Page 66 of This Blood that Bonds Us

“Can you let us out of the bathroom, please?” I tried to push past, but he had his arm propped up on the doorframe.

“I’m sorry,” Kimberly muttered, “you’re right.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll give Aaron all the worst punishments. He’ll do all the embarrassing stuff, and we can watch and laugh.”

I think that was the fastest I’d ever seen my brother fold. At least he was enjoying himself.

“Please move,” I said, not entirely hating that mischievous smirk on his face.

I kissed Kimberly’s hands as we lay twisted in our fleece sheets. I didn’t know a bed could feel that good. The stars made the sky more light than dark as they blinked and danced in our skylight.With a feather touch, I traced the lines on her hands and kissed each tip of her fingers.

I still wasn’t over it. The smell of her all over me. The way she looked in nothing but my T-shirt. We spent every night soaking it in, just us in our little cabin in the woods.

Sometimes, I liked to pretend that’s all our life was, living in Alaska with no other problems to speak of. There was plenty of hiking and places to explore. Mom loved the company. There was even a community college within driving distance. I imagined the lush green of summer when the mountains in the distance would be the only memory of the cold and snow.

It didn’t last long; once I looked up at the sky, I felt the weight in my chest again.

“Are you sure you’re okay with everything?” I asked.

I was thankful to have a clear head, but it came with a high cost. All the wildness I’d had coursing through my blood a few hours ago was a bad memory that had been replaced by her head on my chest and the reverberation of her heartbeat.

“You worry too much.”

“You’re one to talk.” I chuckled while I played with her hair. “I worry about hurting you. That’s something to be concerned about.”

“I feel great.” She draped her bare leg over mine, and I grabbed it to pull her closer. “I just wish we knew what was happening to you. What does it feel like?”

I’d had so many bad experiences with the Thing in my head I’d lost count, but there was a common theme. It thrived in chaos and destruction. It wanted not just blood and to kill but to find my weaknesses and hurt me.

“This is different than before. Before it felt like this Thing was just messing with me. Taunting me. When I drank that guy’s blood today, It didn’t want it. It wanted something else. And Itwanted to use my body to get it. Like the Thing in my head is looking for something . . .”

“It’s looking for Her.”

Her words accompanied the quickening of her pulse, and a shiver ran down my spine.

“Well, I was looking for you.” I squeezed her. “It was weird. I smelled for you and tracked your footprints in the snow.”

I hunted her, and the memory of the elation of finding her in the shower made me question my sanity.

“I just don’t get it. Luke had more blood than me. Directly from Her, and he had no problem with human blood. It doesn’t make sense.”

“Her blood seems to affect you all in different ways. There’s a reason. For you, maybe . . . you’re supposed to drink from Her. Maybe it does something. It’s just a theory, but it seems like The Thing in your head is seeking Her out for a reason. Do you feel like you want Her more? Do you . . . think of the queen a lot?”

“No.”

She looked up at me with her head still on my chest. “You can tell me the truth. It won’t hurt my feelings.”

The only lie was hers.

I couldn’t resist cupping her cheek and rubbing my thumb over her bottom lip until her worry lines vanished.

“Honestly? Never. Only when I’m worried about what She’s doing to my brothers.”

I actually tried not to think about it too much. The fear of the unknown on that subject was enough to make my chest feel like someone was trying to pry open my rib cage.

“I think we should tell Kilian.”

I answered with a groan and buried my head in her hair. It had dried and smelled of vanilla and honey shampoo.