn’t there at all, as if something else had taken her over, because as Kane locked gazes with her, instead of looking away, she tilted her head to the side slightly as if she was the predator and he was the prey.
Kane’s frown deepened to a glare in response – a glare none of them needed to see.
5
I t felt like a blur , as if everything was going on around her whilst she watched on from inside her bubble. Like a ghost in a room, it was as if she could do whatever she wanted and no one would know.
All Sophia could focus on through the haze was the vampire sitting opposite her. As he talked, some distant echo, she lingered on his lips, pondering over what they would taste like.
What they would taste like when they bled.
And looking as good as he did would certainly make him a pleasurable toy, the prospect made all the more enticing by him having the kind of flawless flesh that would look good scarred; the perfect, even white teeth that would look good bared in pain.
He could probably endure a lot of the latter and take it well.
She could imagine that powerful body strapped down naked for her pleasure, those biceps flexing in futile retaliation…
The sense of someone touching her made her jump. Her attention snapped to azure eyes staring into hers, azure eyes emanating concern that matched the rest of the eyes she then scanned around the table.
And the second she met Leila’s troubled yet knowing frown, she knew why they were all staring at her.
Sophia felt herself flush at the prospect of having done or said something without realising. Hot with embarrassment, needing to get out of the claustrophobia of her surroundings and away from Kane, she shoved back her chair abruptly before fleeing from the room.
She headed down corridor after corridor, her legs like lead, her palms perspiring, and burst into the communal shower area, slamming her hands onto the metal vanity unit ahead. She glanced in the mirror and took in her constricted pupils, her flushed skin, the line of perspiration at her hairline. She recognised herself but it was as if she was looking into the eyes of someone else. As if someone else was staring back at her – some doppelgänger from a parallel world that was using her mirror as a window to spy on her. Someone who was smirking; some identical twin that was finding her fear amusing.
She reached out as if she was going to touch the flesh of the stranger… Then she heard the door open behind her.
Sophia flinched and dropped her hand. In the reflection, Leila stood in front of the closed door. The second their eyes connected, Sophia lowered her head to splash cold water onto her face.
‘Tell me I didn’t say anything out loud,’ she eventually said, needing to know. She smoothed down her hair in an attempt to reassure herself before she turned to face her sister.
‘You didn’t need to.’ Leila’s gaze was as solemn as the tension between them. She stepped forward and stopped in the middle of the room. ‘Sophie, you need to face up to this. For all our sakes, you have to face up to this. We need to talk.’
The door creaked open again, Alisha squeezing through the small gap
The room fell silent.
But Jask quickly realised it wasn’t just because of the hopelessness of the revelation.
He followed Leila’s uneasy gaze to where Sophia was making circular motions on the table with her nail – languid movements that could have been mistaken for a mindless act had her gaze not been so lascivious as she drank Kane in.
Worse was the minor upcurling of her lips – a smile that didn’t go unnoticed by Caitlin either, her frown then matching Leila’s.
In that moment, it was as though his Sophia wasn’t there at all, as if something else had taken her over, because as Kane locked gazes with her, instead of looking away, she tilted her head to the side slightly as if she was the predator and he was the prey.
Kane’s frown deepened to a glare in response – a glare none of them needed to see.
5
I t felt like a blur , as if everything was going on around her whilst she watched on from inside her bubble. Like a ghost in a room, it was as if she could do whatever she wanted and no one would know.
All Sophia could focus on through the haze was the vampire sitting opposite her. As he talked, some distant echo, she lingered on his lips, pondering over what they would taste like.
What they would taste like when they bled.
And looking as good as he did would certainly make him a pleasurable toy, the prospect made all the more enticing by him having the kind of flawless flesh that would look good scarred; the perfect, even white teeth that would look good bared in pain.
He could probably endure a lot of the latter and take it well.
She could imagine that powerful body strapped down naked for her pleasure, those biceps flexing in futile retaliation…
The sense of someone touching her made her jump. Her attention snapped to azure eyes staring into hers, azure eyes emanating concern that matched the rest of the eyes she then scanned around the table.
And the second she met Leila’s troubled yet knowing frown, she knew why they were all staring at her.
Sophia felt herself flush at the prospect of having done or said something without realising. Hot with embarrassment, needing to get out of the claustrophobia of her surroundings and away from Kane, she shoved back her chair abruptly before fleeing from the room.
She headed down corridor after corridor, her legs like lead, her palms perspiring, and burst into the communal shower area, slamming her hands onto the metal vanity unit ahead. She glanced in the mirror and took in her constricted pupils, her flushed skin, the line of perspiration at her hairline. She recognised herself but it was as if she was looking into the eyes of someone else. As if someone else was staring back at her – some doppelgänger from a parallel world that was using her mirror as a window to spy on her. Someone who was smirking; some identical twin that was finding her fear amusing.
She reached out as if she was going to touch the flesh of the stranger… Then she heard the door open behind her.
Sophia flinched and dropped her hand. In the reflection, Leila stood in front of the closed door. The second their eyes connected, Sophia lowered her head to splash cold water onto her face.
‘Tell me I didn’t say anything out loud,’ she eventually said, needing to know. She smoothed down her hair in an attempt to reassure herself before she turned to face her sister.
‘You didn’t need to.’ Leila’s gaze was as solemn as the tension between them. She stepped forward and stopped in the middle of the room. ‘Sophie, you need to face up to this. For all our sakes, you have to face up to this. We need to talk.’
The door creaked open again, Alisha squeezing through the small gap
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