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Joey growled at the guard, but the man just stared back coldly.
“We’re fine,” I hurried to say. “My brother’s just upset about…” I trailed off lamely. “Everything’s fine. Really.”
The vampire narrowed his eyes at Joey. “Dial it down,” he suggested in a hard voice. “I don’t care if you’re her brother, this is the crown prince’s woman and our orders are to keep her safe.”
Joey’s hands fisted at his side, but a look of shame crossed his face. “Sorry,” he muttered to me.
With a curt nod at us both, the guard returned to the foyer.
“Jesus,” Joey muttered. “Let’s go somewhere private, all right?” Without waiting for an answer, he headed down the hall to his bedroom.
I sighed and followed. The moment the door shut, Joey took my hands.
“You see what it will be like if you stay. Come home, damn it. If Gabriel is such a good guy, he won’t stop you.”
“You’re still not listening.” I pulled my hands from his. “I love him.And besides, we have…an agreement.”
His mouth thinned. “What kind of agreement?”
My stomach tightened. Blood bonds didn’t have a good rep in the human world. But he had to know, and so did my parents.
“I accepted his blood bond.” I was careful not to say when and why, because if my brother realized I’d accepted the bond to save him, he’d go ballistic.
“You’re histhrall?” Joey sank onto the edge of the bed.
I wrapped my arms around myself. “It’s not like that. A blood bond is more than just a thrall contract. And besides, I want to stay. I never wanted to leave in the first place.”
Joey’s lip curled. “How do you know he’s not compelling you?”
“Because he swore he wouldn’t—not ever—and I believe him.”
“Vampires will lie through their teeth if it gets them what they want.”
My chin jutted. “Not Gabriel. He loves me.”
“You really drank the Kool-Aid, didn’t you?” He shook his head. “A vampire or dhampir—or whatever the fuck he is—doesn’t give crap about humans like you and me.”
“He rescued you, remember? When he was hurt himself. Those bastards attacked us last night. He almost died, but this morning he dragged himself out of bed to save your ungrateful ass.”
“Hell.” My brother dropped his head into his hands. His thin shoulders heaved. “So you’re not coming home with me tomorrow?”
“No. Soon, though.” I hoped. I wasn’t sure exactly how a blood bond worked, but Gabriel’s mom didn’t seem to be a prisoner.
But she’s Karoly’s mate, not his blood-bonded thrall, said an uneasy little voice.
Still, Gabriel had said he loved me, that three years ago, he’d intended to ask me to be his mate. Maybe that was even what he wanted to talk about tonight.
“I don’t like it,” Joey said, but he sounded resigned. “And Mom and Dad won’t either when they hear why you left. We’re a family, and families are there for each other.”
“I know.” I sat down and bumped him with my shoulder. “I love you, squirt.”
He heaved a breath and wrapped a wiry arm around me. “Love you, too.”
22
Gabriel
After leaving Mila, I returned to Redbone’s Fifth Avenue nest. Tomas had left to take his day sleep, leaving Isaac Bajoie in charge, but I wanted to make it clear to the surviving vampires that Redbone had been a traitor to the Syndicate, possibly even working with the slayers to engineer a coup against my father.
