Crimson Born

by Amy Patrick

  “What happened Reece?”

  He stiffened and darted his eyes away but then brought them back to meet mine, almost defiantly. “What do you mean?”

  “You know what I mean.” I twisted and gestured at his new quarters, at the uniform hanging on a wall hook. “You wanted me to help you escape. You wanted to get out of this place. And now you’re ready to sign up for a lifetime of... of... servitude to Imogen.”

  He lowered his voice, as if someone might overhear us in the empty room. “Look, I know to you it must seem sudden, but believe me... it’s the right thing.”

  “How can it be the right thing when we’re not even friends anymore?” I wanted so much more from him than that. I wanted to give him so much more than that. Saying it would seem pathetic though, so I didn’t.

  Reece hissed a long breath through his teeth. “I’m trying to be your friend, okay?”

  “Well, you’re not acting like a friend. Friends talk to each other. Friends spend time together. You’re pushing me away.”

  He grimaced. “I’m sorry about that. I... we can talk. We can spend time together. Just not here—and not tonight.”

  “When?”

  “When I’m not training.”

  “And when will that be?”

  “I’m not sure. Listen, I’m tired. I have to get some sleep. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow. My Bloodbound physical tests are starting. And you should go before any of the other guys see you here.”

  “Why?” I shot him a sassy glance and cocked my head. “Are you worried one of them will want to be my ‘friend?’”

  He scowled. “I’m worried one of them will report you to Imogen. Now go. I’ll see you tomorrow night. Maybe after the tests, we can take that sight-seeing tour you promised me.”

  23

  Drastic Action

  I saw Reece the next night, all right, but we did not go sight-seeing in the caverns. Or do anything else together.

  He gave me an excuse, claiming the testing exercises had been particularly grueling and he had to head back to his barracks to go to bed early.

  Next night, same story. I was beginning to panic.

  Sadie Aldritch’s speech in D. C. was only ten days away. So was Imogen’s Inception Ceremony.

  I didn’t want to be anywhere near the Bastion when that took place, and I really didn’t want to leave Reece here for it.

  The ceremony would also serve as his initiation into the Bloodbound when he would take his binding eternal vows. I was running out of time to convince him not to go through with it. I had to get his attention somehow.

  The following night, I decided drastic action was called for. Reece knew that by joining the Bloodbound he was taking himself out of the running to be my mate and leaving me single.

  So I would behave like a single girl.

  First, I recruited Heather to give me a makeover. If anyone knew what vampire guys found attractive, she did.

  “I’ve been waiting for this since the day we met,” she exclaimed, excitedly combing through my long hair, which had never been cut before.

  “Hey—should I be offended?” I laughed. “I thought guys liked long hair.”

  “They do... as long as they can still see your butt.”

  I laughed out loud, scandalized, and covered my mouth with both hands as she went to work with the shears.

  When she was finished, the floor around us was covered in dark curls.

  Thankfully, I had plenty of hair left. It looked better than it ever had in my life, falling in long waves that were still well past my shoulders but left my... backside—I blushed just thinking about it—in clear view.

  Makeup came next, and that was where Kelly applied her expertise.

  “I used to do all my friends’ makeup for school dances and picture day,” she informed me, and I nodded like I understood.

  I had zero personal experience with either, but it was clear these events had honed my friend’s skills with a mascara wand as well as all those tiny little brushes.

  During the makeup session, she turned my chair away from the mirror, so I had only a marginal side-view. Once she’d declared her work complete and “gorgeous,” I turned my chair to face my reflection and literally gasped aloud.

  Logically, I knew it was me in the mirror. But it was still hard to believe. I looked so much older... so much... prettier, I almost looked like a different person.

  Contradicting my thoughts, Heather squealed, “It’s perfect. She looks like her, only more beautiful—like the best version of her.”

  “And now for the finishing touch.” She opened a bag and drew out a scrap of red cloth. “Your swimsuit. Say hello to La Perla.”

