Bound (World of Shadows Book 2) Page 8

Dylan left an hour ago after Grace assured him she had everything under control. Gage, however, stayed put at his seat in the corner, dramatically brooding into his beer.

  His car was parked beside Grace’s when we reached it and he was leaning against the side.

  “Still here?” Audrey asked.

  He narrowed his eyes at her. “Yeah, someone has to watch out for you. How many glasses of wine did you have?”

  She stared counting her fingers and we both laughed.

  “They’re fine,” Grace told him, folding her arms. “I’ll drive them back to Link’s place and let them sleep it off.”

  “Grace is very responsible,” I told him, putting my arm around her. “She’s going to be our chaperone.”

  “Really?” he asked Grace. “You’re going straight to Link’s house and that’s it?”

  “Gage is very responsible, too,” Audrey said, a slight slur in her words. “But too much like a babysitter.”

  The idea of him babysitting made me laugh. I nodded long enough it made me dizzy. “I agree.”

  He rubbed a hand over his eyes. “Fine.” He turned to Grace. “You babysit. Just…be careful.”

  My eyes widened and I looked around before lowering my voice to a whisper. “Why? Is there something out there?”

  Audrey giggled and huddled close to me. “Spooooky,” she whispered, drawing the word out.

  Grace gestured with a smile. “Okay, kids, in the car.”

  Audrey hopped inside, but I hung back. I put my hand flat on Gage’s chest and said, “You should go, too. You never know what’s out here.”

  He clasped his hand over mine, holding it there. “We need to talk.”

  Savannah’s voice whispered through my mind. Talk to him, trick him, make him think you’re on his side. And then kill him.

  I yanked my hand back, suddenly feeling ten times more sober than I had a minute ago. I shook my head. “I have to go,” I mumbled.

  I got in the back seat and instead of feeling light as air, I felt sick. Audrey was still happy in the front, digging through Grace’s glove compartment for something.

  Gage’s voice was muffled as he spoke to Grace. She nodded and got in her seat to start the car.

  “Your brother sure is protective,” she said.

  Audrey smiled. “Yeah. He’s nice. It’s Kane you have to worry about. He’s the scary one.” She turned around, eyes wide with mischief. “Maybe he’s the one out there.”

  “There’s no one out there,” Grace said, leaving the parking lot. She turned in the direction of my house. “I’d feel it if there were.”

  “No one but Savannah,” I mumbled. But I was glad it was only her. I couldn’t deal with Kane right now. I leaned my head back on the seat and closed my eyes. “You two should go home. I’m going to be bad company tonight.”

  “You’re great company,” Audrey chimed in. “Don’t worry about Savannah. You’re finding a way to help me, I’m sure you can find a way to deal with her, too. We’ll help you. Gage, too, since he’s so into you. I don’t think I’ve seen him care about someone this much since…probably forever.”

  Grace turned the car onto my street. “Some people talk a lot when they’re drunk, and some people don’t say much. Looks like we’ve got both in this car.”

  Audrey laughed and barely waited for Grace to park the car before getting out. “I’m pretty sure I need to eat something.” She helped me out of the back seat and slung her arm around my shoulders. “And I’m pretty sure it’s going to have to be pizza.”

  Grace took my other arm and pulled us to the door. She held her hand out for the keys. “Let’s get inside first. Preferably sitting down. Then I’ll order pizza since they close in thirty minutes and you two can entertain me until you sober up.”

  We stumbled inside and went for the couch. I felt better now that Gage was gone. Savannah was quiet again. Grace disappeared into the kitchen to order the pizza.

  “This is very good,” Audrey said, sitting next to me on the couch.

  “What’s good?”

  “I’m hungry.” She nodded. “I haven’t been hungry much since I came to Knob Creek. Gage worries and tries to get me to eat, but it makes me feel even sicker.”

  I grimaced. “I’m so sorry, Audrey. What can I do?”

  She sighed. “This has been fun. It was nice to get out—and away from Gage, even though I love him.”

