Pandora's Ghost [Book 2]

Chapter 20 : Essence

His hesitation at the last word made me smile. It almost seemed like the word was foreign to him.

Liam had mentioned that jumping from one human to another to feed wasn't easy. Instead, he chose to stick to Phyllis even though it didn't do much to regain his strength. But with me, he wouldn't need to feed for days. Which means he could fight long hard battles and still be okay.

The first words came out of my mouth before I could stop them. "How do you do it?"

Lust's eyes lit up at the question as he smiled. "Why do you think I have canines?"

That was the million-dollar question. He had four fangs; two above and another below. But I thought it was an enhanced feature.

"Eros doesn't use his teeth to feed," I said.

If I remembered correctly, Eros feeds by sucking your emotions in the form of a life force. I should know since I've experienced it first hand when he tried to feed on me. Our lips weren't touching, so it was far from a kiss. But I could feel my strength waning away.

Liam let me down and released his hold on my wrists. "I could do that."

He interlaced his fingers with mine. The gesture was too soft to be true. With a quick smile, he spun me around with my hands behind my back. I was now facing the wall, my cheeks pressed against it.

"I can see you love control." It was a tad bit different from Liam's persona.

The sin went quiet behind me. "Am I being too...rough?"

I shook my head. "No. Like I said...I can handle it."

A satisfactory purr vibrated through his chest. "For some reason, that makes me so happy." He kissed my bare shoulder. "You want to know if I feed like Eros? Whether I suck out people's emotions with one deep breath? I do, but that generally comes with some major side effects.

"The person I feed on will be left in a mental mess -- completely infatuated with me. They'll be under my control for years to come. That's why it's difficult to feed from one person to another. I'll be leaving a trail of psychotic humans. And I'm betting you do not want to end up like Phyllis. Right?"

I shook my head in response.

It's been a while since I last spoke to her. She mostly isolates herself from everyone and is mostly quiet in class. Which is so unlike her. And ever since Liam started feeding off her, she slowly became a shell of her usual self. I was beginning to question if she still has a crush on Hunter. Because the normal Phyllis will have those emotions intact.

He skimmed his fangs over my carotid pulse and I tensed. "Relax. It's not going to hurt."

He stopped on the spot that had Henry's imprint and growled. Without a warning, he bit down on the mark. I surprised yelp escaped my lips which slowly morphed into a moan. And before I knew it, I went limp against the wall, my thighs pressed together.

Liam wasn't draining blood, that much was certain. Instead, something else was ripping away from my body, and it was coupled with the gradual loss of energy. My knees grew weak but he hoisted me with an arm to my waist. Little drops of blood escaped the wound and trickled down my front.

He pulled back suddenly, leaving me in slight confusion. I faced him, only to meet two pairs of green cat eyes. Liam forced an uncertain smile, then adjusted the ripped fragments of my clothing.

"Sorry about the dress." He kissed my forehead and I was caught in a trance.

My mind tried to understand the quick shift between his two personalities. I stared as he fidgeted around me. He trailed his fingers over the four puncture sites, using his abilities to completely heal them. He didn't look happy about that. His eyes flicked red for a second before reverting to its usual green.