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. Jennifer Armintrout

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СКАЧАТЬ own. “I know.”

      “But you’re still going?” There was cold judgment in his tone. “Look, it’s not like he’s going to be heartbroken or anything. But for what it’s worth, the whole time I’ve lived with him, he’s never shown this much interest in anyone.”

      “That’s very sweet.” I wished I knew how to make him understand. I’d never idealized romantic love as an adolescent, but maybe Ziggy had. From his standpoint, just the possibility of a relationship should have been enough to make me stay.

      “Nathan has been a big help, but I don’t think of him that way. I’ve given this a lot of thought. It’s the right choice.”

      “He worked for fifteen years getting this place going. He knows you for a week and he’s right back to the beginning. And you run straight to the bad guy. It’s not fair.”

      “It was a trade, Ziggy. To get the antidote, to save Nathan, I had to make a trade.”

      The implication of my words sunk in and Ziggy looked like I’d slapped him. “Why would you do something like that?”

      I shrugged. “I’m a doctor. I’m supposed to save lives and help people. And Cyrus needs me.” I wished I could take the words back. Not because Ziggy had heard them, but because by saying them, I’d acknowledged the truth. “Nathan can’t know about this.”

      “Are you nuts?” His young face lit up with relief. “All you gotta do is tell him what’s going on. He’ll take care of everything.”

      “No!” I said a little too loudly, and I heard Nathan roll restlessly on the couch. I explained more quietly, “If Cyrus kills him, what good was the deal I made? I’ll still be stuck with him, and Nathan will be dead. It will all have been for nothing.”

      “Then why are you telling me?”

      I chewed my lip. “I guess because…I don’t want you both to hate me.”

      “If you’re going to be with him—” he stopped and shook his head in disbelief “—if you’re going to be like him, Nate is going to hate you. But I won’t let him bad-mouth you too much.”

      “That’s all I can ask,” I said with a smile. The expression on Ziggy’s face was nothing if not heartbreaking. I felt my heart fly apart like a body hitting the sidewalk from forty stories above.

      “I won’t give him the letter until sunup. That way, even if he wanted to do something rash, he’ll have some time to cool off.”

      “Good thinking.” I reached for Ziggy’s hand and he didn’t pull away. “Thank you.”

      He seemed embarrassed by my gesture and quickly withdrew his hand. “Yeah, well, if we ever meet up in a dark alley, do me a favor and don’t eat me, okay?”

      “Deal.”

      I lay down then and finally slept. When I woke, the apartment was dark and empty. It was time to go.

      I picked up my shopping bag full of clothes, cushioning my diploma and the photo of my parents between sweaters, and made sure I had my letter to Dr. Fuller. Then I started down the stairs to the street.

      On the sidewalk, I stopped at the railing of the basement stairs as I heard Nathan groan in disgust. “How many candles would you estimate have melted into this rose-scented mess?”

      “Twenty?” Ziggy answered him.

      There was a long pause before Nathan replied. “Yeah, that sounds right.”

      I took a deep breath to ease the ache in my chest as I walked away. They would be fine without me. I’d only just come into their lives. There’d hardly been enough time to form an attachment. But I’d never had such a longing for family, warmth, comfort. Being raised by emotionally distant parents had almost entirely eradicated any notions of familial love I might have had. But with Nathan and Ziggy, just for a moment, I’d felt like I belonged.

      It hurt more to give it up than I would have expected.

      

      After delivering my letter at the hospital, I soon found myself standing before the gate of Cyrus’s mansion. In a few hours, my former boss would think I’d headed back to the East Coast. At least I wouldn’t end up on any missing-persons lists.

      Two armed guards approached me, muttering into their headsets. When they reached the gate, I took a step back.

      “Dr. Carrie Ames?” one of them asked.

      I nodded. They didn’t offer to take my bag. The one that had spoken hitched his thumb toward the house. “Cyrus is waiting.”

      The other guard stepped forward and pulled the gate open. I noticed that his hands trembled.

      When I reached the front door, it opened. But instead of Cyrus, a leather-clad couple emerged. They pushed past me as they descended the steps, and I caught the sound of loud music coming from somewhere in the house.

      More tough-looking vampires loitered in the foyer. Some lounged on a sofa in the center of the room, their vampire faces on full display. A few played with dice in a corner. All of them were dressed to ride in a motorcycle gang, and all appeared to be very intoxicated.

      A bodyguard stood in front of the doorway to Cyrus’s study. Compared to the bikers, the black-clad guard looked like a Boy Scout, so I made a beeline for him.

      “Is Cyrus in there?” I asked, juggling my bag to the other shoulder.

      “I’ll take you to him.”

      At the sound of the voice behind me, I spun and came face-to-face with Dahlia. My features began to shift and loosen. I bared my fangs.

      “You’d be dead before you laid a finger on me.” She snapped her fingers, and the guard at the door retreated.

      A low growl formed in my throat, the sound animalistic and satisfying. “I’m a lot faster than you think.”

      She smiled sweetly. “You weren’t so fast when I was killing your boyfriend last night.”

      I lunged at her. She raised her hands to form a spell, and I slashed them with my suddenly clawed hands. Droplets of her blood sprayed the marble floor.

      The biker vampires stopped their carousing. I assumed the blood had drawn their attention, but they weren’t staring at us. They were staring beyond us.

      Cyrus stood in the study doorway, clad in a lush floor-length fur dressing gown. His hair hung in two long platinum braids that fell behind his shoulders. He smiled at the bikers.

      “Gentlemen,” he called over the sound of Dahlia’s swearing, “I trust you are enjoying yourselves?”

      A few of the vampires raised their beers and gave a raucous cry.

      When they turned back to their amusements, Cyrus gripped Dahlia by the hair and pulled her into the study. He motioned to the bodyguard, who grabbed my arm and pushed me in, as well.

      When the door closed, Cyrus threw Dahlia to the ground. “What СКАЧАТЬ