by Amy Patrick
“I didn’t hear him asking about Kelly and Heather in the clinic. Seemed pretty damn excited to see you, though.”
Reece shot me another side-glance, this one considerably more acidic. “Don’t try to tell me nothing happened between you.”
I was getting tired of his accusatory tone and the needless third degree. So I said something I probably shouldn’t have.
In a tone I probably shouldn’t have used.
“I didn’t say nothing happened.”
Clenching the steering wheel in a death grip, Reece whipped the car into the far-right lane then onto an exit ramp. “We need gas,” he grunted. “And blood bags.”
He practically leapt from the driver’s side door after parking at the pump. Jamming the nozzle into the gas tank opening, he left it and stalked into the station’s convenience store.
I stayed in the car, heart pumping and working hard to suppress an inappropriate sense of elation. Had I made him jealous? If so, that was not a good thing. No matter how good it might feel.
Feelings like that were forbidden for us, though God knew I was jealous of his physical relationship with Imogen.
Nope. Don’t go there. Not helpful. Not helpful at all.
When Reece returned to the car, he had visibly calmed. No sign of jealousy or even irritation. Serenity personified. He offered me one of the blood bags he’d purchased and calmly pulled the car back onto the highway.
Either I’d imagined his extreme reaction earlier, or he’d decided to take the same approach I meant to take to this trip. Focus on the mission. Keep emotions in check.
That was the smart thing to do, and for the next few hours we kept our conversation firmly in the safe zone, chatting about the music on the radio and the different states we passed through. I told him a bit about Los Angeles and San Francisco, and we talked about Sadie.
“You will absolutely love her when you meet her,” I said. “Everyone does.”
“Yeah, okay.” His tone was detached. He was probably zoning out from so many hours of driving.
“You want to pull over for a bit and take a break?”
“No, I’m fine. Let’s keep going. I want to make it to Buffalo, New York before daybreak,” he said. “We’re making good time. At this rate we’ll make it to Sudbury tomorrow night.”
“You know... when we get there and you do meet Sadie, I think you’ll find you two have a lot in common. Your leadership styles are similar—commanding but respectful. You both lead by deserving loyalty, not by simply demanding it.”
“No offense, but how would you know?” he asked.
“I could tell by the way your men looked at you. And by some things Kannon has said about you.”
“Well, I just treat them the way I’d want to be treated.”
“Exactly. And that’s what Sadie does—with vampires and humans alike.”
Imogen couldn’t have been any more different from Sadie. And from Reece. She ruled through fear, which never created true loyalty.
“She’s going to love you, too,” I assured Reece. “In fact, if you ever wanted a change, I know Sadie would love to have you—”
“Stop right there,” Reece warned, cutting me off mid-sentence. “Just listening to this is treason.”
“It’s just the two of us, and we’re hundreds of miles from the Bastion. No one there can hear us, not even Imogen.”
“It doesn’t matter. What I think you’re suggesting is impossible. You know I took a vow.”
“Which means nothing outside the Bastion. There’s a whole world out here, Reece.”
Being alone with him and seeing him away from the Bastion had shown me the old Reece was still in there somewhere. It had created a new spark of hope in me. And he was right, I had been suggesting he leave the Bloodbound behind and join Sadie’s efforts. To me it seemed like a great solution, especially now that Imogen was willing to join forces and work with her sister.
“A lot of vampires have never even heard of Imogen,” I told him. “They get along just fine without her. You could too. And if you’re not in the Crimson Court any longer, would she really care that you left the Bloodbound?”
Reaching over with his right hand, Reece literally covered my mouth. “Stop Abbi. It’s not going to happen.”
“Why not?”
“For one thing, her blood prevents us from disobeying orders.”
“Not you. I haven’t forgotten how you defied her when she was about to force me to turn that human.”
Reece had intervened at the last moment when I’d believed I had no choice in the matter, refusing to abide by the deal I’d made with Imogen to free him from his Bloodbound vows. He’d even drawn his dagger and thrown it between me and the human man—right in front of the queen.
Of course, he’d also said he wanted to be Bloodbound even though he knew it meant removing any possibility of having me for a mate.
“For another thing,” he continued, ignoring what I’d said, “Imogen would care. She’d never allow me to defect. If she let me get away with it, others would try it too.”
“So you know guys who do want to leave the Bloodbound?”
“Some. There’s a good bit of grumbling about the celibacy rule—or near-celibacy,” he corrected himself. “Some of the guys joined when they were very young or desperate for a reprieve from their human lives, and now they wish they could take a mate. They like being soldiers and protectors of our people but not that particular vow.”
I nodded. “I would imagine it’s a... challenge for young guys to live under a restriction like that.”
“To say the least,” he muttered.
Reece sounded like he commiserated. Remembering how passionately he’d kissed me and held me, I ventured a comment that had the potential to slam the door on our open discourse. It was too important to leave unsaid, though.
“You weren’t meant to be without a mate. You’re a romantic at heart. You have so much love to give, Reece.”
Aaaand there was the slamming door, in the form of a frown overtaking his face.
