Page 3 of Blood & Bond (The Bouchers #2)

“That happens at a hotel,” I snapped, stomping over to tear my bag out of the Vampire’s hands.

“You can’t stay here,” Ambrose told me, stepping into my path. “If we can find you, so can anyone else.”

“No one is looking for me.”

“If they think they can use you to get to Charles, they are.”

“They’re not looking for Charles either,” I lied. We actually weren’t sure if they were looking for Charles or not, but we’d erred on the side of caution. Zeke had been adamant that we needed to be vigilant if he didn’t come back.

“Then why did you stash him somewhere?” Chance asked drily.

“Who says I stashed him?” I shot back.

“Can we stop talking in circles?” Danny asked tiredly. “You know, and we know, that you’re on the run. We need to get the hell out of here. Are you carrying the bag, or am I?”

“You carry it,” Ambrose ordered his brother. He looked at me. “Is there anything else to pack?”

“I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“I’ll take that as a no,” Ambrose replied. He glanced over at Chance. “All set.”

“Now’s the time,” Chance agreed.

“Then we’re moving.”

Ambrose reached for my arm, and I don’t know what it said about me, but I allowed him to usher me out of the room and across the parking lot to a nondescript sedan.

I didn’t think anyone had followed me to the hotel, but their little chat about some guy walking back and forth through the parking lot creeped me out.

I climbed into the back seat without a word, the feeling of someone watching me crawling up the back of my neck.

When Ambrose let go of my arm, I shuddered and scooted down in my seat so only the top of my head was visible from outside.

“We can’t stay in Baltimore,” Danny said as Chance drove the car into the morning traffic.

“It’s a big city—” I began, peering out the window.

“Not big enough,” Ambrose said quietly from beside me. “You shouldn’t have come back here.”

“I had to,” I replied.

“Where are we going?” Chance asked, glancing at me in the mirror.

“You tell me,” I replied emotionlessly. “I would’ve stayed in the motel room I paid for.”

“Where’s Charles, Lucille?” Ambrose asked quietly.

I just stared at him. I’d had chemistry with plenty of men.

Sometimes it was a fleeting thing, and sometimes it led to longer relationships, but it always ended eventually.

Whatever was happening with Ambrose wasn’t that.

Instead of butterflies filling my belly, it felt like a tether had pulled tight between us.

I looked away and took a deep breath, which was a mistake considering I got a huge whiff of him, and he still smelled distractingly good.

“I’m not taking you to my brother.”

“Are we really still doing this?” Chance asked in irritation.

“Leave my brother alone.”

“We’re here to help him,” Ambrose said kindly. “He’s Zeke’s mate. He’s part of our family.”

“He’s my family,” I argued. How dare they try to claim Charles. He was my brother. The only family I had left after our parents had died within a year of each other when we were teenagers. Zeke was family. They weren’t anything. Charlie didn’t even know them.

“I don’t envy you,” Chance said from the front seat. I wasn’t sure who he was talking to or what the hell he was talking about.

“Listen,” Ambrose said as Chance suddenly took a side street and smoothly pulled out at the next intersection, driving in the opposite direction.

“Zeke was murdered. Our brother, Beau, and his mate were ambushed and barely made it home. We’re not sure what’s going on, but we need to get you and Charles somewhere safe, and Baltimore isn’t safe. ”

“Charlie isn’t in Baltimore,” I replied smugly.

“But you are,” Ambrose countered flatly. “And I’ve seen what these people do. You may think that you’d be able to hold out against them. You’d be wrong. If they get their hands on you, it’ll be a matter of hours before they know where your brother is.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but snapped it shut again when he shook his head angrily.

“You will not withstand torture,” he said slowly. “Tell me where Charles is so we can get you both somewhere safe.”

I bit the inside of my cheek. On one hand, I couldn’t ignore the sense of relief that filled me when I imagined the Boucher brothers taking over the job that I’d been doing since we’d realized that Zeke wasn’t coming back for us.

I was exhausted from being on constant alert.

On the other hand, I didn’t know these brothers of Zeke’s, and neither did Charlie.

If I showed up with them, there was a good chance that we’d scare the hell out of my brother.

Charlie had been through enough, and he wasn’t in any condition to deal with more.

Plus, for all I knew, the brothers were the ones being followed. If someone had found me, maybe it was because they’d led those mysterious people right to me. I wasn’t about to let them lead any assholes to Charlie.

“Take us to the house,” Ambrose ordered after a few minutes of silence.

Chance sighed in irritation and nodded.

The car was quiet as we drove in circles.

Back and forth through the city, never taking the same streets or crossing previous paths.

It took us two hours. Finally, we drove down a quiet suburban street, passing someone walking a dog, a couple of toddlers and their mother drawing on their driveway with chalk, and an old man sitting on the porch in a lawn chair.

Chance reached above his head, and as we pulled into a driveway, the garage in front of us began to open. The minute the door was high enough, we pulled inside. No one moved until the door had closed behind us again.

“I’ll do a quick sweep,” Danny announced as he left the car.

“Whose house is this?” I looked around the garage.

A few tennis rackets hung from pegs on the wall.

Beside them, a tool bench sat deserted, an array of tools scattered across the surface like someone had only set them down for a moment and planned on coming right back.

Two bicycles were parked in the corner, helmets dangling from the handlebars.

“Clear,” Danny called from the doorway to the house.

Ambrose and Chance thrust their doors open and climbed out of the car.

I sat for a moment, wondering if I should just stay where I was.

I didn’t want to go into some strange house with them.

