Blood Rule (Book 4, Dirty Blood series) (25 page)

“
Come on, Tara. If we’re
being fair, you run off and do your own thing just as
often.”

I opened my mouth to argue but he cut
me off. “It’s what you were trying to do earlier. Storm out.
Because I wouldn’t agree to rush back into the fight without
telling everyone else.”

I sighed.

“
I know losing the pack
has been hard on you. I don’t want to make it worse. I love you,
Tara, and I want to be here for you. Even when you’re mad at me, I
want to be here.”

“
And what about when
you’re mad at me?”

His lips curved. “Even then. Maybe in
a different room, but I’m here.”

I smiled back, but it didn’t last.
“We’re prisoners then.”

“
We’re safe,” he
corrected.

I arched a brow at him.

“
Yeah, okay, it’s a little
of both,” he amended.

“
When is she planning on
letting us out?” I asked. “When the fight’s over?”

“
I don’t know.” He ran a
hand through his messy hair. “She loves you. She’s trying to
protect you.”

I shook my head. “It amazes me how
similar you are to her. And my mother, for that matter. All three
of you think that loving someone means chaining them up. All that
does is handicap them, make them unprepared for when danger finally
finds them.”

His lips pressed together. I knew he
wouldn’t like being compared to my mother of all people, but it was
the truth. “And it amazes us how easily you shove rational thought
and caution to the wind and race directly into the fiery furnace.
With little or no thought to the ones you love.”

“
It’s for my loved ones
that I race into the fire,” I said. “So they don’t have
to.”

“
But that’s what you don’t
get. Where you go, I will always follow. Even into the fire.
Especially then.”

“
I …” I opened my mouth.
Closed it again. Hadn’t George said the exact same thing? “You’re
right,” I said finally. “I hate it but sometimes I need to sit
still and think it through. Can you help me do that?”

“
Help you sit
still?”

“
Yes.”

His smile was slow and mischievous. “I
can definitely help with that.”

He leaned in and brushed his lips over
mine in a soft kiss.

The anger in me had waned but the
energy remained. I didn’t want soft. I wanted hot and hard. I
slipped my hands around his shoulders to the back of his neck and
pulled him closer. In response, his mouth began to move over mine,
firmer, faster. His lips parted, his breath warm on my
face.

I climbed closer, pressing against
him. I needed heat, more contact. His hands cupped my hips, lifting
me up and lowering me onto my back until he lay overtop of
me.

My fingers moved through his hair and
down his back, slipping underneath his shirt. His hands worked
their way up the length of my ribs and back down, leaving a trail
of warmth.

Emma’s eyes look so pretty
against the waterfall.

The errant thought startled me and my
lips went still.

Wes pulled back so that his mouth
hovered over mine, his warm breath hitting my nose. He touched his
forehead to mine. “I can’t say I enjoy fighting but if this is how
we make up, I’m not complaining.”

I didn’t respond, still too caught up
in what I’d heard. It was clear the thought hadn’t belonged to me.
And it had the mental tone of George. But how had I heard the words
so clearly? That’d never happened before. I wasn’t sure how it was
happening now. I waited, but nothing more came through. At least,
not words.

As usual, he was fully aware of what
was going on with Wes and me. Instead of creeping him out, it made
him think about how he wanted to try the same thing with Emma.
Ew.

Wes was oblivious. “As much as I hate
to ruin the moment,” he went on, “I came up here for a reason. I
found something you should see.”

“
What?”

He produced Vera’s journal from
somewhere behind him and handed it to me. “Start where I left the
bookmark.”

I sat up and opened to the marked
page. It was dated three weeks ago. “This is recent,” I
said.

“
I know.”

There was a warning in his
tone.

I’ve seen visions of them
but until now, I hadn’t known it was them. They are vicious and
ruthless and completely without loyalty or conscience. I thought it
was the rogues at first; the darkness inside them is so strong.
It’s not the rogues. It is her pack, but they are no longer hers.
He thinks they are his but they are no one’s. He has no idea the
loss of humanity that comes with severing the bond. He thinks he
can control them and then get rid of them. He is wrong. They will
turn and then nothing can stop them. They were made for her and
only she can keep them.

I stopped there and looked up. “She’s
talking about me and Steppe,” I said.

It wasn’t a question but he nodded
anyway. “I think the bond is what gave them their humanity. It kept
the darkness at bay. Without it …”

I shook my head, my
thoughts sprinting off in twenty different directions at this
possibility. “But what about Nick? He was bonded to me and still,
the darkness overtook him.”
And
Janie,
I wanted to add, but couldn’t make
the words come.

Wes frowned. “I think the bond gives
them a choice. They can choose to be more human, or they can choose
to give in to the darkness. It’s the same way we all have a choice
between right and wrong. The bond doesn’t take their free will, it
gives them options. They still have to choose what to do with
it.”

It made sense. “And now that the bond
is gone? Do you think they still have a choice?”

“
I don’t know. But if they
do, he’s trying his best to make sure they choose
darkness.”

The phone rang.

I jumped as Wes slid it free of his
pocket and checked the screen. “DC number. Probably Edie,” he said.
Then, “Hello?”

I resisted the urge to snatch it free
and yell at Grandma for locking me up here. I was trying to
remember it was for a greater good. That and I knew it wouldn’t
make her let me out any sooner.

His expression darkened at whatever
was being said. Lines appeared at the edges of his downturned mouth
and his eyes became hooded in a way that always made him look
dangerous.

