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Maybe I’d accepted Talon’s blood bond because it had seemed my only choice, but if I had to do it again, I would. Everything I’d said to my parents was true. Talon was good to me.
“You warm me.”
And then later that evening, he’d said he needed me. I’d brushed that off because he’d slipped that into the middle of explaining why he couldn’t love me, but now it landed on my heart with an almost audible thud.
Maybe Talon wasn’t ready to commit to me, but he’d gradually opened up to me, shared something of himself. That meant something, didn’t it?
The more I heard about his parents, the more I realized I wasn’t the problem here. Those walls had been put in place a long time before he met me. He was protecting himself, same as I did when I imitated an armadillo.
I fingered the gold bracelet.
Maybe I needed to look at this from another angle. Yeah, he’d offered me his blood bond to protect me and the baby, but he’d wanted it. He’d told me so himself. And looking back, he’d done everything he could to convince me to accept it.
He’d wanted me bonded to him. He’d wanted me.
He needed me. I warmed him.
A smile curved my lips. I could work with that.
26
Talon
Sunset comes early to Nova Scotia in December. When I opened my eyes that evening it was only a little after four-thirty.
I got out of bed, a vague uneasiness prickling my nape. It reminded of the last time Eden had left the island. I’d had a bad feeling then too, right before I’d discovered she was gone.
Take it easy. She’s at her parents’ house.
I texted her anyway to make sure everything was okay. When she replied with a thumbs-up, I put down the phone and headed into the bathroom. For a few seconds there, I’d come close to losing it. The woman was messing with my head, even if she didn’t intend to.
Yeah, I wanted Eden to be happy, but there was the pact. And my long-term strategy.
That stupid pact can go fuck itself. And a strategy shouldn’t be a straitjacket.
My step hitched, my brain shocked at the violent gut reaction. I scraped a hand down my face, hating this out-of-control feeling. My life had swerved onto an unexpected path and I didn’t like it, hadn’t planned for it.
All I knew was I sure as hell didn’t like having Eden on the opposite side of the island away from the safety of the castle.
Get a fucking grip, man. It’s only because of the baby. Of course, you’re extra-protective right now.
But I knew I’d feel the same way even after the baby was born. Unfortunately, locking Eden up to keep her safe wasn’t the solution. Even if I could get away with it, she wasn’t a creature, something I could cage.
What if I didn’t have to break the pact? What if I could have Eden—and a vampire mate? Or even a dhampir?
You could turn her.
The surge of relief felt like it had blown open my chest, letting in hope.
Turn Eden, and I wouldn’t have to watch her grow old like my mom. Wouldn’t have to live with the knowledge that next to my life, hers would be a brief flicker of a candle. I could have her for hundreds of years, not a few short decades.
Plus, she’d be stronger, less vulnerable. Because she was fragile, whatever she believed. Maybe not emotionally, but physically, she simply couldn’t fight off a supernatural.
The hope and excitement carried me into the shower. For a whole five minutes, I let it buoy me up.
Then logic took over.
For one thing, Eden’s parents would go ballistic. The locals were pragmatic about trading their bodies for money—that was an accepted way of financing your education or a new business—but they drew the line at the syndicate recruiting from their ranks. Other than me and Cain, no Lilith Islander had been turned in decades, and let’s face it, everyone from the mayor on down had heaved a collective sigh of relief when Prima Lenore had taken responsibility for us.
