Devour, A Paranormal Romance (Warm Delicacy Series, Book 3) by Megan Duncan Page A

live in the forest with the magical fairies, and her mother wouldn’t bat an eyelash. But , it was her mother, didn’t she deserve a warning too? I told my mom, it was only fair.
    “And don’t even think about inviting her to come with,” Liz growled at me as if reading my mind.
    “We have to at least tell her,” I pleaded with my best friend.
    “What’s the point? She won’t believe us.” Liz shot up, throwing the pillow onto the chair behind her and headed to the kitchen.
    I followed.
    “Probably not, but we should at least warn her.” I watched Liz pop open a can of diet soda and gulp it down. She opened a second can and slid it across the counter to me. I caught it without taking my eyes off her.
    Her eyes fell to the soda in my hand and then back to her own can. “Sorry, I forgot you don’t…”
    “It’s okay.” I smiled at her. We used to always share a soda together when we were stressed about something. Although I had no desire to down the cool, bubbly contents; I wanted to, just for nostalgias sake.
    She traced the rim of the can with her finger, the condensation dripping down to the countertop. “I’m glad you came back, Claire. I’m still pissed at you, but I’m glad you came back.” A genuine smile lit her face.
    “Me too.” I smiled back at her, no longer afraid to let my fangs peek out between my lips.
    “What’s it like?” She rounded the counter slowly, eyeing my fangs with amazement.
    “It’s like… I’d been living my whole life with blurry vision, and didn’t even realize it until I was turned.” No one had ever asked me that before, but I felt that summed it up nicely. There were so many emotions, sounds and details in this world that humans were missing out on.
    “Wow.” Liz and I were standing face to face as she eyed me curiously. Taking in every aspect of my new appearance. “You still look like you… mostly.” She smiled at me wryly, a hint of the old, wild Liz coming back.
    “Gee… thanks.” I flicked her arm playfully.
    “You do know that you’re going to have to tell me all the deets, right?”
    “I thought I did.” I twirled the soda can between my fingers, spinning it on the counter as it glided across the condensation like an ice skater.
    “I mean the good stuff.” She swallowed the last gulps of her soda. “Not the scary, evil vampires are going to kill us all stuff.”
    “Oh! That stuff.” I giggled at her.
    A gust of air blew into the kitchen as Arrick flew in like a ghost. “We should get going. It’ll be sunrise soon.” He smiled at me as I sensed him searching my emotions. I winked at him, letting him know he’d been right and that I felt loads better. From now on I’d let everyone in and be open to their feelings. The only anger I needed to feel would be focused solely on Baal.
    “Whoa…” Liz’s mouth hung open as she gazed at Arrick who stood like a chiseled bulk of sexiness beside me.
    “Hello, Elizabeth. It’s nice to finally meet you,” Arrick said, holding out his hand. He could be a total guy sometimes, but then he’d act like… well a prince for lack of a better word. He was so weird, but I loved it about him.
    A snort burst out of me, and I slapped my hands across my mouth to stop the giggles from erupting, but I failed miserably. Liz’s eyes were practically bugging out of her head, and Arrick looked like a dignified gentlemen utterly confused by her reaction. It was completely comical.
    Liz took his hand weakly, too flabbergasted to grasp it tightly. “This is Arrick?” She whispered to me like he wouldn’t hear.
    “Yeah.” I wiped the happy tears from my eyes and sighed as I caught my breath. I bumped Arrick’s shoulder. “She hates being called Elizabeth by the way. It’s Liz.”
    “Oh, I don’t mind.” Liz fluttered her eyelashes and flashed a dazzling smile at him. She popped her hip to the side, striking her usual pose. I knew this pose all too well; she’d tried teaching it to me once. She said