Page 6 of Blood Bond

But it’s Naneve who speaks. "That little prick got the drop on me. If he wasn't already dead, I'd do it myself."

"He fooled us all," Killian says before providing Seth with the requested information. "We lost many good fighters." He lists names I don't recognise, and my heart aches for them. No one should lose their life in this war. The suffering on both sides is gut-wrenching. "I left Sasha and Haily in charge. Dessie is okay, too. Tim is leading the group to secure the compound. The thirsty only breached the south wall. If he can't fix it before nightfall, they'll seal it off enough to protect it."

Naneve fiddles with her knife, holding it in one hand and turning it so it catches the light. "The thirsty shouldn't come back. If they smell the blood of their own dead."

"Then it'll repel them," Seth adds. "When the sun rises, get them moved. Talk to Austin. He should take them, at least the women and children. Donovan will know I'm not there, but he may strike just to anger me. When you followed me to the Summers' residence, there was a boy with Payton. Did you see him?"

"A boy?" Killian frowns. "The Hallows kid?"

"I saw him," Naneve confirms. "I was positioned on the tower at the old factory. Killian thought I wasn't ready to get into the thick of it."

"Avery had drugged you," Seth says.

Naneve dismisses the explanation with a shrug, but the anger in her eyes is unmistakable. "I saw him then. I was going to aim, but you came in and took Payton." She nods towards the crossbow resting with her belongings in the corner of the room, which she had taken off when they entered. She seems to have quite an arsenal.

Seth takes the kit Killian had given him and places it on a high table across the room. He lays his still-bleeding arm on the surface, three large gashes exposing the tissue and muscle beneath. He seems somewhat unnerved by it. "Does he live?" Opening the kit, he extracts a thread and needle, then lifts a questioning gaze to Naneve.

Even Naneve seems unusually off-kilter. Not that I know her well, but in the brief moments we've spoken, her words have always carried force. "Yes. Well ... they took him inside." Her gaze remains fixed solely on Seth as she speaks, determination in her eyes, but something else lingers there, something unspoken.

Seth's head tilts upward as he concentrates on the thread and his arm. It appears he's figuring out how to stitch his own wound with just one hand. When he raises his eyes to meet mine, he speaks, and there's a sense of relief in his words. "If they didn't slaughter him when we left, their intention is to keep him alive. If I know my brother, he would have taken him out unless he had a use for him."

I nod, pressing my lips together, feeling a tangible sense of relief. He's okay, and that knowledge lightens my heart somehow. I understand that he wouldn't have asked about Nico if not for me, and I'm grateful for that.

"Why do you think they want her?" Killian asks, moving around the table to assist him with the wound. Seth clenches his fist at his side, and the air around us grows tense. Accepting help clearly isn’t something he's accustomed to. Seth's eyes flare red, and a tic works in his jaw, but he doesn't stop Killian from getting better access to the wound. We're all playing our parts here, pretending in one way or another.

"I have theories, but nothing concrete yet."

"You're thinking it has to do with her blood?" Naneve’s voice carries a hint of scepticism.

"It's a possibility," Seth replies. "I've never witnessed the thirsty behave in such a manner as they did today. They came out of the shadows willingly, exposing themselves to the sunlight, all in pursuit of her. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I might not have believed it. The thirsty may be deranged, but they understand the basic laws of self-preservation. What I witnessed out there … they showed no regard for their own well-being."

I furrow my brow at Seth's explanation. "My blood?" I struggle to comprehend the gravity of that revelation, what it means, and the way Seth looks at me, the intensity in his eyes, leaves me with an unsettling feeling, as if he knows more than he's saying.

"It has to do with how you're able to walk in the sunlight," Killian says. "It has to do with all of this, you think?"

Seth focuses on his arm as Killian finishes stitching the wound. His expression remains serious. "I haven't walked in the sunlight in almost six hundred years."

I stare at Seth, my heart clenching in sorrow at his revelation.

Killian leaves Seth to finish cleaning his own wound, and retrieves a shirt from a nearby cabinet to hand him.

Seth slips the shirt on and his stare focuses on me. "Your blood runs through my veins." His voice is low and filled with intensity. He moves closer to me, and my heart skips a beat involuntarily. I don't resist as he takes my hands, pulling me up from the seat. His fingers are warm against my wrist, a stark contrast to the usual coldness of vampire hands. His touch sends shivers through my body. Softly, he runs a thumb across my healing wounds where his fangs had pierced my skin. "I feel you, too," he murmurs. "You call to me."

Gentle fingers lift my chin, tilting my head back. The moment his eyes meet mine, I'm falling, vanishing into some unfamiliar and inexplicable place. I can't look away. I can't move. He has me paralysed, consuming my entire soul.

I try to speak, but my mouth refuses to comply. "Seth …" I manage to whisper, my voice catching in my throat. I have to close my eyes, allowing myself to succumb to every tingling sensation in my body.

Without warning, I'm plunged into a different time, a different place, and I can smell the earthy scent of grass and the comforting aroma of a wood burning in a stove. There's something cooking, too, a stew perhaps, and the scent of Seth surrounds me—a mixture of the outdoors, the lake, the mountains, all rolled into one intoxicating fragrance.

I can wrap myself in it, sink into it. I open my eyes to look around me, but Seth is right in front of me, our eyes still locked.

I stay silent, unable to articulate the questions burning in my mind. I want to ask him what just happened, what I experienced. I can feel my pulse pounding against his fingers, my breaths quickening.

But just as abruptly, he lets go and steps back, turning his attention back onto Killian and everything else at hand. "Grab whatever weapons you need. We're going into Skin Trade to see what devastation my brother has left in his wake."

ChapterFive

Ihalf-expect Seth to instruct me to wait, locking me in the room again, this time ensuring I can't escape. I brace for Naneve to shove me back, or for Killian to block my path.

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