Page 53 of Crimson Bond

“You’re not soft,” I argued, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze. “You’re compassionate. You’re one of the strongest people I’ve ever known... and I live with dozens of huge vampire males. You can be compassionateandstrong, you know.”

She turned her face up to me, her lower lip trembling and her eyes filling, making their color resemble the periwinkles that grew in the meadows where she used to love hiking at night.

“What if I’m not smart enough? I never even graduated from high school.”

“You graduated from the school of experience—and your experiences are far beyond what most people could ever dream of. You love learning, right? You can keep learning. You’ll just be doing it on the job. If you ask me, you were born for this.”

“I was born to be an Amish farm wife,” she countered.

“And yet even then, back when I first met you, I could tell you’d never be satisfied with that. You wanted more, remember? What happened to that girl who wanted a life of excitement and adventure?”

She shrugged and snuggled deeper against me, sounding exhausted. “Maybe too much has happened to her. Maybe she wants to be normal again... to not be a monster.”

“You can be a vampire without being a monster. Wasn’t that the whole purpose of the VHC—to prove that to people?You’veproven it. You proved it the night of the feast, and you’ve been proving it every day you’ve lived in this existence. You are an example to every vampire out there that it’s possible.”

“Oh gosh, now you’rereallymaking me feel like a fraud. No one should look at me for an example of how to live their life.”

“If not you, then who? I was mad at you for running into the Grand Dome to try to save Shane with no concern for your own safety, but I have to admit one of the many reasons I love you is that youdoput others before yourself. That’s the best example anyone can set, the willingness to sacrifice yourself for others. That’s how I know you’ll be a great queen, better than Imogen ever was or ever could be. The people hereneedyou. The ones on the outside that were left behind when Sadie died need you.”

I paused a beat. “Ineed you.”

Abbi rubbed my chest. “I need you, too, Reece. I don’t want to give you up.”

She lifted her head, and her words poured out faster and faster. “That’s why we both have to take the cure. You could have the life you wanted before all this happened. You could finish your college basketball career, go to law school...”

I stopped her. “Abbi... the life I wanted doesn’t exist anymore. Not with what I know now. Not with the way things are going in the world. You know how bad things are. The vampire raceneedsan advocate. They need leadership and protection.”

A new light came into her eyes. “Larkin could produce more of the formula—everyone could be cured.”

“Even if it’s possible for all vampires to be cured, many of them wouldn’t want to be,” I argued. “A lot of themcan’tgo back to their human lives.Ican’t go back. I have no one to go backto.”

“You’d have me.”

“And what about everyone else?” I asked. “Some of our people turned so long ago all their human friends and family are dead now. Some would lose their jobs if they were human again. Some of them would lose more—a mate, a community. Some had incurable diseases before turning. Becoming human again would kill them. What about Kannon? He was a quadriplegic. A human life isn’t the end all be all, you know.”

She shook her head. “I know. It wasn’t perfect, but it was... easier.”

“I didn’t take you for someone who takes the easy way out. And easier isn’t always better. Remember that night under the crimson moon? I said I wanted ‘greatness?’”

I stroked her hair back from her face and gave a self-deprecating chuckle. “I felt kind of stupid about it later, and I admit when I believed your life was in danger from Imogen, all I cared about was keeping you alive. But I can see that vision again.That’swhat I want for you, for all of us. You would be a great queen, Abbi.”

She shook her head in obvious disbelief. “The words ‘queen’ and ‘Abbi’ don’t even belong in the same sentence.”

“We’ll call you Queen Abigail, then,” I joked. I leaned my forehead against hers so our eyes were level. “You’ve grown, you’ve learned. You’ve gotten stronger. You may not feel it, but Iseeit in you.”

“You’re only saying that because you love me.”

I chuckled. “I do. But I also believe in you. What will it take to make you believe in yourself?”

“I don’t know. I do believe inus,” she whispered, sounding desperate. “Come with me.”

“Stay,” I whispered back.

“I’m not sure if I can.”

There were tears in her eyes. My heart swelled almost painfully. Pulling Abbi back down to my chest, I pressed a kiss to her hair.

Though she was wrapped in my arms, I felt like she was slipping away from me. She was so convinced she couldn’t be the leader the vampire people needed.

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