  “And goodbye to modesty,” I muttered in dismay. “Is that the whole thing?”

  She motioned impatiently for me to change into it. “It’s much more full coverage when you see it on. It’s going to be fabulous on you.”

  I stepped into my closet to put it on then emerged, tugging at the edges of material that was comfortable but seemed present in inadequate quantities for the job.

  “Do you know the meaning of the word ‘full?’” I asked Heather, and she laughed out loud.

  “Oh my gosh, look at you,” Kelly exclaimed. “You’re stunning.”

  “I’m freezing. No respectable Amish girl would be caught dead in this.” I glanced in the mirror, turning side to side and attempting once again to stretch the sexy suit into a more chaste one before putting on a cover-up.

  Heather scoffed. “Well, you’re not Amish anymore. And you’re dead to them, so get over it.”

  “Good point,” I admitted.

  “Now,” she said with a shark-like grin, “let’s go find your boyfriend.”

  Many members of the Bastion community spent their leisure time bathing in the cavern’s communal pools.

  Formed millions of years ago by underground rivers, the cavern’s lakes were clear and inviting. Some of them were no more than eighteen inches deep and served as glass-smooth mirrors, reflecting the fascinating multicolored stalactites hanging from the ceilings above them. They were decorative only.

  Only one was deep enough to swim in—Fairy Lake. Its mineral content was purported to work wonders on sore muscles.

  Perhaps that was why the Bloodbound went there every night for a soak after training.

  Tonight, we’d be joining them. Heather and Kelly donned swimsuits and cover-ups of their own and we set off for the natural pool. When we reached it, I stopped and stared in surprise.

  “Great vampire minds think alike,” Heather said, reading my mind. “Or at least the female ones do.”

  Apparently Bloodbound-ogling was a popular event at the Bastion. Dozens of women were in the pool or lounging on the sides of it—all within view of the tall, fit warriors taking their evening hydrotherapy.

  Though Kannon had told me the Bloodbound vows included forgoing romantic relationships, it was clear not all of the warriors were happy with that state of affairs.

  Quite a few of the men were reacting to the sight of the scantily clad females in exactly the way the women were hoping they would. Nudging each other to look. Staring. Practically drooling.

  I was happy to note Reece was not among them.

  Oh, he was there—in all his bare-chested, wide-shouldered, perfect-featured glory. But he wasn’t looking at any of the girls at the pool—including me.

  Which was a problem. How was I supposed to get his attention if he wouldn’t even look in my direction?

  “They won’t even notice us in this crowd,” Kelly said, drawing the same conclusion I had.

  “Oh yes they will. Follow me.” Heather strode directly toward the end of the pool where the Bloodbound had congregated.

  Some of them, like Reece, swam laps. Some sat on the pool’s graduated entry steps or the rock seating ledge that jutted out of the pool’s walls below the clear surface. Others stood in the waist-deep water, fanning it with their hands and talking with one another.

/>   While the other women were following the rules and keeping their distance, it appeared Heather meant to jump right into the middle of the Bloodbound group.

  “Wait,” I hissed. “I don’t think we should...”

  She simply tossed a naughty smile over her shoulder at me and kept going. When she reached them, she didn’t jump in, but she did something just as bold.

  Dropping her cover-up at the edge of the pool, she stepped down onto the first level of the entry steps.

  Speaking to the two warriors seated on the next step, she said, “Excuse me. Could I get by? Thanks so much.”

  One of them ran his gaze up and down her long legs and scooted to the side. Slightly. The other smiled widely and made a grand gesture with one hand.

  “By all means. No problem—at all.”

  Now Heather turned her attention to Kelly and me as we stood paralyzed on the side of the pool where she’d left her cover-up.

  “I was right. It’s much warmer down at this end,” she announced in an overly loud voice and beckoned with both hands. “Come on. Get in.”

