Awakening by A.C. Warneke Page B

prove that she was Calix ; or Thraell at the very least. It sure as hell beat the alternative of, well, of not being human. There were still no fangs. She jabbed her fingers against her teeth, prodding them into becoming sharper. Still they were just her normal teeth, no pointy bits at all.
    In the reflection, she noticed her hand had b egun to tremble; surely that was a human reaction. Wasn’t it? Hell, not only was her hand trembling, her entire body seemed to be shaking violently, trying to deny the truth. It was almost as if she had been dumped in ice water and then sat in front of an air conditioner set at full blast. Suddenly she was so cold; colder than she had ever been before.
    Clenching her chattering teeth together, she tried to stand up but failed quite spectacularly as she twisted and fell flat on her face, sprawling out across her floor. Well, legs were pretty much useless. Pulling herself across the floor on her belly, she reached the edge of the bed. Curling her fingers into the comforter, she yanked and pulled the blanket off the bed. As she sat there and shook, she managed to wrap the bulky thing around herself so she could huddle on the floor, trying to calm down.
    She knew she did the right thing when she left Adam, of that she had no doubt. Deep down she had known that he was an Apocritum , she just hadn’t wanted to admit that. A relationship with him was impossible; humans were insignificant in the greater scheme of things, barely living more than eighty years if they were lucky. Adam had thousands of lifetimes behind him, and a thousand more in front of him. Hell, a million lifetimes or more. She couldn't help but wonder if he was looking for her; he could drink his fill from her and not change her. An Apocritum would want to keep someone like her; it might have been Adamanteros's only reason for wanting her to stay with him. Her teeth clattered together as she contemplated that fact.
    Adam was an Apocritum , and she was the one who was something else. Damn.
    Her bedroom door opened and Kim stood in the doorway . The smile on her lips faded as she looked down and saw the pallid expression on her best friend’s face, the same best friend who was wrapped up in a down comforter on the hottest day of the summer so far. Immediately, she went to Celeste’s side, placing her hand on her forehead, “Are you all right? What’s wrong?”
    “He… he… he….” She managed to sputter, her wide eyes rolling up to see Kim kneeling beside her. If she weren’t so scared, she would be laughing at the expression on her friend’s face; the mounting concern. After all, it’s not like she was dying; just not human.
    “He who?” Kim asked, pressing the back of her hand to Celeste’s face, her cheeks, noting the coolness of Celeste’s skin which indicated that there wasn’t a fever. Pressing two fingers against the girl’s throat, she noted that Celeste’s pulse was a little fast, though that wasn’t really cause for concern, at least not yet.
    “ A…A…A….”
    “ Adam?” Kim supplied the name, arching an eyebrow. Celeste had specifically said she did not want to talk about him for a little while and Kim respected that. But now, Celeste was bringing it up and it had only been four days. And her friend did not look so well.
    Celeste nodded, relieved that Kim spoke the name and wishing her tongue would work. “P…P…P….”
    “Paris?”
    Celeste frowned and shook her head. “P…P….”
    “Problem?” Kim asked, frustrated with the strangle hold on Celeste’s tongue. She hated guessing games.
    Celeste frowned and started to shake her head no, but then began to shake her head yes. Kim offered, “There’s a problem with Adam?”
    Celeste made a face and Kim wasn’t sure if it was a confirmation of that statement or a rebuttal. “ Adam is the problem?”
    Celeste actually growled, doing a strange head shaking no and yes at the same time. “ A p…A p…A p….”
    “Penis?” Kim