Gena Showalter - Unraveled

Mary Ann chewed at her bottom lip. Not me. Can’t be me . But…that warmth, that sweetness. That magic, filling her up, consuming her. If it’s me, they’ll want to kill me? Why?

Shaking now, she backed up a step and hit a solid wall. She turned, eyes wide, only to realize Riley stood behind her. When had he moved? She’d never seen him leave Lauren’s side. He was frowning fiercely, practically vibrating with fury. At her? Because he thought she was a…a Drainer? She could barely even consider the word. Whatever a—whatever that was, vampires killed them and witches hated them. So, no, Mary Ann couldn’t be one. She just couldn’t.

“Victoria,” Riley said, his voice tight. His steely gaze never left Mary Ann—a gaze he’d never leveled on her before. A gaze he usually reserved for those who wronged the people he loved. “See if you can reason with the witch. Mary Ann and I are in need of a break.” He didn’t give Mary Ann a chance to protest. He simply grabbed her wrist and dragged her outside.

COLD AIR SCENTED WITH EARTH and pine wrapped around Mary Ann, chasing away the delicious sensation of warmth and power. Lamplight was replaced by moonlight, muted and soft, the only source of illumination. When Riley released her and spun to face her, scowling, Mary Ann drew the lapels of her sweater closer together. His green eyes glittered dangerously.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

He was in her face a second later, pressing his nose into hers, his breath trekking over her face. “I was watching you. For a minute there, you looked like you were eating and savoring chocolate.” He hurled the statement like an accusation. He didn’t add, “You were feeding on her magic, weren’t you?” but the words somehow echoed between them anyway.

She gulped, striving for calm. “So?”

“So. You haven’t been eating lately. At all.”

“How do you know what I have and have not been doing? You haven’t been around.” Don’t let your hurt feelings show . Now isn’t the time for that.

His pupils expanded, only to shrink into a thin line. “I can smell food, Mary Ann. The scent of it seeps from human pores. You’ve had none for several days.” He waited for her to issue a denial. She didn’t. “At first, I thought you were too riddled with nerves about the death curse, ’cause yeah, I can smell that, too. Then I was mad at you for going into town and forgot to question you about the food. Now, there’s no forgetting. Do you want to tell me why the hell you aren’t eating?”

“I…I haven’t been hungry.” Truth. “Like you, I thought it was nerves. I still do. I mean, I can’t…I wouldn’t…” Shut up , babbler ! “What’s so bad about being a D-Drainer, anyway? It’s no worse than being a muter, is it?”

He popped his jaw. “When did you last eat?” he asked, ignoring her question.

She gulped again. “I…maybe the day the witches cursed us. I don’t know.” The words whispered from her, coated in shame and guilt. You have nothing to be ashamed of or guilty for, she told herself. She’d done nothing wrong.

His eyes widened as he straightened to his full height, no longer touching her in any way. “Have you had water?”

“No.”

“Humans can’t survive very long without water, Mary Ann.”

“I plan to have a giant glass of it just as soon as I get home.”

“Have you weakened?”

Shivering now from the cold, from an influx of dread, she shook her head. Several strands of hair slapped at her cheeks. “No. That’s not a big deal, though,” she rushed to add. “I’ve been living on adrenaline.”

“That wouldn’t keep the hunger at bay for so long.”

“Dieters can go without food for a long time.”

“Are you dieting?”

He had a question for everything. “N-no, but that doesn’t mean anything.”

“You’re not hungry, even now?”

“No.”

His pupils did that strange expanding/shrinking thing. “You liked being near the witch, yes? You felt warm and safe?”

“Y-yes.” Stop stuttering . “Is there something wrong with me? I mean, there’s nothing wrong with me. I—”

“Yes, there’s something wrong with you.” He scrubbed a hand down his face, leaving red marks behind. “You were feeding off her magic, which means you really are a Drainer.”

The horror in his voice caused her stomach to churn. “I ask again, what’s so bad about being a D-Drainer?”

“Everything! By vampire law, hell, by every law in this otherworld, I’m required to kill every Drainer I find. We all are.”

Mary Ann backed up a step. Riley, kill her? No, never, she told herself. Not her. They were dating, for God’s sake. “You can’t just go around killing people. Besides, why would you have to kill a D-Drainer?” And why did she have so much trouble saying the word? “Which I’m not. You can’t know that for sure.”

His eyes glinted as if a match had been struck inside them. “There was a Drainer in that room, Mary Ann. Witches are always the first to sense them because their survival depends on eliminating them. Victoria and Lauren are out. They might hunger for witch blood, like all vampires, but there’s a big difference between drinking from a vein and gorging on energy. Plus, I’ve lived with them a long time, and would have known. That means the only other option was Aden. Except, he’d recently had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, so I can cross him off the list, too. Who does that leave, Mary Ann? Go ahead. Tell me.”

Distance, suddenly she needed distance from him. All that disgust…all that hate…both radiated from him. She stumbled backward, but didn’t try to run even though he’d all but threatened her. With the distance, she could breathe without smelling his dark and spicy scent, without feeling branded by him. He was wrong about her. He had to be wrong.

“What exactly is a Drainer?” There. She’d said the word without stuttering. They’d reason this out together and realize she was no different than ever.

Back and forth he began to pace. “Haven’t I already said? Someone who lives off the energy of others.”

That didn’t sound so terrible.

“I can see your aura and I know what you’re thinking, but listen up. Drainers are sustained only by the energy they steal. Without it, they weaken and die. But in the taking, they kill. And if that isn’t bad enough, their appetite for magic grows with every feeding.”

She was going to kill people? No. No, no, no. But…she couldn’t stop her next thought. Her mother. Her mother had died at the moment of her birth because Mary Ann had drained her of strength. Oh, God. Even before the witches and Riley had begun tossing accusations at her, Mary Ann had used that very word to describe what she’d done to her own her mother. Drained.

Had she been a Drainer her entire life?

“Soon, magic won’t be enough. Soon, you’ll take from the vampires and they’ll no longer be able to feed.” His steps quickened, feet pounding into the ground. “Soon after that, you’ll take from the wolves, and they’ll lose their ability to shift. After that, you’ll take from humans. After that, nature. You’ll destroy everything and everyone.”

“I would never do that!” she shouted. Then her shoulders sagged. She’d killed her own mother. She was capable of anything. Stop! Don’t think like that. Back then, you ate food. Real food. Riley said Drainers live off energy. “I just, I can’t be a Drainer. There has to be another explanation.”

Steps never slowing, he flicked her a menacing glance. “You won’t mean to, but you will. Drainers can’t help themselves, and they certainly can’t stop. Otherwise, like I said, they weaken and die.”