  I strongly considered turning and running back to my chamber, but then I spotted Reece. He was still doing laps, ignoring everyone around him as he knifed one arm then the other through the water.

  He swam like it was a competition, stroking vigorously toward one side of the pool then turning and going toward the other end, barely coming up for air.

  He still hadn’t so much as glanced my way.

  What was it going to take? Did I have to climb on his back and dunk him under as I used to do to Josiah and Aaron at the swimming hole as children?

  Hastily I unfastened the tie of my cover-up, let it drop to the stone pool deck, and followed Kelly into the pool.

  As I descended the steps into the water, I was incredibly self-conscious. I’d never been on a stage of any kind, but this must have been what it felt like. It seemed like a thousand eyes probed the skin my skimpy suit left uncovered.

  Were Reece’s eyes among them? The thought raised goosebumps all over my body while at the same time warming me up.

  The minute my feet reached the pool floor, they were off it again. Someone had picked me up from behind. And then I was being carried like a baby, crushed against a hard chest, immobilized by two steely arms.

  “Hey—what do you think you’re—”

  “Just shut up,” a hard voice pleaded. “Please. Trust me, it’s for your own good.”

  It was Reece, and he was carrying me up the steps out of the water and away from the pool. When we’d gotten away from the crowd, he set me down and gestured to my dripping and now-chilled body.

  His eyes were full of fire. “What are you doing?”

  “Swimming,” I said innocently.

  He gave me a sour glance. “I know that. What are you wearing?”

  “A bathing suit,” I said with an isn’t-it-obvious eyeroll.

  He gestured to his black swim trunks. “This is a bathing suit. That—is a powder keg.”

  I didn’t smile, but I wanted to. If I was a powder keg, Reece was a lit fuse, sparking and sizzling with repressed desire.

  I shrugged, keeping my tone blasé. “Kelly and Heather are wearing pretty much the same thing. So are all the other girls.”

  “You’re not other girls.”

  He sliced a glance at his fellow warriors and grimaced before snatching a towel hanging from a nearby rock wall and wrapping it around me.

  Reece lowered his head so our gazes were even and lowered his voice as well until it was barely above a whisper.

  “Do you have any clue how tightly wound these guys are?”

  “Tightly wound?” I repeated.

  He lifted a suggestive brow. “Horny.”

  “Oh.” I’d never heard the term before—it wasn’t used in my Amish community, but Reece’s tone and expression gave me some clue.

  I tilted my chin higher in defiance. “So? What if they are? You’re not interested. And it’s not your job to protect me.”

  He sulked but didn’t argue. Instead he said, “Maybe it’s them I’m protecting.”

  “Them?” I cast a sardonic glance over the group of huge, shirtless men bulging with muscle. “That’s ridiculous.”

  “Is it?” He lowered his voice further. “Do you know what Imogen would do to a Bloodbound who breaks his vows?”

  A quick flash of the public execution scene crossed my mind’s eye.

  “We serve the queen—and only the queen,” he said.

  “They serve the queen,” I corrected. “You haven’t taken your vows yet.”

  “The point is, it’s not fair for you to come in here looking like... that. It’s too tempting—for them.”

  “Well now is it ‘we’ or ‘them’? You can’t seem to make up your mind.” I scanned his severe expression, the tense posture. “Is there any chance you might be... jealous?”

  His angry face shuttered, going impassive again. “Of course not. You have every right to be with anyone you want to. I’m just showing concern—as a friend.”

  “I see. Well thank you for your concern... friend. And don’t worry, your ‘brothers’ are safe from me. There are plenty of other men to choose from here.”

  I pushed the towel from my shoulders and walked away but not before catching the murderous expression in his eyes. He was furious with me.

  Goody.

  Of course I had no intention of hooking up with or even flirting with any of the vampire males in the Bastion. No, I had a better plan.

  If anyone was “tightly wound” it was Reece. I had a feeling it wouldn’t take too much more to unwind him. And his extreme protective reaction had given me an idea.

