Page 110 of This Blood that Bonds Us

“She said . . . that the only way for me to save all of you is if . . . I go to the island and that there is only one good way this ends.” Her attention shifted to her feet bundled in wool socks. “She said . . . I’ll likely die.”

My chest tightened at the mention, but I let the thought go as quickly as it came. There was nothing surprising about any of it anymore. If there was one thing I wouldn’t let happen, it was Kimberly’s death. Her death wasn’t an option.

“Oh.” I leaned forward to kiss her cheek. “Is that all?”

“Well, yeah. Aren’t you upset?”

“Kim, do you really think there’s a world where I let you die?”

“No, but—” I kissed her jaw and moved my index finger along her hairline and under her ear.

Her breath deepened, and her shoulders relaxed.

“Go on. I’m still listening,” I whispered.

“I . . . I just wonder what we should do. What I need to . . .”

I made my way to her neck, kissing slowly.

“You don’t need to do anything. I’ll handle it,” I said, keeping my focus on licking and sucking on the soft skin of her neck.

“This is serious, Aaron.”

I pulled away to look directly into her eyes. “Rest assured I take any threats to your life very seriously. But you don’t need to worry about this. I would never let anything happen to you. It’s dangerous. We’ve known that. It changes nothing. There’s nothing to fix. Let me handle it.”

“Let you handle it . . .”

She seemed to be contemplating my words as I continued my exploration of her body with my tongue.

“Why are you distracting me?”

“Because it’s good for you.” I exhaled against her neck, and she leaned into me. “Because your heartbeat slows. Because you let go and focus only on me touching you and on things like how good I can make you feel. It gives you a break from that war in your head.”

“I’ll just remember after you stop touching me.”

“Oh, I can keep you occupied all night. I’m not worried about that.”

I wasn’t using my hands yet, only my mouth to tease my way down her neck and to her chest. Every second, she opened up to me, shifting closer.

“I don’t know. I want to help. I want to—”

“There’s nothing to do about it. Just trust me. Just let me love on you. Let me help you relax.”

I continued but stopped short of peeling her shirt off. “Or we could stop if you want to.”

Her hand moved to my cheek. “No, don’t stop.”

I smiled, pulling her shirt off and vowing to ease any tension and doubt she had lingering in her mind.

MARCH

Forty-Nine

Presley

All night I watchedTarzanand cried. Normally, I’d just sulk in my room, but early in the morning, my hands started to hurt. A pinprick sensation started at my fingertips and moved into a burning sensation that ran down my entire arm. I swear the painin my chest got worse too. I spent thirty minutes with my hand in the snow. It didn’t help.

I sat on an old stump outside Mom’s cabin inspecting my fingernails. All were clean and just as invincible as before, yet they burned like when you get menthol in your nail beds. I’d resolved to deal with the weird phantom vampire pain for the rest of the day till suddenly it stopped. Like a wave, peace rushed over me. I lay back on the old stump and enjoyed the weightlessness of it while staring up at the trees.