  “I should have done some research today,” I said.

  She shook her head. “You had a long day, too. A few more days isn’t going to make a difference.”

  I tried to take her word for it, but I still felt guilty. Every day was one day closer to her not being here.

  “I should be practicing. I need to be confident with my power if I’m going to help you.”

  Grace returned to the room and perched on the edge of the couch. “What’s going on?”

  I looked up at her. “I need to practice my powers.”

  “Right now?”

  I gave a decisive nod. “Yes.

  “Link, come on, it’s late. Let’s eat something and work tomorrow.”

  “The faster we figure this out, the faster Audrey will feel better.”

  Grace sighed much like Gage had. “This does feel a little like babysitting.”

  I nudged her arm as I stood. “Then stop acting like a grown-up.”

  “Someone has to.”

  Audrey got up as well and set her hands on her hips. “Okay, girls, stop bickering,” she said, making me laugh. “How are we going to practice?”

  I looked around the room for inspiration. “I’m supposed to be healing you, right? So…I need to figure out how to fix things.”

  Grace lifted her hands. “Like what?”

  “Fix a wound.” I walked to the kitchen. “I need a knife.”

  “Whoa.” Grace jogged after me. “Maybe not such a good idea right now. Drinking and cutlery are a bad combo.”

  Audrey laughed. “Yeah, you’re right. It is like babysitting. We should play with fire next.”

  I nodded. “We might have to. But let’s do this first.”

  I saw my reflection in the window over the sink, looking pale and determined. It was dark beyond the panes, making me shiver. I halfway expected Savannah to show up, especially now that I was going for a knife. But Gage was nowhere nearby.

  Shoving the thought aside, I pulled out a short, sharp knife I recently bought for the cute rental home Dylan was letting me use.

  “Now what?” Grace asked, folding her arms.

  “I’ll cut my hand and see if I can heal it.”

  Audrey sat at the kitchen table with a grimace. “I’m not sure if this is the best idea.”

  “Yeah,” Grace echoed. “No offense, but she’s a vampire. Vampire. Blood. See the problem here?”

  “No offense taken,” Audrey said. “She’s right. Ever since I came here, I haven’t exactly been the most stable around blood.”

  “Well, how else am I supposed to test this?”

  Grace lifted her eyebrows. “Fix a dead plant or something.”

  I laughed. “Okay, give me a dead plant to fix.”

  She frowned. “I don’t have one on hand. I’m just saying, do something less drastic.”

  “This will be faster.” I pointed to Audrey. “You stay there and don’t look.”

  Audrey lowered her head to the table, mumbling, “My pleasure.”

  Before Grace could protest, I slid the blade across the meat of my left palm, wincing. It was deep enough blood welled up right away.

  “Link.” Grace’s voice was weary. “Really? I was thinking more like a paper cut or something.”

  She reached for a hand towel as I watched the blood coat my palm. I held my hand over the sink and closed my eyes. “Hold on. Let me focus.”

  I tried to even my breathing, picturing the cut on my hand. My brain was too muddled to think of words to a spell, so I whispered, “heal my wound” instead and hoped that was good enough. My hand started to
tingle, pinpricks all over my fingers and my palm like my hand fell asleep.

  Opening my eyes, I watched the bleeding slow some. Then the doorbell rang.

  I blew out a breath.

  “That was fast,” Audrey said, lifting her head.

  A few drops of blood fell into the sink. I frowned and took the small towel Grace pressed into my free hand. I tied it around my left palm and followed her into the living room.

  After she paid for the pizza, we sat around the coffee table, opening the box on the surface and eating from there.

  “Did it work?” Audrey asked.

  “I could feel something. I’ll keep trying.”

  Grace shifted from her spot on the floor. “How about we take a break tonight? Get back to work tomorrow.”

  “I agree,” Audrey said.

  I didn’t answer. It felt like we were running out of time. And once we took care of Audrey, we still had to deal with the spell. And Savannah.

  I had to figure out if there was any way I could get out of Knob Creek or if I was stuck here forever.

