Crimson Born - Amy Patrick Page 0,63

hesitation, he said, “I’ll try. I’ll do my best.”

“No. You’ll promise.” Stretching up to press my mouth against his once more, I repeated the words, “Promise me.”

When the kiss ended, he stared down at me with eyes I would have sworn contained love.

“Okay,” he whispered. “Be careful.”

“I will. And I’ll come and find you the minute I return. This is going to work.”

32

Sadie

Climbing the stairs to the cavern entrance, I stepped out into the night, looking around just in case some guards had been posted that Reece wasn’t aware of.

The hills and meadows were peaceful and deserted, but that would change at midnight. The ceremony procession would snake through the caverns and our people would congregate here under the full moon.

The last thing I wanted was to get caught up in that.

I had to put as much distance as possible between myself and the Bastion before it started. And I had to make it back to Reece before he was forced to make an eternal commitment to the Bloodbound—and our queen.

Breaking into a run, I focused on that goal. The car was waiting just where Heather and Kelly said it would be—on a dark lane off the main road about a mile from the cavern entrance. We’d left separately so as not to draw attention to ourselves.

Kelly lowered the passenger side window as I approached. “Finally. What took you so long slowpoke?”

Heather leaned forward to see around Kelly’s head. “You’re alone. He wouldn’t come with you?”

I shook my head, willing myself not to cry as I climbed into the back seat. “Let’s go. I don’t want to be late.”

The drive to Washington D.C. took about two hours. On the way, Kelly turned up the radio and sang along to every song she knew. Heather rolled down the windows, allowing the cool night air to whip through the car.

“Is it just me, or does it feel easier to breathe with every mile we put between us and the Bastion?” she asked.

“I know what you mean,” Kelly said. “I totally appreciate that they saved me from starving or daylighting myself, but I’ve never had much interest in vampire politics or warfare preparation classes or stuff like that, you know? I just kind of want to live and let live. I mean—we were humans once, not that long ago really. Why do I want them to be my enemies?”

“I never met Imogen personally,” Heather said, “and I know she’s got her fans, and she’s your vampire mom or whatever, but she seems kind of... harsh to me. I think that’s why I admire Sadie so much. She’s a vampire too—obviously—but she found a different way. I think peace is better. Besides, there are still a lot more humans than vampires out there, and they have all the power. We need to get along.”

I sat quietly and listened. My friends were happier than I’d seen them in a long time—maybe ever. Clearly, I wasn’t the only one who longed for a different life than the one we’d been living.

Was it a ridiculous hope or was it really possible that we could make it on our own—without the protection of Imogen and the Bloodbound?

Just thinking the word tore at my heart. I believed Reece would do everything in his power to put off taking his vows until he saw me again. But there were other powers at play here—far greater than his or mine.

I couldn’t think about it right now—worrying wouldn’t do any good. All I could do was follow the plan and try to seek help for us.

On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and stretching all the way down both sides of the reflecting pool was the largest collection of vampires I’d ever seen.

It was a little shocking. The population of the Bastion had seemed massive to me, but obviously there were many more vampires in the world than those aligned with Imogen and sequestered apart from the human world.

Were they all with Sadie? Or perhaps they were somewhere in the middle, neither human-hating war mongers or peace-at-all-costs pacifists, but moderate vampires who just wanted to live their lives and be left alone.

I wondered which kind of vampire I would have been if I’d been turned by anyone other than Imogen.

Some stood and talked with one another, but most sat, already prepared for Sadie’s speech.

Along the perimeter of the crowd stood human police in riot gear and solid metal neck and wrist guards. They didn’t seem to be hassling anyone, and none of