she done to deserve the torture? Where had she gone wrong in her life? âCan my sire make it go away? The person who did this to meâ¦thatâs who youâre looking for, right?â
âHe canât make it go away, but he can guide you through it. He can comfort you when you can find none anywhere else.â
âBut I donât know who it is.â
Corin rose, staring down at her with rage-filled eyes once again. âJasmine,â he said with a warning note.
âI swear I donât. I donât know how he did it. I donât know who it is.â Her anger rose, the menace she felt from him fuel for her own helpless grief. âIf youâre going to kill me, why not do it now? Before I have to go through that again.â
At once the tenderness was back, then blinked away in an instant. âI only execute vampires and you havenât become one yet. Youâre still very much human. Besides, how to let you handle transition is not my decision to make.â
âWhose then?â
Gripping her upper arm, he made her rise. âTeaching you is not my responsibility.â
The heat began to throb. She jerked her arm from his grasp. Chest rising and falling, she called forth every ounce of venom she could muster. âThen make it your responsibility!â
Tightening her abdomen did little to help the pulse in her womb. The flood of moisture building between her thighs. Hands clasped against her belly, she doubled over and staggered out of the room.
This was worse. So much worse than before. Oh God, it had only just begun and already she didnât know if she could stand it.
Each step sent a streak racing through each leg. There was pain, but so, so much more there too. The hunger grew, the taste of something she couldnât name hovering just outside the reach of her tongue. Teeth that hadnât elongated yet, hadnât yet fulfilled their purpose, throbbed with insistence.
âHelp me find him,â Corin said gently. She felt his presence in the bedroom again, larger than life and just as intimidating. His persistence that she name this mysterious someone almost drove her over the edge.
âI donât know who he is.â Every word turned into a pounding pressure that began in her belly and ricocheted outward. As much as her distracted mind would allow her, Jasmine tried to think of something unusual. Anything like Corin had described. But wouldnât she remember something like that? No matter how she probed her memory, nothing came.
Jasmine dragged air into her lungs, pulling oxygen in with the desperation of a drowning woman. âOh Godâ¦â She collapsed face-first onto the bed, crawling with the last of her waning energy to the soft down pillow, pulling it hard against her stomach, looking desperately for relief.
âIt will only get worse.â
Tears pricked the backs of her eyes, and she was horrified by their presence. Hated that this pain could bring her to this point. Corin stood at the foot of the bed, his face emotionless and dispassionate against her agony.
âI hate you,â she groaned.
He sat down on the edge of the bed. âYouâre not supposed to like me.â
When she got up, when she managed to drag herself out of this misery and get herself in striking range of Corin again, she was going to kick him in the dead center of his balls. Dead center. For now, she curled her lip at him in disgust. The short-lived gestured morphed into a moan seconds later. âGiveâ¦me someâ¦clue. Help meâ¦damn it.â
Calmly, he said, âAny new boyfriends?â
âNo.â
âLovers, hook-ups?â
Theyâd already been down this fucking road! Jasmine found the will to raise her middle finger at him.
Corin sighed. âFine, then something not nice. Assaults?â
âNo.â
âNightmares. Night terrors.â
âNo,â she gasped. Rubbing her thighs together made it both