“
How did it happen?” he
asked. He paused, listened. Then asked, “Did they let you leave?”
At her answer, he laughed harshly. “I bet. Where are you headed
now? …And Elizabeth?”

He agreed with whatever answer she’d
given and they hung up with a final, “We’ll talk soon,” on his
end.

“
What was that about?” I
asked as he pushed the button to end the connection.

“
Steppe had Edie removed
from the council last night.”

“
What do you mean? Did he
try to hurt her?”

“
It was all political.
There was a vote. Apparently it was done behind her back. She was
voted out and served paperwork. They didn’t attempt to harm her.”
His voice dipped and took on the dark humor I’d heard on the phone.
“She said she would’ve liked to see them try to use force. She’d
rather fight muscle than paperwork.”

“
Yeah, that sounds like
Grandma. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised but … can they do that? I
thought council membership was for life. Passed down to future
generations and all that.”

“
It usually is. I know
there are bylaws in place to remove someone, but I’ve never heard
of it actually happening before.”

“
So, she’s out,” I said
softly.

I couldn’t believe it. Being a part of
CHAS had been Grandma’s life. Even when she vehemently disagreed
with them or secretly worked against them to fight their bullying
and racist attitudes, CHAS had been a part of her. With that part
of her taken away, I wasn’t sure what to think. “How did she sound
about it?” I asked Wes.

“
You know Edie. She’s fine
as long as she’s moving.”

I wasn’t surprised. This was Grandma.
She’d probably seen it coming, prepared for it. Hell, it was
probably all part of some master plan she had going.

Vera’s visions had always included two
paths for me, one being a seat on CHAS. With Grandma out, that was
definitely no longer a part of my future. Not that I’d ever wanted
it, but it felt strange to have the choice removed for
me.

“
Did she say where she was
going?” I asked.

“
She has your mom. They’re
going to meet up with Jack and Fee.”

My shoulders slumped a little. “And so
we wait,” I said.

“
We wait,” he
agreed.

George’s cheerfulness seeped through
the bond like an unwanted spill. I tried shoving it away. It
irritated me in a way happy couples irritate lonely singles—it
spread and invaded until I felt better against my will.

“
Good morning,” George
said, crossing directly to the fridge. He skipped the coffeepot and
drank directly from the milk carton in the fridge.

“
Help yourself,” I said
dryly. Despite my tone, he grinned.

“
Thanks,” he
said.

“
Why are you so cheerful?”
Wes asked.

George shrugged. “Why not? It’s a new
day. We’re all rested and ready and going to figure this thing
out.” He looked back and forth between Wes and me, as if we were
the ones acting strange. “Right?” he prompted when neither of us
answered.

I hesitated for a beat, but suddenly I
didn’t want to diminish his good mood. It was the first good mood
any of us had in days. Regardless of his real reason—I suspected
Emma had a lot to do with it—I would take the second-hand
confidence.

“
Right,” I
echoed.

Wes glanced at me, brow raised, but
then he echoed it too. “Right.”

“
Right,” Emma said from
across the breakfast table. George beamed at her and she lit
up.

“
So where do we start?”
George asked. He braced his hands on the counter and lifted himself
up so he was sitting on it.

“
The pack,” I
said.

He nodded. “We need them
back.”

I looked at him sharply. “You think
they’re all right?”

“
I don’t know,” he said.
“But I think … Well, I think if they’d been hurt, you would feel
more than empty.”

“
How do you know?” Wes
asked.

George looked at Wes and then back at
me, an intensity in his eyes that wasn’t usually there. “If
something happened to Tara, I would know. Without a doubt, I would
know. And it would be much worse than emptiness. Think about it,
Tay.”

I allowed myself a moment to imagine
the same thing about George. Something struck hard inside my chest
and the picture, even though my brain knew it was concocted by my
own imagination and not real, provided sufficient agony that I knew
he was right.

“
They’re alive,” I said.
“They must be.”

George nodded. “And if you know that,
there must be a way to connect.”

“
How? I’ve tried and get
nothing every time.”

“
Remember back when our
bond first began and we wanted to find a way to shut each other out
sometimes?”

“
We tried that already,
George. It didn’t work.”

He shook his head. “Maybe not for you,
but if you had any idea how clearly I can read your
thoughts…”

The words flashed in my
mind:
Emma’s eyes look so pretty …
And I thought of the words that’d begun to slip
through with Chris right before he was taken. I’d thought it was a
product of so much noise in my head. None of them seemed able to
read me as clearly. “What do you mean ‘read my
thoughts’?”

“
Exactly what I
said.”

“
But it’s not thoughts.
It’s feelings,” I argued.

“
What can you read from me
right now?”

I tilted my head, concentrating.
“You’re determined to find a way to awaken the bond …” I shot a
look at Emma. “And you’re excited about something, but you won’t
let me see what.”

His cheeks reddened. “Good. Now it’s
my turn.”

He was quiet for so long, it made me
nervous. I shifted in my chair, refusing to break eye contact.
Finally, he frowned and lines creased his forehead. “Steppe messed
with Angela?”

“
What?” Wes
asked.

I gaped at George. “How did you know
that?” Had he heard me on the phone? I could’ve sworn he’d been
sleeping.

“
I was sleeping. I didn’t
hear anything. Except your thoughts right now,” he said.

“
How do you do that? I can
only read feelings and sometimes a few words here and
there.”

“
Logan and I have two
theories—”

“
Logan?” Wes and I said
together.