Page 7 of Make Me Bleed

If it was just Bridget here, I’d explain it to her—but my vampire pride has me holding back with the wolf shifter in the room.

“I’ve asked him to switch couriers,” is what I say instead. “Obviously, the other ones aren’t making it past the borders that protect the sanctuary. Hopefully the next delivery will.”

Mimicking her mate’s pose, Bridget crosses her arms over her chest. “Do you need Conall to hunt you more bunnies? Because if you won’t drink me, I’ll get you some bunnies.”

My cheeks flush, burning more blood than I can afford to lose. “I can hunt on my own, Bridge.”

Conall makes a sound that’s suspiciously snort-like.

Bridget’s lips purse as if struggling to hold back a smile.

I pretend not to notice. “It’s May. Almost summer. Do you know how many animals are out in the wild I can tap?”

The wolf’s golden eyes seem to flash. “I do. And I hope you’re not implying that you’re going to leave Dyea in search of them.You know the rules, Elise. You’re safe inside our borders. After that, you’re on your own.”

Unless I’m Bridget and I have a lovesick wolf tracking my every mood, in and out of Dyea, hm?

Now, I love Bridge. I really do. She’s intensely loyal, unapologetically outspoken, and deeply protective of those she loves—including me.

There’s no such thing as subtle with Bridget, though. She’s either all in or not at all, and sometimes she looks at me and wants to solve all of my problems for me.

But I can take care of myself, no matter what. If it’s sipping on a dead hare or finding something a little more.. substantial to drink, I will.

I clasp my hands in my lap and shrug. “There’s enough of the wild inside of the boundary that I won’t have to leave.”

That is true, and I also very clearly did not tell him that Iwon’tleave if I have to.

On my own?

I know, Conall. Iknow.

CHAPTER 2

JULIAN

It isn’t often that I leave the house.

There’s no reason for me to. Eating human food just reminds me how much my body craves blood so I don’t go down to the canteen. Now that I know that the commissary doesn’t sell any, I avoid the small store. We have a library that I have visited, and a community center that I haven’t, but with so many pulses, so many veins around, it’s just easier to stay inside where the temptation can’t reach me.

All of the human donors are claimed. Vampires are as territorial as wolves. None of the other vamps in Dyea will share. I wouldn’t expect them to, even though most of the sanctuary is now in on Bridget’s secret. After that witch hunter female attempted to burn down Dyea, she couldn’t really hide her fire magic anymore; not when Bridge spent the last few weeks reversing the damage that Linda’s arson did out in the woods. That means that her cover as my human donor is blown, and I wondered how long it would take for one of the other vampires to take advantage of that.

Not all vampires are capricious, clever, and domineering, but enough of them are that I expected at least a few to use mythirst against me. My fellow vamps made their disdain for me clear shortly after my arrival. Unlike a shifter pack, there is no community amongst us fanged supes unless a Cadre forces that on us.

We don’t have a Cadre here, though I’ve lived in Dyea long enough to understand that there is a sort of hierarchy among the vampires. Though they keep to themselves—and have basically treated me as if I don’t exist—I’ve interacted with them enough times to figure out who to be wary of and who might be a potential ally.

And Julian?

He’s at the top of the hierarchyandmy list of vampires to steer clear of.

I’ve managed to do so for the most part. I’ve only ran into him a few times since my arrival, but after I finally shut down Bridget’s intervention for the time-being, I decide to head out and go for a stroll—only to immediately catch Julian’s attention.

Like most of the vampires, he keeps his human donor tucked out of sight. He’s alone, and when his pale blue eyes light up as he sees me step out onto my porch, I can’t shake the feeling that this is another setup.

My hand reaches behind me, searching for the knob. I could push in the door, slip inside again, and slam it before Julian can get any closer?—

—and that might have worked if he wasn’t a vampire with the gift of super speed.

One moment, he’s on the opposite side of the oval that creates the inner rim of the sanctuary town. The next? He’s on my porch, one arm outstretched, caging me in against the door that I never had the chance to open.

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