Page 19 of Love Bleeds

"You're welcome." Collin's hand moved up to squeeze my shoulder. "Pasta okay for dinner?"

I nodded, grateful for the change in topic.

"I'll let you know when it's ready." Collin got up from the bed. Before he reached the door, I stopped him again.

"Actually," I said, "I think I'm going to head out again."

"Yeah?"

"I need to get some stuff from the old place."

“You sure you don’t want to wait for tomorrow? Go when it’s light out?”

“I’m not scared,” I said, trying to convince myself as much as my brother, because I couldn’t be an adult who was scared of the dark.

“I’m not saying that you’re scared. Just that there’s vampires out there.”

“WAFFER said the blood crystal would protect us from detection. Besides, vampires can move in daylight if they’re old enough.”

Collin considered me quietly. For a second or two I thought he was going to offer to go for me instead, but then he nodded. Maybe he realized that this was something I needed to do.

Because it was.

I needed to return to the scene of the crime, acknowledge what had happened, and move on.