  My cell phone chimed, and I pulled it from my pocket. It was Dylan.

  Make it home ok?

  “That’ll be Dylan,” Grace said around a mouthful of pizza. “Checking in.”

  It was nice of him to keep it simple. And I was glad he didn’t stop by instead. I still didn’t know how to handle my feelings for him, which were just starting and probably a large product of the situation I was dropped into. Not only that, I had to balance them with my feelings for Gage, emotions which seemed to be coming against my will or my better judgment. But they were still there, nevertheless.

  We’re here. Safe and sound.

  I returned the phone to my pocket and finished my slice of pizza. Audrey leaned her head on the arm of the couch. “Thanks for the night out,” she said.

  “Anytime,” Grace answered.

  She shared a look with me. Audrey went from being our enemy to our friend in a matter of days, but it wasn’t difficult. We could both tell she was a good person. It was probably harder for Grace to accept, though, being that she was a werewolf. Werewolves and vampires were the oldest kinds of enemies around here, though things had changed a lot since then.

  “You should get some rest,” I told Audrey, standing. “You can take my bed.”

  She waved off the offer with her eyes closed. “I’m fine here. I don’t want to move.”

  Grace carried the box of pizza to the kitchen while I found a blanket to drape over Audrey. She mumbled her thanks without opening her eyes. Just as I moved to join Grace in the kitchen, Audrey said my name.

  I angled back. “Yes, Audrey?”

  “I’m not ready to die yet.”

  It was like a white-hot poker to the heart. Dammit. What was I supposed to say to that? I had no idea what it felt like to be in her position. To know that my life might be completely over soon.

  Before I could figure out a response, I heard the sound of her breathing even out as she fell asleep.

  In the kitchen, Grace caught my gaze. “I heard that.” She sighed. “This really makes it hard to hate vampires now. At least this one.”

  “She’s too young to be dealing with this. I want to help her—make it right.” I peered under the towel still wrapped around my hand. “I guess I should find a bandage.”

  She started to nod, then frowned and lifted her chin in the direction of the front door.

  “What?”

  “Gage’s here. I think he’s just sitting in his car, though, or outside somewhere.”

  I glanced to the door. “He probably just wanted to make sure that Audrey is safe. I’ll go tell him she’s sleeping, and that we’ll bring her back tomorrow.”

  Grace gave a short nod but stopped me before I left the kitchen with two words. “Be careful.”

  I thought she was warning me about Gage, which was starting to get old, but then I realized she was talking about Savannah.

  “I will.”

  Chapter 11

  I stepped outside quietly and waited for my eyes to adjust before searching the street for Gage’s car. In the time it took to find it parked by the tall tree, Gage was at the bottom of the steps, his chin tilted to look up at me.

  “Gage,” I said, surprised. I kept forgetting he was so quick. “You scared me.”

  “Is something wrong?”

  “No. Grace told me you were out here. I figured you were probably checking on Audrey.”

  “That’s part of it.” He propped one foot on the bottom stair. “How is she?”

  “Asleep.”

  He gave a low laugh. “With all that wine, I’m not surprised.”

  “She needed it.” I shrugged. “Not the wine but the night out. A chance to forget what she’s going through for a while.”

  “You’re right.” He moved up one stair, and my heart rate picked up. Damn, he was sexy in that dark leather jacket, his eyes locked on mine. “Thank you.”

  I swallowed hard. “You’re welcome. You can go now.”

  He laughed again, and the huskiness in it made me shiver. I wanted to hear it again, which was distinctly a bad thing. I wanted to be around him more, be close to him. And none of that was going to keep him safe or make Savannah go away.

  When he moved up another stair, I backed to the door. “I’m serious, Gage. You should go. Audrey is fine—we’ll bring her back tomorrow.”

  “I won’t keep you long,” he said simply. “I just want to talk for a minute.”

  I shook my head. “That’s a bad idea. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  “No.”

  “Gage.”

