Page 67 of Crimson Storm

33

Charity Call

The following night, I went to the medical clinic to check on Shane and say goodbye.

I wasn’t sure how to tell him he was a human bargaining chip.

Maybe I wouldn’t. He had enough to worry about just trying to recover from a gunshot wound.

Reece accompanied me. As I was no longer an official citizen of the Bastion, he’d been assigned to watch my every move. He’d even slept outside the door of my room instead of going to the Bloodbound barracks. Imogen was nothing if not careful.

I had to walk quickly to keep up with his rapid pace. “What’s the hurry?”

“I want to get this over with and get on the road. There’s no time for this little charity call of yours... unless there’s more to your relationship with this human than charity and friendship?”

He slid a quick glance at me.

Was he jealous? If so, it made no sense. He was the one who’d chosen to be bound to Imogen, essentially forcing me to leave him behind.

“Shane’s a very good person,” I said. “And he’s been a good friend. I care about him, and I have to make sure he’s okay before I leave. Are you sure he’ll be safe here while I’m gone?”

“I’m sure,” Reece said, seeming not too thrilled about that fact. “I gave the order personally.”

We walked a few moments in silence before he gestured toward the pendant I still wore around my neck. “I’ll replace that for you. It’s broken.”

My hand automatically went to it, clasping it protectively. “No, thank you. I’ll hang onto it. I... like the safety of having a weapon nearby if I need it.”

What I didn’t say was how much comfort having the small sample of his blood nearby had given me while we were apart and how much it had meant to me that he’d given me anything at all.

It was pointless to talk of such things and would only make me seem more pathetic than I actually was. In fact, I changed the subject.

“So, Imogen said you were already planning to go and see Sadie in Los Angeles?”

He gave a terse nod and answered without meeting my gaze. “I thought it would be smart. We’ll still be outnumbered even if all the vampires join together, but we’d be a formidable minority. And Sadie would make a good emissary between the human authorities and Imogen, who of course will lead the resistance.”

“Why you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why wouldyoube the one to travel to Los Angeles?”

Where I was living. Where we might have run into each other at the VHC.

His shoulders lifted and fell in a casual shrug. “Why not me? It was my idea to join forces.”

Ah. So it had nothing to do with the fact I was in California. At least not as far as he was willing to admit.

“Why do you think Sadie will listen to you? I’m not sure you understand how committed she is to peace.”

“I’m not sureyouunderstand how close she came to dying in an explosion,” he countered. “Maybe she wouldn’t have listened to me before, but I’ll bet she’s a whole lot more interested in the concept of a vampire resistance movement now.”

“Did Imogen have something to do with the attack? Please tell me it wasn’t the Bloodbound who did it and pinned the blame on humans.”

“Who can say who’s responsible? It doesn’t really matter. If it ends up being the catalyst to unite the vampire population of this country, then it was a good thing.”

My jaw dropped open. “People died in that explosion, Reece. Good people. You reallyhavechanged, haven’t you?”

I couldn’t help adding, “I noticed you and Imogen are quite close.”

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