Crimson Born - Amy Patrick Page 0,17

in disgust. “It was hard riding home in the buggy with them, hearing their hearts beat and the blood rushing in their veins. I wanted to bolt from the buggy and run away. It took everything in me to come upstairs and lock my door. I don’t know how I’m supposed to live this way.”

“We’ll just... live,” I offered, suddenly hyper-aware of my ignorance on the subject. “We’ll figure it out. If you can’t stand living with your parents, we’ll go somewhere else. We’ll leave together.”

“I don’t want to leave,” he growled, sounding angrier than I’d ever heard him in our lives. “I never wanted to leave. You know that. This is my home. This is where I thought I’d stay and spend my life.”

Collapsing back onto his bed, Josiah covered his face with both hands, speaking into his palms. “I wish you hadn’t done this. You should have just let me die. My parents could have grieved me and moved on. Now they’ll never be able to do that. Their pain will just go on and on—like mine.”

My belly was somehow completely hollow and simultaneously full of lead.

He’s in shock. He’ll get over it.

Even as the words went through my mind, I doubted them. I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the turn my life had taken, but it was better to be alive than dead, wasn’t it?

As long as you were alive, there was still a chance you could do some good in the world, find some joy.

Apparently Josiah didn’t agree. He cried quietly on the bed, overcome by grief.

What was I going to do if I couldn’t persuade him to come with me? I really would be alone.

You should be with your people.

The big blond vampire’s words came back to me, straightening my spine and replacing the lead in my stomach with something resembling fire.

He was right. But my people weren’t somewhere in Virginia. They were here. My life was here. And I would not leave my lifelong friend behind.

If Josiah couldn’t be strong, I’d simply have to be strong for the both of us.

We’d stay here. We’d show our families there was nothing to be afraid of, and we’d get through this.

This was our home, and neither one of us was leaving.

“Josiah, listen to me,” I said. “Your parents will get over the shock—mine too. It’s painful now because it’s all so new. And there are bound to be some advantages to this situation, right? Aren’t vampires supposed to be really strong? Imagine how much more you’ll be able to do around the farm.”

“We can’t go out in daylight.”

“So you’ll work at night. And now you’ll be able to watch over your parents all their lives, make sure they’re taken care of.”

“What about the church? We’ll be shunned.”

“Other churches have accepted vampires—I’ve heard people complain about it. Ours could change too. They just need to understand. The people in this village have known us all our lives. They’ll see we’re not so different now and learn to accept what they didn’t have any reason to accept before.”

His tone turned a shade darker. “What about eating?”

My belly growled at the mere mention of food. And then it flipped in revulsion. Food wasn’t what it wanted.

“We’ll figure it out.”

How did other vampires get nutrition? The ones who lived and worked with humans every day. I knew they drank blood, but could they also eat food?

The revulsion grew more pronounced, some new instinct answering the unspoken question.

“Maybe we can drink from animals or something,” I said. “There are certainly plenty around here.”

Suddenly remembering Kannon said he’d be staying at a motel in town, I said, “There’s someone I can ask. I’ll go see him. How thirsty are you? Can you wait a little longer?”

Josiah’s hand passed over his stomach, then his fingertips clenched his pants leg. “I don’t know. I don’t think my stomach has ever felt so empty in my whole life. I might try the animal thing when I go out to milk the cows for the last time tonight.”

I nodded eagerly, pleased to see him at least willing to search for solutions. “Okay, you can let me know how that goes. I’ll go into town and talk to the vampire I met there. I’ll be back before daylight.”

I climbed through the window onto the tree branch, but Josiah’s voice stopped me from going farther.

“Abigail?”

“Yes?”

“Maybe you should just... go. Leave me and this place behind. You’ve always wanted to leave—here’s your chance.” The sorrow in his voice matched the