Page 48 of Bound By Blood

Both he and Kata ignored her. “A simple cloaking spell would work if you find the right witch.”

That was easy enough. Landon knew of many witches who owed him a favor or two. Witches who had no loyalties to his father, too. So getting one of them to agree to help him hide Carly would be easy. It appeared as though breaking the bond and keeping her safe was going to be easier than he thought.

“Is there anything else I need to know about the bond?” he asked, a plan already forming in the back of his mind. It wouldn’t take long to enact that plan either. Carly would be free of all this, and him, soon enough.

Kata sighed again deeply. “The love you share does not end with death. The obsession, yes. But the love? That can never be broken. You will leave her with a shattered heart, Creed. She will wish that she was the one who had died.”

“But she will live,” he countered confidently. “She will live out the rest of her human life safe and away from the horrors of my world. That’s what truly matters.”

Kata blinked at him. “Human?” She took a step closer to him, studying his face in depth. “You… you don’t know, do you?”

“Know what?” Landon asked curiously.

Kata lifted a hand and pointed it directly at Carly. “She is no longer a mortal.”

“What?” he gasped. “What are you talking about?”

“Tell me something, Vampire,” Kata continued, taking yet another step toward him. “Did she drink your blood?”

Landon’s eyes narrowed at the question. What he and Carly did was of no concern to her, and he didn’t appreciate her prying. The memories of that night filtered through his mind at the mere mention of it, his body instantly responding to the mental image. He forced those thoughts aside on the off chance that Kata could see into his head.

“What does that have to do with anything?” he growled. “A human does not turn into a vampire solely by ingesting a vampire’s blood.”

Kata just scoffed. “It is her bloodline, her destiny, to become immortal. If she already drank your blood, even sipped it, she is no longer a mere human. She is immortal and will live forever.” Kata turned toward Carly. “Have you been experiencing heightened senses, little one? Smelled things a little clearer? Heard things from farther away than normal?”

Landon turned his attention to Carly just in time to see her eyes widen as she stammered to come up with a response. “I thought… I didn’t…” She swallowed hard. “Yes. Yes, I have.”

Her words felt like a punch to the gut. How could he have missed that? Carly was immortal? He knew that she had been asking about becoming a vampire, but because he was so against it, they never talked about what that would mean or how she felt about it. Now, because he wasn’t as strong as he thought he was and had allowed himself to succumb to his desires, Carly may not be a vampire, but she was immortal. She would live forever. How was either one of them supposed to process that?

Steeling his resolve, Landon forced the thought from his mind and stood up straighter. “It doesn’t matter if she’s immortal or not. Breaking the bond is the only way to keep her safe, to save her life. She will get over it, and me, eventually.”

Kata laughed without humor and looked at Carly. “The Creeds are all fools.”

Landon followed Kata’s gaze and turned his attention to Carly. Her face was unreadable, and she was wringing her hands in front of her nervously. She seemed incapable of meeting their eyes. At that moment, she looked so lost and vulnerable, which proved that he was making the right decision. She would never survive in his dark and depraved world. Despite what she thought, she was too pure and innocent for that.

“Fools or not, I have to protect her,” he said softly. “Her safety is all that matters to me anymore.” And that was the truth.

Chapter 18

Carly Harris

The ride back to their cabin had been tense and quiet, both of them lost in their own minds. Snow had begun falling once again, and with the slight wind, it curled along the dirt road like crooked fingers reaching from one end to the other. She had watched it do so, dusk stealing the day’s light.

They had talked to Kata for the majority of the day, both trying to wrap their heads around what she had told them. The more they talked, the more Kata grew agitated. Eventually, she could take no more of their company and questions and went to the door, opened it, and nearly shoved them out.

The swirls of snow had occupied Carly’s mind since. Easy. Carefree. Its only purpose to blanket the ground and nourish the grass come spring.

As soon as they arrived back at the cabin, Landon didn’t say a word as he strode to the front door. Footprints were in the snow left in his wake. She had followed more slowly behind him and entered the cabin only to hear his bedroom door shut. She flinched at the sound.

The cabin felt empty with his cold shoulder and chilly with the absent fire that had long since fizzled out, much like what was between them.

Sighing, she sat on the couch and crossed her ankles underneath her to warm them. She stayed there, her mind whirling now that she didn’t have any snow to concentrate on.

Goosebumps rose over her skin, and it was not entirely because of the drafty cabin. The word ‘immortal’ kept popping up in her mind, pounding against her temples. How could she be immortal and not know about it? She had thought her heightened senses were because of Landon. That life with him had woken something inside of her.

Did she regret tasting his blood? No. It had only heightened her arousal. Even now, she wanted to do it again. She wanted Landon completely. But what did being immortal mean for her now?

Her stomach growled, and she looked over her shoulder at the kitchen. She didn’t need blood to survive; that she was sure of. Even now, she craved the Oreos still sitting on the table. But where did being immortal leave her? And what did that make her to Landon?