Blood Ties Bundle: Blood Ties Book One: The Turning / Blood Ties Book Two: Possession / Blood Ties Book Three: Ashes to Ashes / Blood Ties Book Four: All Souls' Night

“You’re dead. Aren’t they supposed to be cold?”

His gaze never moved from the looming edifice. “I’m thinking.”

“Tell me how that works out for you.” As I watched him study the house, I found myself wanting to touch him. Not from sexual attraction, although I knew at least one of us still felt it. This was an urge borne of homesickness. Seeing him made me feel as if I’d been on a long trip in a violent foreign country.

“Why did you kick him out?” I asked quietly, and his eyes darted sharply back to me.

“I didn’t kick him out. He left.”

“He said you kicked him out.”

“I reacted badly. There was some yelling. A lot of yelling. But I never told him to leave.” Nathan’s voice was thick with emotion. “And I damn sure wouldn’t have let him go if I knew he was coming here.”

“I’m sorry you had to find out that way. I’m sure it wasn’t easy.” But no matter what I said, it wouldn’t erase his regret. “He’s afraid you hate him.”

“That’s stupid of him!”

“Is it?” I planted my hands on my hips. “In case you didn’t notice, he was pretty embarrassed that you walked in on him like that. And all he got from you was judgment and the angry face!”

For a moment, it appeared my words had penetrated his thick skull. Then he shook his head, swore and took a step back. “Why am I even talking to you? I should be jabbing a stake through this fence right now, after you ran off like that.”

I’d almost forgotten my letter. “Ziggy gave you my message?”

“Yeah.” His voice was cold and impersonal.

“And?” I wrapped my fingers around the icy metal, hoping he’d touch my hand.

It was a foolish hope. “What the fuck do you want me to say, Carrie? You made your decision.”

“Then why are you talking to me?”

He clenched his fists around the bars and gave the gate a hard shove. Then he kicked it and swore again. I looked frantically toward the house, sure that at any moment I’d see guards streaming down the lawn. But Nathan continued to rage. With a final, violent kick to the stone wall, he spun away from me. I took that as my cue. “Are you finished?”

He limped back to the gate and nodded.

“Fine. Then why are you talking to me?” I phrased the question in a softer voice than I had before.

“Because you’re the only way I’m going to get Ziggy out of there alive.” When I didn’t respond, he reached into his back pocket. “Listen, I’ll cut you a deal—”

“I don’t need money,” I said quickly.

He gave me a melancholy smile. “Yeah, I see your boyfriend has a nice setup here.”

“He’s not my boyfriend.” I reached for the folded paper that he passed through the bars. “What’s this?”

“Information. I’m paying you for Ziggy. Do whatever you want with them.”

I scanned the paper. “Nathan, these are battle plans.”

“Do whatever you want with them,” he repeated. “But if I were you, I wouldn’t be here on the thirtieth.”

I frowned at the page. “January thirtieth?”

Nathan snorted. “Hasn’t he told you anything?”

“No. There hasn’t really been time.”

He laughed humorlessly. “I’ll bet.”

“Not because of that.” I couldn’t meet his eyes. “We haven’t. Yet.”

He shrugged. “I really don’t care. Look over those plans. You can find out what you need to from your sire. In the meantime, start thinking of how you can get Ziggy safely out of there. How can I contact you if I need to?”

“I have no idea. Maybe through Clarence. He goes out every day. Food shopping.” I just hoped he’d relay the messages he received. He’d obviously helped me this time, since Nathan had shown up, but we hadn’t exactly become fast friends.

“The guy who delivered your message? The one who lives with and works for Cyrus?” Nathan looked at me with disbelief. “How about if I want to talk to you, I’ll be right here, after sunset. Make it a habit to check every night.”

“If I can get away.” It was sort of an agreement.

He turned then, as if he was going to leave, and I called his name. The sound was desperate, almost pathetic as it passed my lips. I wanted to tell him why I stood on this side of the fence. I wanted him to know that the only reason he lived was because of the choice I’d made.

Instead, I just stared, my mouth frozen open in shock at my sudden exclamation. He stared back, his expression hard as some indiscernible war raged behind his eyes.

“Keep him safe, Carrie,” he said. Then he turned and walked quickly away.

I went back to the house, numb from the temperature outside and the mood of our chilly encounter. Telling him what I’d done wouldn’t have accomplished anything. Nathan would have rushed into battle as if I were some princess trapped in a tower by an evil magician. Then I’d be in the awkward position of explaining that this damsel hadn’t exactly decided to be rescued.

As for the evil magician, he stormed past the princess without a word when they crossed paths in the hallway outside their chambers.

“Good morning, sunshine,” I called after him, greeted only by the sound of his slamming door.

Ziggy was already awake when I entered my quarters. Clothed in the pants he arrived in the night before, he leaned greedily over a bowl of cereal as Clarence looked on.

“Hey. Did you see Nate?” Ziggy’s voice was light, though I could sense the desperate hope there.

I cast a wary glance at Clarence. It seemed awfully imprudent of Ziggy to speak so freely in front of a guy we barely knew. “Y-yes.”

With a frown, Ziggy jerked his thumb toward Clarence. “Don’t worry about him. He knows how to keep a secret, don’t you, Clarence?”

“Like a dead man,” Clarence confirmed, but I still felt a little uneasy about what he knew.

“What did he say?” Ziggy lifted the bowl from the marble-topped end table, and Clarence used the opportunity to wipe a condensation ring from the spot where it had rested.

I chose my words carefully. “He wants you to go home.”

Ziggy slurped the milk from his spoon and glared at the coaster Clarence had placed on the table. “Is he still pissed at me?”

“He never was pissed.” I dropped beside him on the sofa. “Nathan loves you.”