Chapter 2 If You Choose Him - Adele's POV

My eyes fluttered open as the birds chirped in the nearby trees. For a moment, I forget where I was. It sounded…just like home. I stretched, my aching muscles drawing my attention. My hand traced down the soft covers, slipping under them and finding the top of my thigh underneath.

There were bits of mud clinging to my skin.

Everything snapped into focus as I sat up. 

“Where am—”

My gaze darted around the room, looking at every surface rapidly. I wasn’t home. The last thing I remembered was being on the shore, trying to get myself free.

That’s right. I got hung on the rock and then something got me.

I sucked in a breath, realizing that I must have fainted. Horror washed over me. 

“This isn’t home,” I whispered to myself. “And this isn’t my bed.”

“No, it’s not,” a deep, manly voice said.

A scream tore free from my lips as I backed myself against the headboard. Seven pairs of eyes were looking back at me with various curious expressions.

The scream immediately died on my lips as I looked at them again. “Who…who are you?”

The pair of eyes closest to me stepped toward the bed, coming into the beam of light from the window. His eyes dimmed, but that didn’t stop me from glancing into them. He dragged them up and down the length of my body.

I reached for the covers, pulling them up and holding them close to my chest. 

He was tall, lean, and had dark hair that was neatly trimmed at the sides. Stubble lined his sharp jaw. My gaze landed on lips, noticing two tips of what appeared to be fangs over his bottom lip. 

“My name is Tyler,” he said, his voice low.

My gaze narrowed as I studied him. “Where is this place?”

“Hear that, Craven? Little witch wants to know what she’s doing here,” he murmured, glancing over his shoulders toward the shadows.

I followed his gaze, noticing someone standing in the darkest part. He had glowing red eyes that never left my face.

All he did was ‌grunt.

Tyler shook his head. “That’s Craven. He’s a bit of a grump, but you could thank him for saving your life. That might make him more…talkative.”

“Saving my life? Is that what you call this?” I asked, looking around the room. “Who are all of you?”

“Welcome to the Isle of the Forgotten, sweetheart,” another man said to my left. “You are in our world now.”

“Your…world.” My hands clutched the blanket tighter. “I’m supposed to be dead. That is what happens when they leave you on the—”

“No, it doesn’t,” another cut in. “But they don’t know that.”

I glanced back at Tyler, who took a step back. He looked at the other sets of eyes and nodded, which sent them out of the room.

“Are they leaving?”

Tyler huffed. “Now that you are awake, they are going to step out of the room to give you a little…space.” His eyes tracked the last man leaving the room, who I thought was Craven. “Sometimes dealing with seven males all at once in a small room can be…difficult.”

“All seven of you…live here? Together?” My eyes widened as the door closed. “No one I know—”

He leaned down, his palms resting flat against the bed. “Allow me to fill you in, little witch. This is the Isle of the Forgotten, where all the banished supernatural beings come to live. Most get a long fine and never bother anyone, but there are a few rotten apples around here.”

“Are you one of the rotten ones?”

An amused smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. “No. I’m one who doesn’t like drama. We never bother anyone and stick together. It’s easier to fit in and keeps troublemakers away.”

“This sounds ridiculous,” I said, almost breathless. “No one is supposed to be alive on the Isle.”

I met his gaze briefly, only for him to look away again.

“That is what they tell everyone on the mainland, but that isn’t how it is. Outcasts have learned to survive,” he said, gritting his teeth so hard I thought they cracked. “None of us ever fit in with them, anyway.”

“I did,” I murmured.

“You did until you didn’t,” he said, chuckling. “ I’m sure you will love it here.”

I leaned back against the headboard, my heart pounding. This couldn’t be real. I died on the shore. That was what happened and this was some dream. It had to be.

“No, I’m dreaming. This is the Isle.” I pinched my arms several times, but nothing worked to wake me up from this nightmare. “No, I should wake up at any moment. I’m just dead and this is the afterlife.”

Tyler let out a sigh as he sat down on the bed right beside me. My entire body went rigid. 

“I was afraid of this. Craven was so irritated at the way you were trying to get your hands free and barely dressed for the cold nights we have here. What kind of woman walks outside at night in a thin nightgown?”

My gaze hardened. “The kind of woman was dropped off from a little rowboat on an Isle and expected to be dead.”

“Craven is a—”

“Vampire,” Tyler finished.

I jerked, reaching up to touch my throat.

“Afraid he bit you?” He asked, his voice amused. “Don’t worry. He didn’t sample your blood. He’s not that kind of vampire.”

I laughed as my gaze fell on the door. “Not the type to do that, huh?”

“Not against your will,” he whispered, leaning in closer. “He’d want you willingly, because it makes the blood sweeter.”

His breath blew across my cheek, making me shiver.

“I’m not sure I’ll ever be willing,” I said, my voice shaking.

“You don’t have to be right now, but…you might like it,” he added, his finger dragging down my throat. “Well, that is, if you choose him.”

“Choose?” I pulled away from him, my eyes locking with his. “What are you talking about?”

Tyler leaned back, biting his lower lip. “Oh, I might have said too much.”

Without thinking, I reached out and grabbed him by the shirt, jerking him toward me. “What do you mean by that?”