Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 109099 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109099 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
I became dimly aware that his little blonde wifey was staring at the scene with amazement and horror. Her china blue eyes were getting rounder and rounder as she watched me suck the blood out of her “Daddy-bear.” Probably if I let her live, she was going to need all the therapy to deal with this scene.
Not that I cared. I was too busy finally slaking the Thirst. I could hear Christopher’s heartbeat as I drank him dry. At first it was frantic—thud-thud-thud-thud-thud! But then, as I drained him, it began beating slower and slower. Thud-thud…thud-thud…thud-thud…
And then there was one last thud and I didn’t hear it anymore.
31
Lily
The realization of what I had done hit me when I finally pulled my fangs free and watched as Christopher’s limp body slumped to the floor.
His eyes had rolled up in his head and he wasn’t breathing or moving at all. His skin was deathly pale—almost as white as mine. Except for the huge red smear of blood on the right side of his neck, of course—that was colorful. Though surprisingly, I hadn’t spilled much or even made much of a mess. There wasn’t a single drop of blood on my still-pristine Quenching gown.
“Oh my God!” his little blonde wifey shrieked, finding her voice at last. “You killed him! You killed him!”
I bent down and put my fingers to the pulse point on the left side of his neck—the opposite side from where I had bitten. But I didn’t need to touch him to know the truth—he really was dead and I really had killed him.
I had drained my ex—somehow I had sucked out every last drop of his blood and to be honest, I didn’t know how to feel about it.
I knew I ought to be horrified about what I’d done. Was I some kind of a monster now? But actually, killing him had felt really satisfying. Like I was finally getting revenge and closure for everything he’d done to me over the years and especially the way he had treated me after the divorce.
Then I thought of Amy and Chris Junior and started to feel guilty. I loved both of them so much and I never wanted to hurt them. It was one reason I hadn’t called them after Christopher had kicked me out—I didn’t want them to know what a horrible man their father was, because I knew it would devastate them.
Gee, you know what’s even more devastating than finding out your dad is a cheating asshole who kicked your mom out on the street? whispered a sarcastic little voice in my head. Finding out that your mom killed your dad. Finding out that she sucked out every last drop of his blood and now he’s dead. Now that’s devastating.
“Shut up! Shut up!” I shouted. I was talking to the little voice in my head—the one telling me I had screwed up in a way that was unfixable. For a wonder, it worked and the voice went blessedly silent. Also, the blonde twenty-something—who had been screeching and crying bloody murder, (literally in this case)—abruptly shut up too, so that was nice.
I turned to her and took a deep breath. The Thirst was still with me, in the back of my throat, but it was more of a mild craving now than a bone-deep compulsion. Also, I could feel new strength rushing through my body and I knew that I didn’t have to give in to it again. So though I could have grabbed her and ripped her throat out, I made the conscious decision not to.
After all, I told myself, it wasn’t her fault that Christopher had snared her in his spell—just the way he had trapped me so many years ago. My ex was damn charming when he wanted to be. Well…he had been damned charming, anyway, I amended to myself, mentally changing to the past tense.
The blonde girl was still looking at me with huge eyes.
“You…you…” Her voice was a whisper, as though she was afraid of talking too loud. “You killed him,” she breathed.
“Yes, I think you made that point earlier,” I said, trying to keep things calm. “Look, er, Honey-bunny—sorry, I don’t know your name but I’m Christopher’s ex-wife. Or I was his ex-wife. Or I guess it’s more accurate to say that he was my ex-husband…” I was rambling, I realized. Maybe I was more shocked than I had initially thought by what I had done.
“He…he told me about you,” the girl whispered. “But he said you were old and…and ugly.”
“Gee, thanks,” I said blandly and abruptly a lot of my guilt dissipated.
“He said you wouldn’t sleep with him anymore,” the girl whispered. “He said you didn’t love him and it made him feel lonely and sad—that’s why I went with him. I never meant to…to hurt you.”