Page 33 of This Blood That Binds Us
“Yeah...this is my home. It’s the only constant I’ve ever had. I wasn’t ready to leave.”
I was lost in her blue eyes and the way she was looking at me. She was opening up to me, and we were clicking. Talking with her felt easy. Easier than it had been with any girl I’d ever metbefore. The more I thought about it, the more my heart kicked my ribcage.
“Well, I’m glad you’re here. Not glad you got mugged by a vampire or that I clearly ruined your life but happy that I’m talking to you now.”
“Yeah, me, too.” She smiled at me, and a brief silence followed. Her heartbeat accelerated just like mine before she spoke again. “You sure I didn’t interrupt any fun plans?”
“Ha! If you call sitting in my room studying and playing video games fun. I mean, I guess it is, but this is way better.”
She rested back onto the pillows. The sleep was back in her eyes.
“You can get some sleep. I’ll probably just go hang out in the living room all night.”
“Okay...if you still want to play video games in here, I don’t mind. I’m a deep sleeper, so you won’t wake me up.”
I was already up and headed toward the door. “Really? Okay, but when you wake up in the middle of the night because of my violent button mashing, don’t say I didn’t offer a solution.”
“Aaron . . .”
I stopped just short of turning the knob. “Yeah?”
“Thanks...for this.” Her heartbeat was still beating in a steady rhythm.
“Anytime.”
It was the middle of the night—or rather, what I called the middle of the night, which was really three in the morning. Walking around in the middle of the night was something I often did to curb my midnight boredom. I searched for Zach and Luke in hopes that I might be able to kill some time with them for a few hours. I also needed to keep tabs on them and make sure my cover wasn’t blown. When I couldn’t find them, I cocked myhead toward the ceiling and listened as far and wide as I could. It took a minute to sort through unwanted sounds—talking, laughing, the grunting from upstairs...
My best guess was that they were somewhere outside. I found a wall in the back of the dining room and pressed my back against it. The hum of the electricity buzzed under my fingertips. I pushed my attention further, listening intently until I could make out one of their voices. It was challenging to keep my full attention on the vibration of their voices, but I had a lot of experience eavesdropping on them as a little kid. My new vamp powers were just a cool new extension of what I used to call my super spy persona.
“So, what now? I think we are down to plan, like, X.” Zach exhaled sharply.
“He just needs time.. .just like we did.” Luke’s voice was softer and, therefore, more muffled and hard to hear. Despite being fraternal twins, they couldn’t be more opposite.
I knew they had to be talking about me. No one gave them more grief than I did.
“Look at how good that turned out for us,” Zach said.
Luke replied immediately. “Well, he doesn’t exactly have the best role models.”
I could hear liquid sloshing, hitting the glass in waves. Luke was drinking. It made sense, since the party had died down, and he didn’t have to worry about driving anyone home. But something about it never sat right with me. Luke never used to drink.
“Okay, then. Plan Y it is—to let our brother become a drunk. Sounds good to me,” Zach said.
A brief silence wedged itself in.
“Oh, come on, I’m kidding.”
Luke didn’t laugh. “I know. It’s not that.. .I’m just having a bad night.”
The sloshing of liquid continued, followed by another sip.
“Well, I’m all ears. Shoot.”
“Can you promise not to hate me after?” Luke’s voice came out more clearly this time.
Zach laughed. “You know that’s impossible. You can tell me...however fucked up it is.”
Another pause.
