Chapter 13: Love, Blood, and Fangs

Marcus Cutler POV:

“No!” I shouted at the door.

There was a quiet CRUNCH as the doorknob turned, meaning Julia had broken the lock. The door swung open, and she stepped in, taking the room in before her gaze settled on me. “Not feeling any better?” she asked me.

I rubbed my hands across my face. “Please just kill me now,” I ground out. “And don’t repeat you ‘I’m not going to hurt you,’ s***. I’ve had enough of that for one day.”

I couldn’t see Julia now, but the mattress shifted in a way the hallucination couldn’t have been responsible for. It confirmed that this Julia was the real one, and that she was sitting on the bed with me.

“I really am sorry, Marcus,” she said softly. “I was hoping you would warm up to having me around. I didn’t think it would end up driving you to … that.”

“And what’s that?” I asked, removing my hands so I could look up at her. “This is just my routine when I’m getting ready for bed.”