Page 76 of This Blood That Binds Us

“I’m going to bed. I don’t want to talk about this.” I snapped. My old wounds had split open, sore, and I couldn’t keep myself calm.

“Come on. Fight with me. I’m an idiot. Just tell me what I did, and I’ll fix it.” Aaron stayed by the flickering flames.

His compliance and yearning only made my head spin harder. I just wanted to do what would hurt less, and being alone hurt less.

“No. There’s nothing to fix. It’s fine. I can handle it.”

“You promised you’d fight with me.” Aaron walked closer to me, and I stepped back.

“I don’t want to fight with you. I don’t want to talk about it. This was all a mistake. We’ll tell your brothers tomorrow, and once the vampire is found, we’ll go our separate ways again. I just want to be alone.”

Aaron’s eyes widened, his brows furrowed, and his mouth was agape.

“What? I don’t und—”

“Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Are the love birds fighting?”

William’s voice crashed into our conversation.

My breath caught in my throat, and before I could blink, Aaron grabbed me by the waist and pulled me behind him. I couldn’t see William in the dark, but I knew Aaron could hear him. His gaze was fixed on the tree line.

“What are you doing here?”

Aaron’s voice shifted into an aggressive tone I’d never heard before.

“Aaron, just the man I was expecting to see.”

Though he was far away, I instantly recognized a change in William’s voice. My memory sparked. He had an accent. Irish. I faintly remember talking about it at the dance, but any specifics of the conversation were blurry.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Aaron said.

“Do I need a reason to come see you?”

William was standing next to the tree line. Leaning against a large pine tree, he was hiding just out of sight from the light of the fire. He wasn’t the same guy. He no longer sported his pretty white shoes and striped, preppy sweaters. Instead, he wore thick-soled boots that he had tucked his high-waisted trousers into. He was layered in a mixture of different hues and patterned shirts, and a long black jacket that went to his knees. Nothing like what I’d seen him wear before. His eyes were dark as he pulled out a cigarette to light it. With the familiar flick of the lights, I stood, frozen. The flames flickered across the bridge of his nose.

We were right.

William was the vampire.

“Will you cut the bullshit? What do you want with her?”

William’s attention turned to me. “Ah, the leadin’ lady.”

He spoke with venom in his voice that made my skin crawl.

“Kimberly, you’re looking lovely, as always.” He kept his eyes solely on Aaron as he took a puff of his cigarette.

“What do you want with her?” Aaron repeated, still protectively standing in front of me.

“How’d last night go?Rumor has it, you left early on your hunting trip.” William smirked and pushed himself off the tree before stepping into the light.

Aaron’s body stiffened. “How would you know that?”

“Your brothers are a lot of things, but subtle isn’t one of them,” William said. “They’re easy to keep tabs on.”

Hunting? Aaron never mentioned hunting. The last time we’d talked about it was at the grocery store. William straightened himself back up, regaining his posture and blowing out another puff of smoke.

His black eyes finally settled on me. “How ya feeling? Last few times I’ve seen ya, you haven’t looked so good.”