Page 5 of Brave Spirit (Bound Spirit #6)

Nolan

C losing my eyes, I lift my face toward the sky, absorbing the last remnants of the summer sun.

Tomorrow, I return to school, and hopefully, I’ll get some normalcy back in my life.

Despite feeling better than I have in literal years, my parents insisted that I spend the weeks since the ritual “resting” at home.

I’ve tried to be patient with them, understanding that it’s hard to grasp that I went from practically dying to sudden perfect health.

Grandmother Dalia isn’t helping, agreeing with my parents despite all signs pointing to the fact that I’m fully healed.

She’s even decided to stay longer to monitor me for any signs of relapse.

I’m a miracle to a woman who clearly doesn’t believe in them, and it’s left her suspicious.

“Don’t you know all this direct sunlight is bad for your skin?

” my cousin, Ellessa, chastises as she sits next to me on the plush outdoor couch.

Her porcelain-like complexion attests to her opinions regarding sun exposure, and it’s almost amusing how much she fits the human mythos about what a vampire looks like.

I roll my head from its resting position on the back of the couch to look at her. “Don’t start. This is as far as they’ll let me go until school begins.” Under my breath, I mutter, “I can’t believe I’m looking forward to going to school.”

“Aunt Lillian and Uncle Robert have been a little overprotective,” Kaven, Ellessa’s twin brother, observes while taking a seat on the matching chase diagonal to me.

“You think?” I scoff, sitting up from my slouched position.

Ellessa fans herself with her hand while eyeing the blazing fire in the pit only a few feet away. “Why do you have a fire going?”

“It wasn’t my choice,” I answer with a belabored sigh. “They didn’t want to risk the possibility of me catching a chill.”

“So they decided heat stroke was the better option?” she comments, her voice laced with heavy sarcasm. “How can you stand it?”

I shake the large tumbler in my right hand, causing the ice inside to clack loudly. “Ice-cold blood. Lunch of champions.”

She pinches her lips and scrunches her nose up, her disgust barely bordering on politeness. “That doesn’t sound very appetizing. I much prefer it hot. Richer flavor.”

I rattle the ice again. “I’m actually hoping to diminish any type of flavor.” I take a sip and grimace. “So far it’s not working.”

“Bagged blood?” Kaven asks, his tone indicating he already knows the answer.

“I don’t remember it being this bitter,” I reply, frowning down at the tumbler. The ice is starting to melt, which isn’t helping. Watered-down blood doesn’t taste any better, and there’s just more of it to finish.

“Back then, you didn’t know the difference,” Ellessa notes with a surprising amount of kindness in her voice. “Now that you’ve lived for years on fresh blood, I imagine it’s hard to go back.”

“Why are you going back to bagged blood?” Kaven questions as he leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees. “I thought Callie and that dark nephilim you hang out with were feeding you.”

“His name is Donovan,” I supply, unsure if they intentionally forgot his name or not.

“And they offered their blood to me because I was sick.” I place the tumbler down on a glass side table.

I know I need to drink all of it, but it’s like eating gruel after living on filet mignon.

“I’m better now, so I can keep down bagged blood again. ”

“Keep down,” Ellessa echoes with a fine, raised brow as she twists her waist-length, platinum blonde hair over one shoulder and begins to braid it.

“That’s the phrase I’d want to use to describe something I need to consume on a regular basis to live.

” She wrinkles her nose. “Disgusting, but I won’t vomit it back up, so it’s fine. ”

I glare at my overly blunt cousin and ask, “Is there a reason you’re here, or did you just come out to antagonize me?”

“We don’t mean to antagonize you,” Kaven states with a contrite expression, running his hands nervously down his thighs. “We came to say our goodbyes… and apologize for our behavior in regard to Callie.”

My gaze bounces between my two cousins in confusion. “You already have, remember? Grandmother chewed both of you out for your ‘unbecoming behavior,’” I say, using finger quotes, “and then later, you came back to apologize. Granted, Callie is the one you should apologize to.”

Ellessa bites her lip, showing a peek of her perfectly white teeth. “We would like to apologize again—properly this time.”

“And we hope you can pass on our apologies to Callie since we, unfortunately, won’t see her before our departure,” Kaven adds earnestly.

