Page 72 of Blood Bonds

But why?

What was her plan in all of this? Well, it was time for me to find out, once and for all. Which was why I slipped out of my dress, tugging at the ribbon that Talon had been so good at unraveling last night, along with my sexuality. Thoughts of them both were at the forefront of my mind, flashes of the night playing on a constant loop, it was maddening. I even looked at the shower and ended up shaking my head. I just couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t wash the scent of them from my skin.Not yet.

So, I grabbed my underwear, a pair of stone wash jeans that flared at the bottom, and a navy T-shirt I paired with a cream zip-up hoodie. Then I stuffed my phone, keys, and bank card in my pocket before leaving the apartment.

My mission was clear.

I knew it was time to learn the truth and to do that, I had to first go back to the beginning.

Back to that night.

Chapter 27

How to Truly Break a Heart

Amazingly, my luck didn’t run out. In fact, it got me all the way back to Yonkers where I now faced the same run-down hardware store that I now knew held too many secrets inside.

However, before coming to the end of my train journey, I realized I had forgotten all about my phone. The one that was still switched on and with me.

Which meant when it started ringing, I stupidly answered it without looking, freezing the second I heard the growled demand.

“Where the fuck are you?!”

I freaked out enough that I ended the call. But before turning it off, I decided to send a message, ignoring the constant ringing as they tried to get me to answer once more.

‘I’m sorry.’

After that, the ringing stopped. A second later I received my reply.

‘Nothing to be sorry for, if you return.’

I tensed at that, releasing a regretful sigh, before typing out,

‘I can’t do that.’

I held my breath as I foolishly waited for a reply.

‘I don’t know how you are doing it, but you can’t run from us forever.’

‘I can try.’

I typed this last one out but didn’t send it. Instead I decided to give out some home truths.

‘You can’t keep locking me away. I am not some pet of yours, there at the ready for you both to play with.’

I was sure they could have heard the pain in my voice even as they read it.

‘No, you are so much more.’

The reply had me gasping aloud, making the people sitting on the train eye me warily. The early nightfall made me people more cautious because the darkness always brought out the dangers of the city, but it wasn’t me they should be worried about.

It was the unknown enemy that stalked the streets.

That stalked me.

I finally turned off my phone, unable to be trusted to reply to that last message. Because the second I told them how I felt, I would be handing over the type of power I would never get back. Giving them the power to destroy me from the outside in. And I wouldn’t do that until I first knew the truth.

So, I had walked with purpose to the shop, bringing me back to now and why I walked inside with determination.

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