Page 9 of His True Beloved

“I’m sorry, Chrissy.” His voice went soft. “But she can’t right now.” Mom groaned inside. My urge to push him away grew stronger as I took a heavy step. “You can’t.” His voice held firm. “You are putting yourself in danger, and you will make her feel terrible if she tried to drink from you. Hell, she could kill you!” Justin’s fangs showed through, his eyes glowing a brighter red.

I stepped back, seeing the seriousness on Justin’s face. A male vampire behind me skipped up to the steps of my mom’s new home. “Sup, Justin?” his hair was dirty blonde, and his smile brightened as he looked at me.

“Ah, need me to take her off your hands?” Suron winked.

“She just needs some distraction.” Justin’s face lightened, giving me a small smile.

Holy mood swing.

“I’m all for that.” Suron tried to grab my arm, but I pulled it away harshly.

“Don’t touch me. I’m not something to be passed along,” I snapped. My evil glare didn’t go unnoticed by Justin, who pinched his nose.

“It’s for your own good, to keep you alive and safe. I promised I would do that for your mother.”

Biting my lip, I turned away. “Can I at least sit on the front porch?” Justin’s heavy nodding gave me the feeling he was even reluctant about that.

“Hey, now.” Suron didn’t take my snapping personally as he stood back in front of me. “Come on, I haven’t seen you in the dining hall yet. Why don’t I show you around?” I groaned, not looking at him while we stepped down the wrap-around porch.

This place was so Stepford, with vampires and blood. Lots of blood.

Gag.

Rowan and Adaline had shown me around when Mom was here, but I didn’t pay much attention. I watched Justin like a hawk as his arm slinked around her waist. He even growled at other male vampires that dared look their way at her. Rowan had to explain how territorial supernaturals were of their mates. Like, Justin hunted for his mate for hundreds of years, and now that he had her, he wouldn’t let her go.

Red flag.

“Fine,” I snapped. Suron smirked, his arm wrapped around mine. The coldness of his skin had me shiver as I tried to pull away.

“I’m a touchy person, sorry.” His smile didn’t falter.

Was he on something?

“It’s just that I’ve seen humans like you before. You are all really skeptical.” He hummed like it was the most interesting thing. “I just want to show you we aren’t as bad as we seem.” I let out a breath, one I didn’t know I was holding, until he grabbed my arm again. He was friendly, but the thought he drank human blood bothered me.

“Is it the blood thing?” He tilted his head like a puppy. He fluttered his insanely long lashes that I really envied. “Because we don’t all drink human blood, and if we do, most of us now use the blood donation centers. It’s unlawful to drink from someone without permission.” He rushed his words.

“Abloodbank?” I questioned.

“Yeah, the humans in the town over used to be overrun by unlawful supernaturals. For our protection, they donate blood. We don’t need to drink that much. We even have a great big fridge in the cafeteria and—” I put up my hand, wanting to barf.

“Nah, I think I’m good. Some of you drink. I get it.”

“Yes, wealldrink some sort of blood.” Suron smiled, pulling me to the cafeteria, the same place where thousands of gallons of blood might be being held.

Great time to have hemophobia... and hemophilia.

Mom told Justin about my problem. I hate the sight of blood because of the times I was not able to stop bleeding. A skinned knee could easily send me to the hospital and force a transfusion to get my platelets back up. My poor mom had a time with that because I was the clumsiest kid on the planet.

I have it under control, mostly. I just make sure to stay away from sharp objects and handle paper with care. There were times I just couldn’t control it. Periods were the worst, but birth control made them manageable. Unfortunately, I had to stay at home because they were so heavy.

A hemophiliac around a bunch of vampires. I’m the perfect buffet.

How ironic life could be.

“Now, now, I know you are afraid.” My head perked up, my heart racing.

“Yeah, I know about your problem.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

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