  “I want to talk to you now. I’ve wanted to talk to you all night. I could barely stand watching you out there, looking carefree while you danced. Having a good time. I wanted to be there. With you.” He reached the top of the stairs, pausing a few feet from me. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone more beautiful than you.”

  My breath caught. Beautiful. Anyone else saying those words might make me laugh, but not Gage. He was dead serious and knew exactly what he was talking about and exactly what he wanted.

  “This is a very bad idea,” I told him, though there wasn’t much power in my voice.

  “You’re supposed to thank someone when they compliment you like that.”

  It felt like my body was on fire, but it had nothing to do with Savannah or the flames. Only the way Gage made me feel. “Thank you,” I said, backing up one more step until I couldn’t go any further. “Now, will you go?”

  He closed the distance between us, and I couldn’t do anything about it. My back was pressed against the door and he was right in front of me. Close enough he was almost stepping on my feet. I was several inches shorter than him and the width of his shoulders blocked the light of the moon.

  “You’re keeping something from me,” he said, voice low and hypnotic, “and I want to know what it is.”

  “No, you don’t,” I blurted, then realized I’d just confirmed it.

  But instead of being amused, he frowned, looking concerned. “It’s Audrey, isn’t it? You’re not going to be able to help her.”

  “No. I mean, yes, I’m going to try to help her. This doesn’t have anything to do with her.”

  I reached up to the necklace, a nervous habit I’d gotten into whenever I was around Gage.

  “You hurt yourself,” he said.

  He captured my hand in the blink of an eye. His fingers were warm and strong as he turned the palm face up and started to unwrap the towel.

  “It isn’t—I mean, I didn’t hurt myself—”

  “Sure,” he said, clearly not believing me. His gaze flashed to mine. “I can tell you’re bleeding. Vampire, remember?”

  My throat dried. That was right. But he wasn’t a full vampire—and I hoped he never became one.

  “I did it on purpose,” I said, yanking my hand back. “It’s fine.”

  “You did this on purpose?”

  “Yes.” I held his gaze.
“I need to practice healing so I can help Audrey.”

  I saw him swallow, looking almost lost. Savannah was quiet inside, making me relax slightly. I wanted to continue the conversation and do so without the fear of hurting him.

  He took my hand again, his fingers just as gentle as he undid the towel. “You hurt yourself so you can try to figure out how to heal Audrey?”

  “Gage,” I said quietly. But he still wouldn’t let go. “That was the agreement, remember?”

  “Link,” he said, voice a breath on the wind. When the towel came off, he made a sound low in his throat. “Look what you did.”

  “Don’t look at it if it bothers you.”

  His voice was rough, pained, when he met my gaze again. “It’s not the blood that bothers me. It bothers me that you’re so invested in this that you would hurt yourself. And you’re acting like it’s not a big deal.”

  “It’s not—”

  “Don’t you dare say that to me.” His hand came up and he brushed his knuckles on my jaw. “It is a big deal. I was a fucking idiot for going about this the way I did. If I’d had any faith at all, I would have trusted that telling you the truth would be enough. Instead, I tried to force you. All I needed to do was talk to you. But despite all that, you’re helping Audrey. You’re helping me, and I don’t deserve it.”

  The flames started to burn inside, making me panic. I yanked the towel from his hand and gripped the doorknob behind my back. “I appreciate that, but you really can’t say things like that to me.”

  Those were the kinds of things that made me think he deserved a whole lot more than the world was giving him credit for right now. Including love.

  He doesn’t deserve anything. Just death.

  I gritted my teeth and tried to stay calm. “I’m going to help you, but it’ll be easier if you give me some space.”

  But dammit, he saw right through it. And even if he didn’t, I doubted Gage would stop persisting anyway. He brought my hand to his lips and kissed my palm next to the wound. “I don’t think that’s what you really want.”

  “That’s what I need, Gage. Please. You don’t understand.”

  Hurt him. Invite him in and find that knife…

  “Then tell me,” Gage said, his mouth moving to the inside of my wrist.