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of the tub. He wraps me in a towel and leads me out of the room. As I am led away, I can still feel the cold lingering on my skin.
He tosses me into my room, shutting the door, and I fall onto my mattress. I look around the room, my eyes adjusting to the dim light.
Everything seems to have stayed the same as how I left it. The same posters are on the wall. My clothes are strewn everywhere. The furniture is upturned still. I shiver as I drag the blanket over the top of me. Some part of me is urging me to remember something crucial. Yet I can’t remember anything, only the bitter cold sinking into my bones until it turns into blistering heat.
My breathing becomes harsher, my vision blurs, and I can hear my uncle on the phone downstairs. Yet the more I focus on his voice, the clearer it gets. “I got her Mal, I put her in her room,” I hear him tell him. I shouldn’t be able to hear him, he’s too far. How is that possible? My senses are heightened, which is when I taste the coppery scent of blood on my tongue. My teeth cutting into my tongue and cheeks, felt sharper than usual.
I need to get out of here! I think, and no sooner than I think it, I am standing upright. Confused, I blink around my room, trying to figure out how I moved so quickly when the door opens.
“Mal’s on his way. Get in some dry clothes on,” my uncle tells me. His voice sounds different, and I look at him. He even looks different. I can see every pore on his face; his skin appears yellower than normal, thanks to jaundice from his drinking.
“Did you not hear me?” He bellows at me before stalking toward me. He raises his hand to backhand me. I watch it move toward my face like it’s in slow motion when I grab it. I blink at his wrist clutched in my hand, seeing it shake as he tries to break out of my
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grasp.
But his strength is no match for me when a strange sound tears out of me. His eyes widen in horror when suddenly I hear a snap, and he screams a blood-curdling scream. I let him go, wondering why he made such a noise, and he st agg ers back, clutching his wrist. I stare at my hands in confusion when the scent of blood reaches my nose. When I look at my uncle, I sniff the air.
His wrist is bleeding, and the bone jutting out his arm when he attacks me. Only when he does, it’s like time has slowed down. With every move he makes, I anticipate and see coming. The next thing I see is his crumpled form on the ground, my hand inside his chest, my fingers wrapped around his heart when I jerk it; just as I hear a loud bang. In shock, I blink at what I did and what I am holding.
I killed him.
I killed my uncle.
Seeing his heart clutched in my hand, I drop it, horrified and sick to my stomach. His heart hits the floorboard with a loud squelch sound when I hear a deep, husky voice behind me, making me spin to see the intruder.
“She’s magnificent,” comes a voice from the door. I take in the stranger, finding he isn’t a stranger at all but Prince Xandros. I stare at him, absorbing his features to memory, his dark features, his strong jawline, and plump lips when my eyes are drawn to his golden ones. He puts his hands up, and I watch him, wondering where he came from and how he got in my house.
“I’m not here to hurt you; I’m here to help,” he tells me, and I get up, backing away from him, finally coming to my senses as I remember he is the reason I am sick, the reason I got infected. No,
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he wants to buy me. He’s here to take me. A rumbling noise fills the air, and I jump at the sound while the Prince smiles wickedly when I realize the growling sound is coming from me.
His eyes flash, and he smiles, showing his canines. “Well, looks like I’ll be doing this the hard way then,” he purrs before lunging at me.
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