Read Online Destiny by Celia Breslin - Free Book Online Page B

around my sake cup. Given their naughty expressions when they’d pushed me to flirt with him, I should’ve guessed they knew him. I wanted to be mad they neglected to mention it, but given their inebriated status, plus the fact they were clearly trying to distract me from my Alexander angst, I’d forgive them. Hard to stay mad at friends who have your best interest at heart. “You guys hang with him?”
    Not surprising Claire knew this vampire. As a DJ, she met a lot of people, alive and undead. But Gen? Hard to imagine my sparkly, shiny friend making time with Fin and his black-clad sidekicks. She was totally dance floor, life-of-the-party, while Fin and his crew seemed more the smoky Goth club type.
    Claire shook her head, and Gen waved away my question. “Nah, but he hangs at Haven a fair bit. I’m surprised you never noticed.”
    I knew exactly why I hadn’t noticed. For years, barricades embedded in my brain by my well-meaning family had made it impossible to notice any preternatural creatures. Besides, he wasn’t my usual type. Give me rough and rugged bad boys. A manly, edgy musician like Alexander, lean yet well-muscled, slightly scruffy but otherwise clean and well-groomed, broad, toned chest, trim waist, narrow hips, long, strong legs with that large prize nestled between…
    Want him. My insides clenched with need.
    Cool, slender fingers as pale as mine curled around my forearm, the touch a feather-light caress making goose bumps rise on my skin, bringing to mind another pair of hands, Alexander’s, gliding over my skin, slipping inside. I shivered in response. In need.
    Fin leaned close, nostrils flaring. “It would be my pleasure to assist you with all your hungers, Princess.”
    His accented voice, so unlike Alexander’s sultry timbre, snapped me out of my lusty haze. I gave my head a little shake, dispelling the image of Alexander running his hands over my—
    Down girl. Wrong place, wrong guy. Stupid body. Wrong vampire.
    I shook off Fin’s hand. “No thanks.”
    Mohawk guy leaned closer, eyes bright and too eager for my liking. “Fin says you’re hungry.” He stroked his neck. “You could try me.”
    “Maybe she prefers girls,” the flirty Goth girl added when I didn’t respond quickly enough. She pushed up one of her sleeves and exposed her wrist. “I’m Ember. I swing both ways. Want to play?”
    The hostile Goth girl smacked Ember’s arm then bared her very normal, human teeth and hissed.
    I laughed. “Oh, please, poser. Trust me, you don’t want to go there.”
    Gen erupted in laughter too. “What she said, little Gothie. We eat babes like you for a midnight snack.”
    Claire just shook her head, pink ponytails swishing, and polished off the last of our spicy tuna roll.
    Fin, however, wasn’t amused. “Scarlet.” Cold steel edged his voice. “Wait for us outside.”
    Scarlet shrank away from him. “I’m sorry, Fin.”
    “Go now.”
    At his words, Scarlet’s face drained of personality, eyes glazed and unfocused. She rose and ambled out of the restaurant, like a sleepwalker. Or a zombie.
    As the door closed behind her, he shot me his charming smile. “My apologies, Princess. My food forgot her place.”
    “Your food?”
    He shrugged. “Food, groupie, pet, chattel…”
    I glanced at his other two humans. Their eager expressions and the way they stroked their necks made me squirm.
    He followed my stare. “My other two would be happy to feed you, if you require…sustenance.”
    I gave his humans a polite smile. “No, thanks.”
    His lips curled in a seductive smile. “Perhaps I could interest you in something else?”
    A small pulse of power stroked my cheek and grazed my lips. I blinked and suddenly, Fin sat right next to me, his leg touching mine. I hadn’t even seen a blur of movement. My gaze locked on his red lips. They beckoned me, waiting to be sampled. The restaurant and its noise, the people, my friends, all disappeared, blanketed by a cottony white fog until