Read Wanted for Free Online Page B

myself—if restraint is needed.” Matt cleared his throat. Conor’s gaze moved to his friend then back to me. “Which it is,” he added with a small grin.
    I shifted, clenching the blanket in my fists, as this all sunk in. “So, in the hallway, and at your house, you don’t want me to just be a donor. You want my…power?” I was incredulous, and could feel my face growing hotter. Which was worse? Using me for blood? Or my power?
    “I told you she’d get mad,” Matt mumbled.
    I stood, letting the blanket fall to the floor. I watched both boys’ gazes drift down my bare legs and back up to my face. I rolled my eyes. Boys!
    “Matt, how long have you known this?”
    “Since this morning,” he replied, meeting my angry glare. “Sit, Ash. Let me explain.”
    I obeyed, reluctantly, sitting on the edge of the couch. My anger receded a little with the promise of an explanation, finally.
    Matt rubbed a hand over his face. “Okay. I called Conor this morning to ask him what he’d been playing at in the hallway the other day. I wanted to know what to expect at the party. He…” Matt looked at Conor, who was looking at me. Conor nodded for Matt to continue. “He said your power was suddenly there, in the hallway, calling to him. He’d never really noticed it before, until you walked into him. He got closer to double check and…”
    “I wanted you,” Conor finished simply.
    I looked at him sharply. “You wanted my power,” I corrected.
    So that was it. He had a taste of my power in the hallway and wanted more in the library. He must have loved it when I used my power to throw him across the room, further proving to him how strong I was.
    The boy raised a shoulder like it was nothing. “Your power is you.”
    I shook my head at him. “It’s not the same thing. You don’t actually like me.” My dumb voice broke a little. Cora put a hand on my shoulder, solid and reassuring. “You only like what I can give you.” Now my dumb eyes grew hot and traitorous with threatening tears.
    “Isn’t that what all relationships are?” he asked, “What someone can give you? How they make you feel? Isn’t that why we’re attracted to certain people?”
    I would not be persuaded. “It doesn’t matter. It’s not happening. No one’s going to bite me. Ever.”
    Conor looked to Matt. “Matthew,” he said softly.
    Matt shifted and looked at me, dejected. My anxiety level spiked.
    “Ash,” he started, wringing his hands, brows furrowed. “You have to be claimed by someone.”
    My eyes widened. “What do you mean, claimed?”
    “You have to let someone make you their familiar, claim you under their protection.”
    Oh, Goddess. The only way to become a familiar was to be bitten, not just once, one had to be a regular donor to a certain vampire, and ingest their blood. My heart sped up. “What? Why? What the hell does that mean?”
    Matt pressed his lips together, face paling. “The Council thinks your power will begin to attract vamps from all over. You need someone’s protection or…”
    He trailed off and looked at the ground.
    “Or every vamp in the tri-county area will be trying to bite you,” Conor filled in.
    Cora’s hand tightened on my shoulder. Horror washed through me, my mouth hung open in shock, cold seeping into my core.I will not freak out. I will not freak out, I thought .
    Matt moved to stand, probably to come to me. Conor put a hand on him, holding him still.
    “I’m sorry, Ash.” Matt’s voice was full of sympathy. “I didn’t know before today.” He paused. “The Council wants you claimed by the end of the week. Otherwise they’ll force it on you to prevent any fighting.”
    The Council, which his parents and Conor’s were all a part of. The body of older vampires who governed the rest of the vampires. At least, here in America. They made up the rules, and they made sure the rules were enforced. Now, I was on their radar, not a position I was relishing at the moment.
    “Force