Page 65 of A Hunt Bound in Blood
She shook her head slowly, her smile growing.
“Why?” I asked. “How long does the temporary bond last? I was always told it could be a few days.”
Kalla set her hands on her hips. “I don’t know where you’ve been taught anything about our kind, but that’s sort of an important detail to know unless you want to accidentally bond with someone for good. The effects of the first bite last one full day, from the moment you bite them to the same moment the next day. It frees us up to feed from someone different the next day without a horde of thralls following us around. Either you’ve got a more potent bite than the most powerful vampire I’ve ever met or you’ve got him wrapped so tightly around those beautiful fingers that he’s a lost man even without the bond.”
My cheeks flushed, then her words sank in and the blood fled my face, leaving me lightheaded. Him saving me from the fire, uttering those beautiful words, protecting me from Thorn. The water felt too hot, but I didn’t have enough control over my body to hurl myself out of its embrace. I didn’t understand why I was so frazzled. It meant nothing that he’d stood up for me to Thorn. He was doing his job. Nothing else could be possible. He’d said it himself: He didn’t form connections, and love was a weakness. He’d fallen into a habit with the bond and hadn’t broken it yet, that was all.
The tendril of warmth creeping around my heart that felt disturbingly of hope? Unacceptable and unwanted.
“He was hired by King Evaniel to watch out for me,” I explained. “His Majesty doesn’t know about my vampirism”—I hoped—“so he doesn’t know I can take care of myself.” I huffed out a breath. “Not that I could have gotten this far without Cammon, as I told Thorn earlier. But that’s what his posturing was about. If it’s not the bond, then it’s his sense of duty.”
Kalla was full-on grinning now. She tossed her thick auburn hair over her shoulder and returned to her bench. “Believe that if you want, darling.”
“I do. I will not be sleeping with Cammon Ruxo now or ever. The prince is off limits.”
As soon as the words were out, I wondered if mentioning his title was a mistake. But Cammon had made it clear it was no secret. Even if the vampires wanted to leverage it, how would they? They weren’t supposed to be in the country.
“Prince?” I hadn’t thought it possible for Kalla’s interest to rise any higher, but I’d been wrong. “Your big, sexy, hovering demon is a prince? Oh, that is too rich.” She threw back her head with a laugh, then stretched out her foot to shove my shoulder. “Darling, you’d better get him into bed soon, or you risk me sweeping him out from under you.”
I waved my hand. “Take him. I hope you enjoy passing time with someone who loves to talk history and whose ego is as tall as this mountain.”
But not for a moment did I believe that last part anymore, and beneath my flippant response lurked a vicious streak of jealousy that refused to be quieted.
My traitorous heart had acted without my permission, and I didn’t want to think what it meant for me when I returned to my quiet, isolated, adventure-free life.
Cammon
XXVIII
My hair was still dripping from my dip in the hot spring when Cliff led me to a small nook off the main cavern. I’d thrown my old, filthy clothes back on to avoid walking naked through the crowd, suspecting my hosts were hoping to keep me off balance and not wanting to give them the pleasure.
“This is your room,” Cliff said.
The space was separated from the rest of the fury by a slight curve in the stone and a beige curtain across the entrance. Cut off enough to give a sense of privacy and drier than anywhere else I’d find tonight.
“Thanks.”
Cliff nodded to a pile of leathers on the edge of the bed—or what passed for a bed, little more than a mattress and a heap of blankets laid across some rough-hewn pine logs. “We brought some clothes for you. Might be a bit snug but should fit well enough. Give a shout if you’re missing anything.”
He turned and left, giving me no chance to ask where Glory would be staying. As accommodating as these vampires had been, I wanted to stay close to her in case the tides turned. The risk was low, but we couldn’t drop our guard. Not now that we were halfway through this quest of ours. Only a few more signposts to go, then we could head home.
Where I would need to consider what came next. After what I’d promised Thorn, I no longer knew if my obligations to Glory ended when the mission did. I’d promised to guard her secret and hadn’t stipulated a time limit. Without thinking, I’d tied my future to Glory’s if anyone found out what she was.
It made no sense. I hated tying myself to anything. I didn’t even stay in my own house long enough to make it feel like my home. Syrus stayed there more than I did. Every plan I made, every decision, was with a mind to return to Karhasan as soon as possible. Yet now I’d sworn to a fury leader that I would stay aware of this random mage advisor I hadn’t even known existed before two weeks ago.
I searched my thoughts for any part of myself fighting against my situation, a hint of the bond tugging at me, but there was nothing. Only a deep, primal rage that spawned at the idea of any harm befalling Glory if someone found out what she was or if the mutts caught up to us. She faced danger from every direction—possibly in part because of me—and I wouldn’t let anything hurt her.
So yes, until I was certain she was safe, I would remain at her side. I would protect her. And after I returned to Karhasan, I would ensure she wasn’t left undefended. Not only because of my agreement with Evaniel, not only because of my promise to Thorn, and not only because of the bond, but because of my own need.
As long as I was around, nothing would happen to Gloria Dolan.
I turned my attention to the clothes on the bed and rolled my eyes at how vampire they were. Soft black leather breeches that squeezed my thighs and hung loose on my hips, the laces drawing attention to everything the breeches strove to cover. The leather vest was loose and worn open, and they hadn’t given me any kind of shirt to wear beneath it. Cliff had to be messing with me, trying to make me uncomfortable. If these vampires thought they could toy with a demon’s head by making him wear fewer clothes, they were in for a surprise. I could so easily turn this around on them until every one of Thorn’s people pleaded with me to bed them.
But all thought of charming the fury drained away when a low gasp sounded from the doorway and I turned to find Glory standing there gaping at me.
I stared back.
She was dressed in clothes similar to mine, though her vest laced at the front, binding her breasts together while the rest of the leather fanned out like an upside-down vee, revealing her smooth stomach. She’d braided her damp hair over her shoulder, but the mist from the hot spring had turned the loose tendrils framing her face into delicate wisps. Everything about her looked ethereal. And heart-achingly beautiful.