Crimson Born - Amy Patrick Page 0,55
Reece and I left the cavern together and walked toward the tall, green walls of the natural botanical maze, he was as stoic as ever.
“How did the trials go?” I asked to get some conversation started.
“Fine. They’re over,” he grunted. “I passed.”
His stubborn expression was so fierce it was almost comical. But we had no more time for fun and games. If I was going to persuade him to leave, I had to do it—tonight.
We walked the perimeter of the maze, searching for its entrance, and I searched for an opening of my own, a way to get him talking about a subject he’d already declared closed.
“You don’t seem very excited,” I said.
He lifted his hands and wiggled his fingers. “Yay.”
“Oh wow. The enthusiasm is overwhelming.”
He lifted his shoulders and let them fall. “It doesn’t matter whether I’m excited or not—it’s how things are.”
“So... you’re still determined to go through with it then?”
“Of course.”
“And you have no qualms at all about taking the vows.”
A beat passed before he answered—a bit too forcefully. “None.”
“Well I can’t imagine staying here my entire life. There are too many things I want to see and do.”
Reaching the maze entrance, the two of us turned left and started walking the pebbled path, which was lined on both sides by twenty-foot evergreen hedges.
“Like what?” Reece asked eventually.
“What?” I looked at him quizzically.
He spun one hand in front of his body. “What is it you want to see and do? So much that you can’t imagine staying at the Bastion.”
“Lots of things... the Eiffel Tower, the Grand Canyon. Italy. The Greek islands. Of course, it wouldn’t be any fun visiting all those places alone.”
“Your friends Kelly and Heather seem like they’re up for anything. You three planning a girls’ trip?”
Yes. We certainly were—two days from now—but not the kind he was thinking of. The reminder of that deadline ratcheted up my sense of desperation.
“Those are all romantic destinations,” I said. “I was thinking more along the lines of a male travel companion.”
Reece’s mouth stayed set in a firm line, but one of his eyebrows twitched. “Sounds great. Who’d you have in mind?”
Dang it. He wasn’t biting. He was determined to keep up the I don’t feel that way about you front.
If it was a front.
“I’m not sure yet. You know the males around here better than I do. Who do you think would be a good candidate?”
He appeared to consider it. “I think you should take Lars. He’s lived all over the world. He’d be a great guide.”
“He’s sixty,” I argued. “And gay.”
“What does that matter?”
“I was thinking of someone more along the lines of Gio.”
Gio was a tall, muscle-bound Italian vampire from New Jersey who’d once been a professional bodybuilder. I didn’t find him attractive at all—not my type—but many among the Bastion’s female population did.
Reece’s instant glare forced me to bite my lip to keep from smiling.
“Gio is a complete idiot. He fell through the Bloodbound training, you know. He didn’t last two days. He may look like a gorilla but he’s weak.”
“Maybe he failed it on purpose,” I suggested playfully. “Maybe he wanted the opportunity to mate. And from what I hear, he’s pretty good at it.”
The glare deepened.
“But you’re right, he is a little dense. Hmmm... what about Sam? He’s very smart,” I said.
Now Sam was more my type, lanky and tall like Reece, and he was famous among the girls for his headful of shiny auburn curls.
“He looks like a scarecrow. With a pumpkin head.”
“His head’s not that big,” I argued.
I pretended to give it some thought. “Maybe you’re right, and I’ve never been particularly fond of pumpkin. Oh I know... what about Kannon? He’s smart and handsome... and he’s definitely not weak. Did you know he played college football?”
“He’s Bloodbound,” Reece said in a voice that sounded like tumbled gravel. Kannon had become one of his closest friends at the Bastion, and I knew Reece admired him greatly.
“True,” I admitted. “Which means he wouldn’t do as a permanent mate. But Imogen did say I could choose anyone I want—as many as I want—to practice with.”
Reece’s fangs slid from beneath his top lip. He turned his head away abruptly, presumably to hide the tell-tale involuntary reaction from me.
Aha. So he did feel “that way” about me after all. Why did he keep fighting the attraction between us? And lying about it? Why couldn’t he just admit it?
“We should get back,” he said. “Didn’t you say you had some things to take care