“We want to apologize for more than our… uncouth behavior after tasting her blood for the experiment,” Ellessa explains, her stiff posture highlighting how uncomfortable she is.

Apologies don’t appear to come naturally to her.

“We assumed a great deal about her when we first met, and we shouldn’t have.

She is… well, I don’t fully understand what she is. ”

“But that amount of power deserves proper respect,” Kaven finishes for her. “We’ve been sheltered a great deal regarding the world outside of vampire society.”

“It may have left us with an inaccurate understanding of power dynamics,” Ellessa continues as she fusses with her pleated skirt since her hands are no longer busy with her hair.

“So now that you know Callie’s a very powerful witch, you’ve decided that she’s worth your respect?” I sneer, anger bubbling in my stomach.

Before I can dig into them about how she’s always deserved their respect regardless of her abilities, there’s a sudden rumble of tremors through the ground, like the ripples from an earthquake. In the distance, several huge trees join the forest.

Kaven and Ellessa exclaim in unison, “What was that?”

Amusement twists my lips as I observe the way their bodies have tensed, ready to flee with the super speed innate to my kind.

“That would be Callie regrowing the part of the forest that was destroyed in the ritual,” I explain like it’s an everyday occurrence—which, to be fair, it’s starting to be.

“It’s interesting that they decided to replace the original clearing with trees. ”

Their tension shifts to rapt awe as they look toward the forest that runs along the back of the family property.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d say they were a little in love with her—not the healthy kind, more of the obsessed kind that perceives all the power that hums through her blood and wants another taste.

“She really is incredible,” Ellessa murmurs with unrequited desire that definitely borders on creepy.

“You’re so lucky,” Kaven states with envy in his voice. He looks over at the sad tumbler still half full of bitter blood. “If she is still willing, don’t deny yourself. There’s no reason to suffer when you could live the dream.”

I don’t like the way they reduce Callie to the blood in her veins, but I also can’t say I haven’t missed it.

At night, I still imagine the taste of her on my tongue and the sounds of her moans in my ear.

The night we made love practically plays in an unending loop in my brain.

I cross my legs to hide my stiffening cock.

After clearing my throat and pushing thoughts of Callie naked on top of me away, I explain, “This is a witch community. I don’t think they’d be thrilled if I kept feeding from one of their kind when it’s no longer about life or death.

” Memories of Mildred magically tossing Donovan and Connor across the yard for upsetting Callie come to the forefront of my mind.

I don’t really want to know what she’d do to me.

“Don’t your parents own most of the town?

” Ellessa asks with a leading look, unaware of the danger that is Callie’s grandmother.

“And who’s to say you don’t still need fresh blood?

” She motions toward the fire pit. “Clearly there’s still concern over your health.

I’m sure Grandmother Dalia would agree that fresh blood is the better option for your well-being. ”

Their suggestion is too tempting, so I change the subject before it overrides my better judgment. “So you’re leaving?”

The twins trade amused looks before Kaven lifts his hands in a placating gesture. “Okay, we can take a hint. Yes, we’re heading back to Rykeworth.” He glances over at the glass doors that lead into the house. “We actually should be heading out soon before Mother comes looking for us.”

“Before we go, we wanted to propose something to you,” Ellessa announces, folding her hands in her lap.

“Oh?” I ask, a mixture of caution and curiosity lacing the single word.

“It’s more of an offer and a suggestion,” Kaven amends, running his hand over his platinum blond hair. It’s uncanny how similar we look. To any outside observer, we appear more like brothers than cousins. It’s unnerving considering I only recently learned the twins existed at all.

“And your offer/proposal/suggestion is?” I sigh, getting tired of ping ponging my gaze between them as they speak.

“Now that Aunt Lillian and Uncle Robert are no longer excommunicated from vampire society,” Ellessa starts as delicately as she’s capable of, “we thought you might be interested in enrolling at Rykeworth. Not right now.” She holds up her hand to stave off any possible interruption.

“We understand you’re very attached to your human school. ”

“A vampire’s education is much longer than a human’s,” Kaven explains with an encouraging smile.

“As we understand it, you’re in your final year of human school.

Afterward, you might want to consider the opportunity to spend time with vampires outside of your parents.

Give yourself a chance to learn and experience your heritage. ”