Page 81 of Shadow Bound

I think my heart stopped in my chest at his words, fear like I’ve never felt creeps into my bones like a virus. “Die?” I barely choke out.

“When a vampire finds their bloodmate, they can only feed from their bloodmate. Any other blood but yours is literally poison to her now. Winnie told me Beau’s been vomiting and coughing up the blood Dr. V brought over. It comes back out black, like it’s turned rotten in her body. Your blood is the only thing that can sustain her now, without it she’ll starve and die.”

No, seriously, I might pass out.

Needing to get off my now shaky legs, I drop to the forest floor, sitting in the dirt. I hang my head between my bent knees. “She wasn’t going to sayanything? She was just going to wither away to nothing and not tell me what I am to her?” I remember how weak she was when she was starving in Colorado. I don’t know how I missed the signs of her weakening state the past two days. The circles under her eyes have started to come back and her pale face has been a little gray. She had been drinking the blood I gave her, or at least I thought she had been. There was no reason for me to believe that she was going hungry again.

“She didn’t want you to be forced into something she isn’t totally sure you want,” Ranger repeats but gives me a pointed look when I lift my head again. “You haven’t exactly been honest with her either.”

“You’re right, I’ve been a fucking idiot,” I concede. Thinking over what I need to do now, I stand with a newfound determination. “That changes tonight. We’re completing that blood bond the second I find her.” My brother nods his head in approval. “I love her too much to watch her die when I have the ability to save her.”

“How are you going to convince her to bite you? She thinks she’ll go too far and drain you dry.”

“Who said I was giving her a choice?”

Ready or not, Isabeau is sinking those pearly white fangs into me tonight. I don’t care if I have to force my blood down her throat to make it happen.

Iwatch from the shadows as they descend the small plane’s steps. Their faces look weary, like they’re expecting to be ambushed at any second.Good. At least they know they’re not safe.

While I have my fingers crossed that they’re going to be able to make it home without encountering any trouble, the unease in my stomach is telling me that it’s not going to work out that way. Nessa has been looking high and low for Pruitt for months. She’s smart enough and has enough spies stationed everywhere that she would have known the second they landed here.

I hope that my little jailbreak tonight truly is for nothing and all goes smoothly. Groveling and begging for Ransom’s forgiveness is not going to be fun if it is. Either way though, he’s going to be mad at me. I didn’t tell anyone I was leaving because I’m faster and stealthier when I work alone. Ransom can’t hide in the shadows like I am now, and he’d be easily spotted by any potential attackers.

Pruitt Weylyn looks better than the last time I saw her. Granted, the last time I saw her, I’d just put a bullet through her chest, and she was suffering from some pretty severe—albeitsurvivable—blood loss. Her white-blonde hair is tied into a messy knot on top of her head and the circles under her eyes tell me she hasn’t been sleeping well.

Jax, who stands at her side, acting as her bodyguard, looks the same. Jax has this absolutely annoying way of looking flawless at any given time, with his model-like bone structure and perfectly messy dark hair. I know who his dad is and it’s clear to me that Jax got all of his good looks from his mother.

Jax takes Pruitt’s bag from her and slings it over his shoulder before nudging her toward the small airstrip parking lot. A car that couldn’t be traced back to the Weylyn’s was dropped off yesterday. Whisper had graciously set the whole thing up. I don’t know how he does it, but the mysterious hacker has connections everywhere.

I watch as Pruitt lifts her head and takes in a lungful of fresh Montana air, a small smile plays on her lips. It must feel so good to be home after being forced away. I’ve never had a home, so I can’t relate to that feeling. The closest I’ve ever gotten to that level of belonging is when I’m with Ransom. In his arms, I feel like I’m where I’ve always belonged. He’s the closest thing I have to a home and I think I’m starting to become okay with that.

I shouldn’t feel what I feel for him after only knowing him—really knowing him—a short amount of time. The connection that started to form the first night I met him makes sense now, that pull I felt to him almost in my soul. We were made for each other. We could both fight it as much as we’d like, but we were inevitable. I’ve never known a time where I didn’t have to fight, but I’m tired. I’m really fucking tired of fighting the pull between Ransom and me,

Despite how exhausted I am, I know why I have to keep fighting my adoration for Ransom. Completing the blood bond is still something I see ending in disaster. I can live with a lot of the bad things I’ve done in my life, but if I accidentally kill Ransom, I’ll never be able to move past it. Nor would I want to.

I’ll steel myself and keep my distance as best I can. And when the time comes, I’ll simply slip away like I did tonight. There is no reason to stick around to have Ransom and his family watch me die. I came into this world alone; I’ll leave it alone too.

A sound in the distance draws my attention back to the task at hand. Watching the tree line of the thick woods that surround the airstrip, I wait for them to appear. I hear their footfalls, they’re too fast for a shifter or human, meaning one thing. Vampires. And by the sound of it, four of them.

I don’t want to boast, but I knew this was going to happen.

Jax and Pruitt both have enhanced hearing, but the vampires move so quietly the demon and shifter don’t hear their approach until the vampires are out of the tree line and rushing for them like bullets across the pavement.

Just as the first one reaches Pruitt, I step from the shadows that I’ve been concealed in, the pair of pistols in my hands lifted and aimed at the enemy. The vampire’s bony hand just barely grasps Pruitt’s shoulder before I’m putting a bullet between his eyes. For good measure, I pull the trigger a second time, shooting him through the heart. It takes a lot to take a vampire out, our enhanced healing can quickly repair most wounds, but wounds inflicted by silver are almost always deadly. There is no coming back from a silver bullet to the brain or heart. Ripping out their throats also works wonders as well.

Pruitt’s head whips around and her eyes grow to the size of a dinner plate when she realizes who I am. I don’t have time to stand here and ponder what her expression means, I have three other vampires to worry about.

The second one comes at us just as fast as the first, a wild, almost manic look in his eyes. He hisses and swipes a hand at Pruitt, but she’s fast and easily sidesteps his advances. With a swift kick of her leg, she brings the vampire to his knees where I then put a bullet in his head.

Behind me, I hear Jax fighting with the third one. I don’t turn to help him; the demon is more than capable of taking care of one little vampire.

The fourth one lunges at Pruitt, but I thrust my own body between them, taking the hard punch intended for Pru. The vampire’s fist connects with my lower jaw and instantly I taste my blood from my split lip.

Grinning like a madman at the vampire, I quickly holster my two guns and in two seconds flat I’ve replaced them with silver knives. Twisting them in my hands, the vampire and I circle each other. He’s impatient and lunges first. In one quick move, I stab him in the gut and then bend down, slicing through the tendons behind his knee.

He hollers in pain, the cry echoing through the quiet night air. He falls to his knees, his hands pressed to both of the wounds I’d caused. With a wicked smirk, I walk up to him. Flipping the knives around in my hands I hold the vampire’s gaze and stab him through either side of his neck. His eyes widen and his mouth gapes with a startled cut off gasp. Blood pours from his gaping mouth, dripping down his chin onto his dark clothes.

Bringing my foot up, I kick him backward at the same time I pull the knives from his jugular. He lands with a satisfying thud on the concrete.

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