Page 26 of This Blood that Bonds Us

He pulled his fingers through my hair. “No. I’m just—this is different. This is something I have to do, and I don’t know how to do that and protect you.”

“You don’t need to protect me.”

“I do.” His eyes glistened. “I need you.”

“They’re my family too. I made a promise. I know you want to protect me, but . . . some things are more important. You can’t save me from everything, and I don’t want you to. We’re committing to this path together. No matter the cost. That means the mission is more important.”

Every day I’d thought of the blood oath I’d made by the fire. I hadn’t imagined that bond would be tested so severely, or so soon, but I meant it with every ounce of blood pumping through my veins. The Calem brothers were my family, and I vowed to protect them like they’d protected me.

Without warning, Aaron pressed his lips to mine. It was a flurry of quiet desperation and need. He worked his way up myjaw to my ear, then to my temple, leaving my cheeks flushed and my skin hot.

“Okay. But we have to be good at constructing a plan this time.”

“You mean we shouldn’t keep secrets and wait till we get captured?”

It had been so long since that day in the church. All of it felt like a lifetime ago, and with everything that had happened, it was. This time last year, I was Kimberly Burns, a normal college girl on her way to graduation. The only thing I was worried about was having too many absent days and turning all my assignments in on time.

“Definitely not. We have to redeem ourselves. No one gets captured.”

“Deal.”

The cabin was warming, and Aaron buried his head in my hair with a groan. “My chest hurts.”

I pushed my hands through his hair. “I think Akira’s blood . . . Her blood connected you all.”

“Do you think . . . they feel it too?”

“Yeah. I think you’re all hurting.”

“I guess hurting together is better than being alone.”

“You’re never alone, Aaron. You never will be.” I kissed his forehead. “It’s okay to be sad.”

“Okay, but in the morning, I’m making a kickass plan.”

“At first light, we plan. Now, we can just lay here together and watch the stars.”

And we did. We got lost in the darkness of the night and watched the stars through the skylight. After an hour, Aaron finally spoke again.

“Maybe this time, you’ll let me be the hero.”

I pulled him in tighter. “We’ll see.”

Eleven

Presley

“I won’t go if you don’t want me to.” My mom put on her lipstick in the bathroom. It was a blast from the past, and the same mauve color she wore every day, even the same brand.

I didn’t want her to go to work, and I wanted to tell her.

“I want to stay, honey, I do. But with there being so few staff out here, it’s really hard on them to not give notice. They really need me at the ER today.” She stopped to look at me. “But if you need me, I’ll stay.”

Mom was such a good nurse that people actually died when she was away. That’s the way I imagined it, anyway.

Aaron appeared in the doorway, getting his nose in my business. “Go, Mom. We’ll be here when you get back.”

“It’s a short shift today. Only six hours.”