Page 33 of Blood Moon
“That’s why we’re headed to the house,” Cole said.
That was the last word spoken before the car sped up the coastline and finally entered our private driveway, coming to a screeching halt in the garage.
“I can fucking walk.” I shoved Zac as he tried to carry me into the house. “Just help Braden to the couch.”
Once Braden practically stumbled to the floor, almost missing his favorite recliner, I climbed onto his lap. “Baby,” I said, seeing his state going downhill and fast. “Just drink.”
Braden took my wrist and pulled it to his sharp fangs, closed his eyes, and thank God, started drinking as if my blood were some potion that he required to survive the lethal bite that wasn’t healing from Zane.
“Listen up,” I heard Cole say to Zane, who had shifted back, was wearing clothes, and was surrounded by the other vamps, “If he fucking dies, you join him.”
“I don’t know why my bite suddenly became lethal like this,” Zane said in the same, deadly tone Cole had used. “Especially with a true blood immortal like Braden. I was fucking lighting those otherturnedvamps into flames with my bite alone. What the fuck is that shit about?” he demanded.
“You don’t get to ask the questions, mother fucker.” Logan squared up to Zane.
“Shut up, Logan,” Cole ordered the pissed-off vamp. “It may have something to do with the fact that you mated with Elle,” he said, glancing over to Braden and me.
Oddly enough, I was able to fight my arousal with Braden drinking from me. It wasn’t easy, I was throbbing between my legs, wet and ready for the hard cock I felt pressing against my ass. Braden and I both were oddly fighting that all off, and I was hoping that this arousal part was a good sign. If the vamp was dying, the last thing that I would expect from him was a hard dick, begging to be freed to follow through on whatusuallywent down between me and my vamps while they drank from me.
“Somehow, her—what’s happening?”
I watched Zac silence himself, and his expression mirrored Zane’s and all the other vamps standing at the back of the living room. I felt the mood and tension in the air dissipate as soon as Braden released my wrist, and his neck wound disappeared right before my eyes.
“My blood still works,” I said, hugging the strong-ass vampire.
“Your blood.” Braden brushed his hand over my hair while my face was buried into his neck. “There’s something different about it, Ellie.”
“Why the hell do I feel like we just got juiced up, and we didn’t even drink from Elle?” Zac asked.
“I feel it too,” Zane said in confusion.
“This is a new bond,” Cole said, walking over to where I stood up with Braden. “Holy shit,” he softly laughed. “What the hell did you and Zane do?”
“Well,” I answered, relieved and thrilled all at once, “While you all were planning his death over him mating with me, I guess we somehow merged this whole thing again.”
“No,” Cole shook his head, “It was Braden drinking from your altered Life Blood. Your blood is merged with Zane’s alpha blood.” He looked back at the other’s confused expressions. “What the fuck?”
“So, mating with her merged us again?” Zane questioned.
“This shit makes zero sense,” Logan added.
“Think about it,” I decided to throw my two cents in. “We were all merged and bonded at one point, so maybe something was left in my blood out after Aria took our bond power, and it was brought out by mating with Zane and Braden drinking from that blood.”
Zac smirked. “Well, I think our sexy girl might have just figured out this newest form of paranormal bullshit.”
“You’re lucky, asshole,” Logan smiled at Zane.
“Damn.” Zane ran a hand through his hair, “I feel the bond running stronger now.”
Everyone stopped abruptly when Cole’s second cell phone rang—the untraceable one that was to be used only if Val needed to reach us urgently about Aria. He answered, but I couldn’t make out anything other than someone talking a million miles an hour on the other end of the phone.
“What the fuck?” Cole growled. “Get your ass here now!”
“What’s going on?” I asked Braden, whose grip instinctively tightened around me. “Braden!”
Braden’s dark eyes swallowed me up in a way that told me what he’d heard with his vamp hearing was the last thing anyone of us wanted to hear.
“Aria’s gone,” he said in a low and distant voice.
