Page 15 of Bound in Blood
“Shut up!” Marco hissed, pulling Mateo between two buildings. “There was someone there. A few meters ahead of us.”
Mateo’s breath caught in his throat as he and Marco ducked behind a dumpster. The narrow gap was barely wide enough for the two of them to fit, and Mateo’s mind briefly flashed back to when they were children. He wanted to run, but forced himself to remain quiet, not even daring to breathe.
What felt like years passed as they waited in the alley, their only comfort being that they were together. It felt like Purgatory. Somewhere between life and death, their fate completely in the hands of circumstance.
When he heard the footsteps, Mateo nearly jumped out of his skin. They were loud, so loud it felt like it was being done on purpose to scare them. Neither twin moved a muscle as the footsteps drew nearer and nearer, stopping at the mouth of the alley they had hidden in. Mateo watched as the shadow of a figure came into view, then stopped. His pale face caught the light, and Mateo nearly gasped. His eyes were pitch black.
And they were focused directly on where he and Marco were hiding.
Chapter
Six
FALL 2025
MATEO
Mateo never understood the sentiment of parents wanting their kids to struggle the way they had as children. The age-old ‘when I was your age, I had to walk to school uphill both ways in the snow’ never sat right with him. Shouldn’t elders always want the best for their kids? Surely, they’d understand that if their kids had it easier, that meant society was getting better. He’d always promised himself that if he were ever caring for a child, he’d make sure they never had to struggle as he did.
Looking at Logan now made him want to throw all that out the window.
Sure, he thought, this was the best case scenario. Logan never goes feral, which means nobody innocent dies, Logan never has to live with the guilt of taking a life, and he can transition seamlessly into his new immortal existence with minimal complications.
But there’s just something about watching a brand new vampire try to bite down on a blood bag with blunt teeth that sends a surge of anger through him.
Where was the desperation? The hunger? When Mateo had woken up a born-again vampire in some back alley in Italy, thefirst thing he had done was rip the throat out of the first human that walked past him. Now, his newmate(when would he get used to thinking that?) couldn’t even figure out how to drop his fangs. Something that was supposed to be instinct. Something so ingrained in his system that it was almost as easy as breathing.
He watched as Logan fumbled with the bag again, trying a new angle, turning it in his hands like it was some complicated puzzle and not something he needed to stay alive.
Mateo wanted to shake him.
He clenched his jaw, eyes shifting to his brother for support, but receiving none. Of course, Marco would be more patient than him. It wasMarco’s fault!They were just supposed to lure the little human home, make him feel good, take a little blood, and disappear. Now, they had a mate to take care of. A mate that’ll probably never let them near his dick again, considering how things went the last time.
Logan huffed a frustrated sound as he tried—and failed—to do whatever Marco was trying to get him to do with the bag. Mateo rolled his eyes. His poor, naive mate. He’d never make it in the wild. Mateo was going to have to bring him blood bags for all eternity. It was like he’d accidentally adopted a new pet.
“No, it’s okay. I’ll get it. I just need to try harder,” Logan said, looking up at a frowning Marco.
Trying to appease the man who put him in the situation in the first place.
Was this a newly made creature of the night or a duckling that had accidentally imprinted on them?
The guilt hit Mateo like a freight train.
Logan hadn’t asked for this, after all. He didn’t know vampires existed until an hour or two ago. When he invited Mateo and Marco back to his home, he expected to hook up with them for a few hours, not for life.
And he’d been so patient. No crying or screaming or begging for his humanity back when he found out what they’d done. He didn’t blame them or lash out, just accepted his new situation for what it was. His entire life had been turned upside down by Mateo and Marco, and here Mateo was, wanting to shake the life out of him for struggling.
Of coursehe was struggling. When you live your entire existence as a human, having to cope with a new lifestyle and diet and rules is not easy. Newborn vampires are feral because if you tear the throat from a human the first time you feed, it’ll be a lot easier to keep feeding when you need it. It forces you to get over the wrongness that your brain feels. It seems disgusting and barbaric, and it is, but it works.
For everyone but the tiny fledgling fate bound Mateo to, it seemed. He wasn’t even sure this was a product of the soul-bond. Logan was probably just like this.
“Hey,” Mateo said, stepping toward Logan, lowering his voice. “It’s okay.”
Logan frowned, looking up at him with a sour expression. “It doesn’t feel okay. You’ve been over there annoyed with me this entire time.”
Mateo almost smiled, because fuck—Logan was so adorable with that indignant expression on his face. It was all so endearing. No more frustration, Mateo wanted to bite that pouty lower lip. God, his fangs threatened to drop just thinking about it.
Hold on.