“Not anymore. I’m not that nice, fun-loving kid you met the night of the bonfire. I’ve changed.”
“Really? Because at times tonight you’ve seemed so much like that guy, I almost searched the sky for a crimson moon.”
“Believe me, Abbi... I’ve changed.”
10
Not an Issue
Reece
If Abbi knew about the real purpose of my mission, she would never have compared me to the nice small-town guy she’d met that long-ago night.
And if she knew all this wit and charm I’d been trotting out was for the sole purpose of making her fall for me again so I could dump her, she’d probably jump out of the moving car and run down the highway in the opposite direction.
I hoped she wouldn’t though—figure me out, I mean. Not yet. There was an unexpected side effect to all this flirting—I was actually having a good time for the first time in about, oh, a year.
Talking to Abbi was fun, interesting in a way talking with my Bloodbound brothers was not. Not that they weren’t interesting, but this was... different. Abbi was so unpredictable. Her brain worked in a completely different way from mine, and she was just so real, so unafraid to admit what she thought and felt, to show her true self. I liked her—maybe even more than before.
Which was not going to be a problem because I wasn’t going to let it be. I was going to stay in control of this thing and master my own feelings, making sure no inconvenient ones slipped through.
Only once had my control failed me, when she’d hinted that something had happened between her and Shane during their trip to the Bastion. I already knew they’d kissed, thanks to his big mouth.
What I kept wondering—what would drive me crazy if I didn’t stop wondering—was what else might have happened.
Instead of focusing on that or listening to any more of Abbi’s glowing accolades of the woman I’d been sent to assassinate, I changed the subject.
“So... where’d you get that outfit?”
For the sake of anonymity, she wore heavy eye makeup and lipstick and some very un-Abbi-like clothes. A pair of jeans that rode dangerously low on her hips and a charcoal gray knit top that had a metallic sheen to it.
If you just looked at the upper half of it, you’d call the top modest—the long sleeves went to her wrists, and the crew-neckline didn’t reveal so much as a collarbone.
But I wasn’t looking at the top half. I couldn’t keep my eyes off the lower half, which was... not there.
The shirt, sweater, whatever the hell it was, was cropped just under her breasts with a shiny silver elastic band of fabric holding it tight around her upper rib cage.
Below that was bare skin all the way down to the dropped waistband of her jeans. That expanse of uncovered skin drew my eye like a magnet anytime I dared to glance her direction, though until now, she’d seemed completely unaware of its effect on me.
In response to my question, Abbi wrapped both arms around her midsection, giving me at least a moment of blessed relief from temptation.
“Oh, this?” She laughed in an embarrassed way. “These were in that suitcase Heather dropped off for me.”
Her friend had stopped by and left the bag while Abbi was sleeping. Obviously, she’d been concerned about her friend and wanted to help. Or she’d wanted to help drive me insane.
“The jeans are hers, but the top belongs to my friend Larkin. We had to borrow some of her clothes after we escaped from the Safety Center so we could get out of San Francisco without being recognized. Actually, most of the things Heather put in my bag were Larkin’s.”
She paused and added in a near-whisper, “Unfortunately.”
“Your friend Larkin has... interesting taste,” I remarked dryly.
“Well, she works at Fangers—it’s a theme restaurant—lots of scantily clad vampire girls serving burgers ‘with bite.’”
I chuckled. “Yeah, I know what it is.”
“Okay, yeah. So she has a bunch of, you know, sexy clothes for work. She pulls it off a whole lot better than I do,” Abbi said, blushing a pretty pink.
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” I drawled. “It looks good on you. A little too good.”
More blood rushed to her cheeks, which sent my blood rushing in a completely opposite direction.
A steady pulse started in my neck as well, and my body temperature rose a few degrees. Which was bad. I’d said it to get a rise out of her, not myself.
It was true, though. Yes, I’d been shamelessly flirting, but I’d also been stating an absolute fact. She looked too good for my good. Especially if I was going to keep the upper hand in this fake relationship of ours.
“I’m sorry,” Abbi said, sounding breathless. “I didn’t mean to cause you a... problem. Maybe we can stop at a store somewhere and I can buy some other—”
I reached over and covered her hand with mine. “Don’t worry about it. I was just teasing you. I can handle it.”
As long as I gouge my own eyes out and don’t regenerate them.
“Your clothes are fine. Really.”
She nodded and gave me a grateful smile. “Okay. Good. Because this is actually the least skimpy thing Heather packed for me.”
God help me, I’m screwed.
I assured her once again the clothes were not an issue. Unfortunately, they became one when we stopped for gas again.
It was actually our last stop of the night. An hour before dawn I pulled off at an exit with signs for a gas station and vampire-friendly hotel. I planned to fill up the car then head for the hotel next door where we’d spend the daylight hours.
Instead of staying in the car this time, Abbi insisted on getting out.
“I need to stretch my legs. We’ve been going how long?”
I checked my watch. “Seven hours. We’re on the outskirts of Buffalo.”
“You must be so tired of driving.” She walked toward the gas station doors and stretched her arms over her head, letting out a yawn. “I know I’m sick of sitting.”
