Page 98 of Love Bleeds
"We weren't going to let him die," a voice came from somewhere behind me. Talon. I didn't bother looking at the other vampire. I knew they'd wanted me to wait, but how long was I supposed to let this continue? What if my bomb failed? We couldn't keep Crimson here, chained to this bed and starving forever. My heart hurt just thinking about it. I rested my face against his shoulder.
"You shouldn't have--" Crimson started again.
"Don't say that," I cut him off. "From now on, you have to tell me what you need. Always." I looked up to fix him with my gaze, to let him know that it wasn't only blood I was talking about.
All those years he'd spent longing for more than just my friendship, all those years I'd been incapable of understanding... I didn't want him to suffer like that ever again.
"I'm sorry," he said.
I shut him up with a quick kiss to the lips, tasting iron. My own blood. It should have freaked me out, but somehow, at some point, I'd moved past that. "No more apologies," I decided.
Then I glanced at the chain that was tying my best friend to the bed. I turned to the other vampires in the room. "Do you have a key for that?"
Aldrich vanished and returned a few seconds later. "Guess it's pointless to keep you locked up now," he said, approaching the bed. "Sorry about all that."
Crimson rubbed his wrist as the chain came off. "If Nicolai's coming here, you might want to tie me up again."
"Do you think he could still compel you?" Talon asked. "I was able to shake my sire's command thanks to Collin. I believe you have a strong bond with Luke to aid you. Possibly your memories too."
Crimson nodded. I studied his face again. That quiet determination in his eyes.
"What did you remember?" I asked. Had he seen all the things that I had seen? And how had they appeared to him? Like the experiences of a stranger or his own? I wasn't sure what I was hoping for. I had accepted that Crimson was Crimson, and yet... I wanted him to know who he used to be. For him to carry that part of himself with him, always.
Crimson returned my gaze, a note of caution in his voice as he spoke. "Maybe everything. I'm not sure. It was a lot."
"It might take some time for everything to process," Talon commented.
"I guess." Crimson stretched his muscles as if making sure that all of his body parts were still in working order. Then he looked at me again. "Even if all my memories come back--"
"I know," I said.
"You don't," he said. "I can remember our friends now, and I..." He inhaled, then started again. "I've killed one of them. I killed Brian."
My thoughts stopped as my brain screeched to a halt. That couldn't be true. He would never have.... No, I corrected myself. Damian would never have killed anyone. This new version of him might have. He was a vampire now. He'd been a vampire for a while by the time I'd found him again. He'd been part of that goddamn coven, and he'd acted under his sire's guidance, under his orders.
"Nicolai is going to die," I said, as if that would solve everything. To me, it did. Once his sire was dead, Crimson would never have to kill anyone ever again.
"How are we going to kill him?" Crimson asked. "He knows where I am now. He'll come here and then..."
"He's not going to come here right now. He's going to be in a meeting tonight. A meeting with a bomb."
Crimson looked at me with question marks on his face, but before I could explain, Talon spoke up. "We still need to be on our guard. If Nicolai can't come here himself, he might send people."
"He will," Crimson agreed. "He's not going to let me run while he has a chance to catch me. If there's any vampire team nearby..."
"We can take them," Aldrich said with the sort of easy confidence that made me wonder just how many peoplehe'dkilled in his time as vampire.
"Not if he sends every expendable vampire in the coven," Talon said.
"Aw, come on," Aldrich said. "You've seen me fight."
"I've also seen you trip over your own feet."
Aldrich gave a dramatic sigh. "A guy screws up one time and you just can't let it go..."
I doubted that it had been only that one time, but I kept my mouth shut. Regarding that issue, at least.
Aldrich turned to me. "How useful are you going to be if we come under attack?"
