Page 35 of Shadow Bound

I like her.

When my skin pricks with awareness, I tilt my head back farther to find Ransom staring at me. His eyes scan me and the corners of his mouth dip when he evidently sees something he doesn’t like. He gestures with his chin. “Come on a walk with me?”

“Mmm…” I pretend to consider his offer for all of two seconds. “No.”

“Isabeau.” There’s an edge to his voice that I wasn’t expecting.

“What?”

“Let’s go for a walk,” he repeats slowly, like I’m somehow supposed to get the secret message he’s insinuating between the words.

Sighing, I stand to my feet, swaying only a bit. “Fine, but I want it noted I’m only going because I’m curious.” I hate myself the second the words leave my mouth.

“Sure, sweetheart,” he scoffs. “Whatever you need to tell yourself.”

He puts his arm around my shoulder and leads me around the motel. I try getting him off of me by jabbing him with my elbow, but he’s unfazed and doesn’t let go of me.

The motel has no other buildings behind it, only surrounded by thick woods made mostly of pine trees. The snow crunches under our boots as we walk, otherwise we are both silent. The light from the moon over head is our source of light. It makes the snow shimmer and it almost looks like it’s glowing. We walk until we can only just barely see the roof of the motel. Finally, we stop at a fallen tree where Ransom lightly pushes me forward, silently telling me to take a seat.

Warily, I sit in a spot where there isn’t any snow. With my arms crossed, I watch him stand there, watching me back. Raising a brow, I ask, “What are we doing out here?”

His eyes drift down a little. “Where did you get a clean shirt?”

I tug at the material of my clean shirt I’d changed into. “I rented a room at the same motel you did. I didn’t plan to stick around once I saw you guys checked in too, but seeing as all my plans have drastically changed…”

He nods his head, shifting on his feet.

“Did you bring me out here to talk about my shirt?”

“No.” His hand goes to the back waistband of his jeans and I’m instantly shooting to my feet, on guard.If he’s reaching for a gun or a knife, I’m going to be…“Woah, chill, Tink. I wanted to give you this and I figured you wouldn’t want me to give it to you in front of my family.”

My breath catches in my throat when I see what he’s holding in his hand. I should have been able to smell it before now, but I can’t smell anything anymore. Not the wet earth from the snow or the pine trees. I can’t even smell Ransom’s cologne anymore.

“Ransom…” I choke.

“I’m sure I’m going to regret this since the second you’re strong enough, you’re going to run from me again, but I can’t watch you starve.” I’m barely hearing his words, my sole focus on the bag of blood he holds.

My gums burn at the sight of it and my throat dries to the point it’s almost painful.

“I know you’ll need more, and Dr. V brought more. I just thought you could start with this first,” he explains.

“What about Sawyer, he needs it.” The words leave my mouth without me really thinking about it. His friend lost a lot of blood today…

Ransom’s lips twitch. “There you go again, proving to me you’re not as evil as you try to seem. You’re standing in front of me starving and you’re worried about a man you hardly know.” I just look at him, not really knowing what to say. “Sawyer only needed one bag, the rest is yours.”

“Mine?” I repeat.

“Yes, I don’t exactly have any use for bags of blood,” he tries to joke. He tries to pass me the bag, but I don’t reach for it. “Beau?”

I take a step back from him, shaking my head. “Why? What do you want in return for giving this to me?” Again, I’m not used to generosity. A T-shirt was one thing, blood is another.

“Jesus, Beau,” Ransom snaps. “Not everyone is going to expect something in return when they help you. I know you’ve only been around shitty people your whole life and have no idea how to accept help, butfuck, I’m not them. I’m never going to expect anything back from you if I freely give something to you.” His blue eyes blaze with irritation as he talks. “If the only way you’re going to be comfortable taking this blood is by thinking of it as payment, then fine, it’s payment for your help today. This is my way of paying you back for pulling us from the snow.”

“I don’t want to bepaidfor helping you.”

“Okay great!Neitherdo I,” Ransom snaps. “I’m giving you the blood because for some fucking reason, I care about what happens to you. I can’t sit here and watch you wither away to nothing. And while it’s been interesting seeing this somewhat docile side of you, I’m over it. I like you more at your strongest—you’re feisty and powerful. Frankly, it’s hot.” He scans my body. “You look like Deathbed Barbie right now.”

“You know your compliments are going to go straight to my head and give me a giant ego.” I quip, the muscles in my cheeks fighting to allow me to smile.

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