Page 26 of Bloodline Unbound

I know what happened physically, but I don’t know why.

I always saw what you two had and wanted it for myself, but I didn’t want to leave you to go find it. Rachel was…conveniently located, I guess. I pretty much had a crush on her from the second she came into the picture.

I wasn’t overly comforted by the idea that he’d gone after my mate because of her proximity. Seth had only been fifteen when I’d gotten involved with Rachel, and I couldn’t fault him for having a teenage crush, but he’d been an adult when everything went down.

Seth fidgeted uncomfortably. She told me she wanted out but was too chickenshit to say it to your face. I don’t think she really wanted me, he continued. I think I was an opportunity to her. She bounced in less than a month after we left.

She’d been afraid to talk to me? The knowledge made me sick. If she’d felt safer, she wouldn’t have needed an opportunity.

I swallowed hard. The person I’d been almost a century ago wasn’t as in control as the one I was today. I’d never have hurt her, but who knew how she’d felt around me back then. Guilt and disgust at myself filled me up to bursting. She probably hadn’t felt safe enough to tell me.

I failed her.

Seth cringed. We both did. But it’s not like she was the paragon of communication and great choices, either. I have no idea how she died.

I had no idea either. All I knew was that she was gone. I’d felt the snap of our bond and it was impossible to not know the reason.

I had to do things right this time. Logan had no problem telling me off when she needed to, so I’d improved in that regard, but I couldn’t let her die because of her own stubbornness.

Seth stared at his hands, examining his cuticles with unnecessary attention. I don’t know if I’d be strong enough to send Lo away if she were mine.

Seth’s words had me laser-focusing on him.

I’d die to protect her, even when she’s yours, he said. I won’t let anything hurt her or you. I owe you that much.

I swallowed back the sudden rise of emotion. My throat was thick and I knew if I tried to speak, the words would lodge themselves there. Thank you. But I don’t want you to die either.

His expression was soft. I craved more than ever for things to be how they'd been in the past. We’d been so close. We hadn’t had anyone else in the world but each other, and I missed it. I almost reached out to him, to bridge the gap, but I was too much of a coward.

His face fell.

I wanted to be brave enough to repair things, to set aside the agony that still smoldered deep in my gut. Maybe I was finally strong enough for that.

“Seth.” My name was soft and breathy on Rachel’s lips as she pulled me aside. Her fiery hair hung over her shoulder in a braid, little charms and crystals hanging from the end of it that caught the light. “Keep this on, okay?”

She tied the black woven strands around my wrist. A rush of affection washed over me. I’d watched her weave it, fascinated by the work of her dextrous fingers, but hadn’t known it was for me.

“You’re an adult to the humans now,” she said, her fingertips tracing the veins in my wrist, sending sparks through my body. Every time she touched me, she lit a fire under my skin.

“Yep.” I swallowed hard, immediately transfixed when she turned those navy eyes on me.

“You like me, don’t you?”

I nodded frantically. “Of course I like you. Who wouldn’t?”

Rachel’s soft smile was a prize I tried to win daily. I’d been besotted with her for years and ate up every crumb of attention she gave me like it was a gourmet meal. I knew she was off limits. She was married and mated to my brother, but that knowledge did nothing to squish those feelings.

When she lifted my hand and kissed my wrist above where the knotted threads came together, it was like time stopped. “You love me, right?”

My tongue felt like a lead weight in my mouth as I struggled to breathe enough to answer her. The heat of her lips on mine was too much, like the burn of liquor straight down my throat, and I was helpless to resist. I had dreamed of kissing her, but never imagined it would actually happen.

The world melted away, and when I resurfaced, we were in the car with Rachel looking pensive in the front seat.

“You’re sure this is what you want?” My voice sounded so strange to me, like I was both underwater and echoing.

“I can’t stay, Seth.”

I turned back to the road briefly, and when I looked back at Rachel, she was gone, with only an empty seat and scenery flying past me. “Rachel?”

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