Page 34 of Bound By Blood
At least therewere more figures at home, ones she and her mother insisted onkeeping for themselves, but they weren’t enough to keep her fromcoming here. Nothing would ever be enough to fill the canyon herparents’ deaths left in her heart.
All she could donow was try not to join them. Her shoulders slumped, and she said asilent goodbye to her second home. Without looking back, she strodeto Saber and straight out the door.
The chime rangagain when Saber released the door, and it settled back into place.That ring had become familiar to her and always comforting. Now, itsounded like a death knell tolling out its final goodbye.
“Act casual,”Saber said.
“You mean Ishouldn’t run through the streets, waving my hands and screaming,‘The vampires are coming! The vampires are coming!’” she retorted.“Thanks for the tip.”
Saber scowled ather as she sauntered away. But when she blended seamlessly in withthe crowd, he hurried after her without looking back.
She moved amongstthe humans far easier than he did, and it had nothing to do withtheir differences in size. He’d seen far bigger vampires than himlook like they belonged amid humans; he would never look thatway.
Probablybecause you look at every one of them like they’re a tastytreat.
That’s becausethey are.
It was true, theywould all be delicious, and he was very aware of thethud, thud,thudeach of their hearts emitted. Andallthat bloodwould be delicious as it coursed down his throat.
I have tokill.Then his gaze fell on the sway of Caro’s hips and how herjeans hugged her thighs.Or fuck.
For the first timein his life, his desire for sex outweighed the one to kill. Hewould have gladly taken her back to the store and screwed her untilneither of them could walk. Unfortunately, he would most likely geta chance to kill again before he could get inside her.
Reminded of whythey were here, he caught up to walk at her side. His eyes scannedthe street as he cursed himself for letting his guard down for afraction of a second. It could have resulted in her death or themtaking her.
For some reason,that possibility bothered him more than he would have believedpossible as his fangs tingled and briefly elongated before he gotthem under control.What is wrong with you? Get ittogether.
“If the Savagesdidn’t come after you at your house, then I’m assuming your fatherwent to great lengths to keep your address and existence hidden,”Saber said as they strolled down the street.
While he spoke, hesearched for a sign someone was following. While he didn’t spot atail yet, he knew the Savages were out there, waiting to make theirmove. They wanted her, and once on the hunt, it was difficult todissuade a vampire from their goal, especially one that didn’t carewho they had to kill to achieve their objective.
The Savages wouldtry to keep this hidden from the humans, but they would exposethemselves if they believed she might get away. They’d do anythingto keep her from evading them.
“He did,” Carosaid.
She searched thefaces of the people passing by. None of them were familiar, butthat was nothing new around here. People came and went every day.Sometimes she recognized a visitor from years past, but usually,they were all unfamiliar.
The scents ofcandy, fudge, coffee, meat, popcorn, sunscreen, pizza, and a myriadof other aromas choked the air. She didn’t smell rot.
That might be agood sign, but probably not. The ones in the store had said therewas more, Saber believed there was too, and she had no idea wherethey were. She hated feeling like the prey instead of thepredator.
“Other than thestore, we stayed off the radar, and he didn’t operate the store inhis real name. It was the one risk he took when it came to humans,but he loved his work, creating things, and seeing how much othersenjoyed it.
“He also loved howhappy it made my mom. He could often give or take humans, but mymom loved being around them and had a lot of fun with them. She wasa turned vampire, and while she never regretted it, she loved mydad but had grown up human. It was part of her, and she remainedfascinated by their world; I am too.”
“Judging by theamount of books they write about us, they’re also fascinated withour world.”
“It’s amazing howmuch they got right,” Caro said.
“It’s amazing howmuch they gotwrong.”
“It’s amazing howmuch weallget wrong.”
“True.”
Look at how wronghe was about his sister. He’d firmly believed she was dead in thatfire, but she’d been alive all along. He was sure, in thebeginning, Brie struggled to remain that way.
He should havebeen there to help her heal and to protect her, but he allowed hisemotions to overrule him centuries ago. They changed him into amonster that day, and herelishedthe brutality he’dunleashed.