I didn’t want to be dealing with any of the shit we’d been slogging through since the day Zeke approached Charlie at an outdoor café and our lives were upended.

We’d been saving for years to take the year-long trip through Europe.

We’d never had enough money when we were kids to take any kind of vacation, and we’d promised each other in middle school that someday we’d leave it all behind and see everything that we wanted to.

Architecture and artwork and parks and gardens and restaurants and shopping centers and canals and beaches—the world was our oyster, and we’d finally had to opportunity to reach for it all. Then everything had imploded.

“Come on,” Ambrose ordered, throwing open my door.

“Where are we?” I demanded as I followed him into the house, clutching my bag. What the hell had they done with my baseball bat?

“A friend’s place,” he replied easily.

“A friend. Right ,” I shot back sarcastically. “A friend who just gives you the remote to his garage door”—I looked around the house—“and isn’t even here.”

“Where is Charlie?” Chance barked, glaring at me.

“Fuck you,” I enunciated slowly.

Chance looked at Ambrose like he would help. When Ambrose said nothing, Chance’s glare moved back to me.

“We’re not fucking around here,” he snapped. “We need to get your brother somewhere safe yesterday.”

“Forgive me for not putting a lot of stock in your promises of protection,” I scoffed, waving him off like an annoying fly. “Considering your brother is the entire reason I’m not sunbathing topless in France right now.”

“Don’t you—” Chance began to round the kitchen island separating us, but stopped instantly when Ambrose lifted his hand.

“Enough,” he said quietly. He looked at me. “How about you go pick a bedroom. The primary at the end of the hall has a connected bathroom.”

“Fine,” I replied, moving in that direction.

“We don’t have time for this,” Danny said as I left the kitchen. “We need to get back?—”

I reached the bedroom and slammed the door behind me.

Taking a deep breath, I dropped onto the end of the bed and set my bag between my feet.

The sun shone through the blinds of the simple room.

There was no dresser, just a bed and two nightstands with small lamps.

The door to what I imagined was the bathroom was closed, but the one to the walk-in closet was open and empty.

There wasn’t even a random pair of shoes left inside.

Where the fuck were we? No one lived here. The place was clean and tidy, but there was no sign that anyone had been here in a long time, despite the lack of dust.

Jesus, Charlie had really fucked us when he fell in love with Zeke. My poor, heartsick brother.

Carrying my bag with me, I walked into the massive bathroom and closed the door behind me.

A little window above the shower filtered in enough light that I didn’t even have to turn on the vanity lights, but I did anyway.

Might as well waste a little electricity since I’d basically been kidnapped.

I grimaced at my reflection in the large mirror behind the sinks.

My hair was a mess, falling out of my ponytail and hanging around my face.

My eyes had dark circles beneath them, with good reason.

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had a full night of sleep.

My clothes were wrinkled past the point of worn and straddling the line of slept in. I looked like shit.

I told myself it didn’t matter as I tidied my hair and changed my shirt into a slightly less wrinkled one from my bag, but somewhere inside, it did.

These were Zeke’s brothers, and even though my resentment was so strong I could practically taste it, I’d still loved my brother-in-law.

It was impossible not to after I’d seen the way he treated Charlie.

The way he’d looked at him. The way he’d spoken to him.

Clearing my throat, I pulled out my toothbrush and toothpaste and got to work. There was no reason to think about Zeke. Not yet. Not until I had a little more time to really sit in it and mourn the life my brother could’ve had, and now never would.

When I finally came out of the bathroom, Ambrose was sitting on the bed, waiting.

“I thought you said I could pick my room,” I greeted as I set down my bag. “I didn’t hear you knock.”

Dear God, he was incredible to look at. I couldn’t really accept how attractive he was. I’d been around other Vampires—Zeke and his cousin—and I’d noticed that they were both good-looking, but they weren’t even in the same league as Zeke’s eldest brother.

“Tell me what I can do to make you feel more comfortable about trusting us.”

“Drop me off at the nearest bus station,” I replied instantly.

“You know I can’t do that.”

“Won’t,” I corrected.

“Can’t,” he reiterated. I stared as he slid his fingers through his hair in frustration. The strands fell neatly back into place, and as I dropped my gaze, I met his. My stomach somersaulted.

I was fucking trapped in this house in some random neighborhood with Vampires I didn’t know.

By tonight, Charlie would be losing his mind with worry if I hadn’t shown up yet.

I was on the run, maybe , from some shadow organization that was searching for my brother, and I couldn’t stop staring at this guy.

Why should I give a single fuck that he was good-looking?

How had I even noticed with all the craziness swirling around me?

I couldn’t think of a less appropriate time to lust after someone, especially this guy. What the hell was?—

I stumbled back a step as a thought raced through my mind. Familiar. He seemed familiar . That was what Charlie had said to me on the day we’d met Zeke.

No. No fucking way.

Ambrose rose to his feet.

“Stop,” I snapped.

“It’s all right,” he said gently.

The only reason I didn’t start screaming is that he held still. He didn’t make a single move toward me.

That’s when I noticed the expression on his face. The look in his eyes. The tone of his voice.

Every time I’d found myself staring at him, he’d already been staring at me.

He hadn’t said that he needed to get Charlie somewhere safe. He’d said he needed to get me and Charlie safe.

After the moment I’d run into him at the hotel, neither of the other brothers had touched me. Not in passing, not to help me, nothing. They’d kept their distance.

Chance had looked at him in the kitchen, expecting Ambrose to do something about me.

They already fucking knew.