Honestly, I was tired—or I had been until she’d done that stretch.
Now I was wide awake, every cell in my body springing to full attention at the sight of her lean waist and flat stomach and the way her svelte back arched, drawing my eye down to the even more enticing curve of her bottom in those tight jeans.
Damn you Larkin, wherever you are.
And damn Heather for stacking the deck against me with her packing. Had she done it on purpose? Surely she hadn’t believed I wouldn’t notice Abbi’s enticing figure in this attire.
Loud male voices let me know I wasn’t the only one who’d noticed.
“Hey beautiful,” one of them called out, slurring the words.
A group of young men—they looked like frat boys who’d pulled an all-nighter—were exiting the gas station store with bags of chips and cases of beer.
From the smell and sound of things, these were the replacement provisions. I had no doubt mass quantities of alcohol had already been consumed tonight.
There was a college campus at this exit, according to the last billboard I’d seen. Hopefully these guys would manage to make it back there without wiping out any fellow motorists or unfortunate pedestrians.
And for their sake, I hoped they did no more than notice Abbi and make drunken comments on her beauty. That I could put up with, and who could blame them?
But their inebriation—or their idiocy—made them take it further. As a group, they turned and followed her, going back into the store.
“Wait for us, honey,” one of them said.
“She’s hot,” another said. “I think she’s a vamp chick.”
11
Checking In
Reece
Damn it. Yanking the nozzle from my gas tank, I slammed it back onto the pump and raced after them, not bothering to even close the gas tank cover or lock my car.
When I got inside the store, the guys were already surrounding Abbi like a swarm of drones around a queen bee during mating season.
“Hey sexy,” one of them said. “You don’t go to U.B., do you? I’d remember seeing you.”
Again, it wasn’t entirely their fault. Abbi was beautiful, and she did possess the irresistible pheromones of a queen.
The problem was, she wasn’t their queen. She wouldn’t be their victim either, not while I was anywhere close.
Abbi, who looked extremely nervous, was actually trying to answer the guy’s inane question. “No, I’m not... I don’t...”
“She’s too sexy for college. Aren’t you, honey?” his friend said.
This one made the mistake of touching her. Sliding his hand around her bare waist, he pulled her back against him and buried his about-to-be-flattened face in her hair.
Abbi was already doing a fine job of extricating herself, but even if they’d all said a polite, “I’m sorry,” and walked away, it was too late. My temper was a blazing firestorm looking for something to consume.
“Get your hands off her,” I ordered in my best Bloodbound commander voice.
Naturally, I wasn’t wearing the uniform since we were trying to fly under the radar, but my height alone intimidated most men, and it held true in this situation.
The hair-sniffer must have been drunker than the rest because he didn’t step away like the others.
“Shit, that’s a huge vamp,” one of his friends whispered. “Jared—dude—get away from her.”
Sadly for Jared, he wasn’t listening. Apparently beer-goggles didn’t just make people more attractive, they must also have made them look smaller.
Instead of letting Abbi go, he gave me a smug look and reached for her again, draping an arm over her shoulders and dragging her toward his sweat-stained armpit. “She likes me, man, and I saw her first. You don’t own her.”
She squirmed and darted a nervous glance toward the clerk and then the store’s security cameras, obviously reluctant to break the guy’s arm in their view.
I didn’t feel any such inhibitions.
Using my full vampire speed, I plucked his arm from her neck and jerked it up behind his back. If Abbi hadn’t been watching, it might have ended up in his backside, but I trusted the loud crack of splintering bone made the point just as well.
“Maybe not,” I whispered in his ear. “But she’s still mine.”
It was unlikely he or anyone else actually heard the words. His yowling drowned them out.
Good “friends” that they were, his companions left him behind and scrambled for the parking lot. I escorted Jared out to them, leaving the shell-shocked group with a parting shot of The Pull.
“Have a good evening, gentlemen, and forget everything that happened here. Your buddy Jared picked a bar fight tonight with the wrong gang member. You should probably let the soberest among you drive him to the hospital so they can reset that arm.”
Then I went back into the store and used The Pull on the cashier. “You won’t remember us being here, and you’ll erase the last hour of surveillance tape after we leave.”
The middle-aged woman stared at me dully and said, “Yes.”
Putting a supportive arm around Abbi’s trembling form, I walked her to my car. I opened the passenger side door, waited for her to tuck her legs in, then closed it. Only then did I let out a shuddering breath and take a deep, calming one.
Again, I breathed in and out, willing my adrenaline level to recede and giving my own limbs the chance to stop shaking.
When I felt almost normal, I got in behind the wheel. “You okay?”
Abbi nodded rapidly several times. Her feet were pulled up onto the seat, her arms wrapped around her knees.
“I’m going to find a hotel at a different exit,” I told her. “Just in case. You hang tight—you’ll be in a hot shower and a soft bed before you know it.”
After a few minutes of driving, her soft voice broke the silence. “You haven’t changed that much, you know. You’re still looking out for me.”
Then she slid her hand over to cover mine on the steering wheel and rested her head against my shoulder. “Thank you.”
