Page 15 of Crimson Bond

Ugh.I sounded exactly like that pathetic, besotted human guy we’d left in the med clinic. I needed to toughen up where Abbi was concerned—and fast.

If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to carry out my mission, and I wouldn’t stand a chance of sticking to my rigid Bloodbound vows.

Which meant both of us would end up dead.

8

Inevitable

Reece

For the next few minutes, I engaged in some serious self-talk, reminding myself how Abbi had chosen to walk away a year ago when she’d believed it meant never seeing me again.

She knew I could never leave Imogen’s service, but that hadn’t stopped her from running off to seek peace and love and rainbows.

I recalled that she’d never once sent word back about how she was doing—or inquired about how I was faring. And I reminded myself of how quickly she’d moved on with her life—not to mention that she’d broughtlivingproofof that fact with her here to the Bastion.

I’d just met the bastard and nearly punched his lights out.

By the time Kannon came along, the self-talk had done its job and my emotional armor was fully intact. Abbi could ride naked in my passenger seat all the way to the Canadian border, and I wouldn’t notice.

Much.

“Hey there. Why you coolin’ your heels out here? Mommy put you in time out?” Kannon joked.

“Abbi’s in there with her,” I said, “getting some last-minute ‘advice’ before we leave for Canada to find Sadie Aldritch.”

“We?” He looked confused. Clearly Imogen hadn’t updated him on the situation.

“Yeah. Abbi, uh... she’s coming with me.”

Kannon’s head jerked back like someone had flicked water in his eyes. “What? What are you doing? You’re going on a road trip with her, just the two of you? Dude, that’s not smart.”

My jaw hardened. “It’s not a romantic getaway. Abbi’s going to help me get to Sadie. It won’t be a problem. It’s just business. No pleasure involved.”

“Yeah right. I’ve seen you two together, remember? You’ve got more chemistry than a pharmaceutical plant. I give it two days before you’re making blanket forts at the Holiday Inn.”

He waggled his eyebrows to indicate “making blanket forts” was a euphemism for something more intimate.

“You’ll lose that bet. I’m completely over her,” I assured him. “That tends to happen when someone leaves you without a look backward. Besides, I’m Bloodbound now. I’ll admit before I took my vows I had some lingering feelings for her. Now I feel nothing, except maybe a desire to punish her.”

Kannon’s blond brows pulled together. He liked Abbi, or at least he had before she’d left. Just recently he’d reminisced about her like she was the baby sister he never had.

“And exactly how do you intend to do that?” he asked. “I wouldn’t like to hear you were cruel to her.”

I smiled wickedly. “I won’t be cruel. I’ll be a pain in the ass. I’m going to be the worst travel companion there ever was. Every mile will be more miserable than the last. I’ll prove to her just how little she means to me.”

Kannon puckered his bottom lip, raising his brows as if impressed. “You’ve really given this a lot of thought.” Then he smiled again. “Last time I checked, that meant youdidcare about someone.”

“Not this time.”

“Wow, you really are cold-blooded,” he said. “Nothing makes your heart beat anymore. She’s gorgeous—even hotter than she used to be. I can’t believe it has no effect on you. It almost gavemeall the feels.”

I shot him a murderous glare before I realized he was teasing me.

Kannon laughed. “Completely over her, huh? You may be a grouchy bastard, but I suspect you’d no more hurt a hair on Abbi’s head than throw yourself on a solar-charged spear coated in liquid platinum. You still love her, don’t you?”

“No, Ididlove her, but I wouldn’t want that in my life again, even if it were possible. It hurts too much to love someone so deeply.”

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