  The next evening, I asked for an audience with Imogen, and she granted it.

  “Have you come to say goodbye?” she asked in a brittle tone as I entered the throne room.

  Approaching her, I bowed respectfully. “No, my queen. I wish to stay.”

  Her tone brightened a bit but still held an edge of suspicion. “That is good news. I sense there’s more to it than that though.”

  She was onto me already, so I didn’t beat around the bush.

  “I have a request. I want to stay at the Bastion... but I’d like to be allowed more freedom. If I could go to the surface, I’d be so much more content. I miss seeing the stars and breathing the night air. I want to go walking in the fields and the hills. I grew up spending a great deal of time outdoors, and these past few months underground have been difficult. I’ll be careful. I’ll stay away from the settled areas.”

  She gave me a smile of oh-is-that-all? relief. “Of course. I understand, and I’m happy to grant your request.”

  “Thank you my—”

  But she wasn’t finished yet. “I’ll put only one restriction on it,” she said. “You must never go alone. You’ll always be accompanied by one of my Bloodbound—for your safety.”

  Yes. She thought she was preventing me from making a break for it. But she’d done exactly as I’d expected. Exactly as I’d hoped.

  “Yes, of course. That is most generous. You’ve made me very happy.”

  I bowed again and turned to go before she could add any further stipulations—or tell me which Bloodbound I could take with me. She stopped me before I reached the door.

  “Abigail.”

  Oh no. I turned to face her again.

  “I’m glad you’re happy, little one. I hope you’ll choose to embrace all that is available to you here and eventually accept the full benefits of your birthright as my daughter.”

  By that of course she meant, I hope you’ll decide to turn a human during the Inception Ceremony.

  Naturally, I had no intention of doing that. I didn’t intend to even be here that night.

  Giving her one more bow and a quick, “Thank you, Mother,” I turned again and darted from the room, breaking into a jog punctuated by the occasional happy hop.

  I was in a hurry.

  I had to go find my new bodygu
ard.

  24

  Bodyguard

  There were too many clouds to see the stars.

  Still the fresh October air was cool in my lungs, and the breeze felt heavenly on my skin. It carried the fragrances of dogwood blooms and tart crabapples and woodsmoke from a far-off campfire.

  Somewhere close by fall raspberries were nearing ripeness, and the meadow under our feet was covered in sweet-smelling clover.

  The chirps and chitters of small nocturnal creatures serenaded us as Reece and I walked together through the dew-dampened grass of the hilly land surrounding the caverns. I almost felt human again. Actually, tonight I felt better than that.

  One thing I hadn’t appreciated before was how much better everything would smell—and how much farther my new vampire nature would allow me to walk.

  Neither of us was even breathing heavily, though we must have gone ten miles uphill tonight, and at a brisk pace too.

  Reece, who’d been quiet as usual during our hike, glanced up at the skies. “We should head back. It looks like rain.”

  “What? Worried you’re going to catch cold?” I teased, skipping ahead of him then turning around to face him as I walked backward a few paces in front of his feet. “Or maybe you’re worried that tight leather uniform’s gonna get even tighter, and you won’t be able to move.”

  I stiffened and made a comical face, tottering around like my arms and legs would no longer bend.

  Reece cracked an unwilling smile, and I heard a low chuckle.

  “Aha. So you can still do it,” I said.

  “Do what?”

  “Smile. I haven’t seen one from you in so long, I was beginning to wonder.”

  “I smile,” he protested. “Sometimes.”

  “When? You haven’t given me so much as a smirk the past few nights. I know... maybe you smile when you’re running twenty miles every night with the Bloodbound. Or when you’re lifting weights and doing hand-to-hand combat training and marksmanship practice for hours on end. What about when you’re so dead-tired every morning after your shift you fall onto your little cot fully dressed and pass out? How big do you smile then?”