What Lies Inside (A Blood Bound Novel, Book 1) (31 page)

“Wait!” he uttered.

I was breathing as hard as Ty as he pulled away. My body screamed against his retraction. “What’s wrong?”

Worried Kendrick had entered my eyes darted to my bedroom door. No one was there. With a quick sigh, I frowned and followed Ty’s gaze through my open window. The bright, full moon, littered with delicate gray clouds, gleamed down on us.

“I’ll shift soon,” Ty said, as though it were the most normal statement in the world. He leaned back on his elbow, his slowing breath hot on my skin as he pressed his lips to mine. “We don’t have long.”

The touch did little to disintegrate my disappointment. “Oh…”

“I’ll stay till you’re asleep,” Ty added.

I looked up and noticed dark circles lining his eyes. He looked incredibly tired. “You don’t have to stay…”

Ty smiled. “It’s okay.” He strung his arm under my neck, guiding my head against his bare chest as he rolled onto his back. The beat of his slowing, steady heart echoed through my ears. “I want to.”

With his scent filling my lungs, warmth cascaded throughout my body. The sensation was calming and made me feel safe and totally secure. There was nowhere in the world I would rather have been.
I belong to you
, my internal voice whispered. All I said out-loud was, “Good night, Ty.”

The mental and physical exertion of the night was creeping up fast. My eyelids blinked with exhausted weight. Sleep claimed me moments later, a nightmare forming within my subconscious mind.

I stood in a forest clearing with Ty before me. His entire body shook. A sickening crack sounded, followed by a low growl. Ty fell to the snow-topped grass on all fours. Another agonizing growl tore from his throat as his back arched up. I went to rush forward, but I couldn’t move. An invisible force planted my feet to the ground. I struggled to break the hold. Then my vision shattered.

The sound of continuing cracks transcended into waking reality, ripping me from my nightmare. It was the crunch of bones breaking. My eyes flung open. Clouds fogged up my consciousness, disorientating me. But one thing struck me. Coarse hair scratched at my skin. I wasn’t alone. Limbs wrapped around my body, trapping me within the concrete embrace of a fur-covered beast.

A blood-curdling scream bubbled up my throat while my heart jumped to marathon speed. I thrashed, loosening the beast’s grip. Instantly alert, the creature startled. It leaped away from me, razor claws cutting my flesh. Pain radiated down my arm, while the scent of spilled blood reached my nostrils. I took no notice. My eyes were wide, unwaveringly fixed on the black beast as it flew through the air. It moved at a speed that was mind boggling, and landed without a sound in the center of my moonlit room. Its tall ears were perched forward and its canines were covered. The creature looked like a wolf, but unlike any I had ever encountered before. Its solid and muscular body was entirely covered in dense, black hair. With its size, it was more comparable to a bear. As I stared, frozen not in horror but awakening confusion, the creature moved forward. It covered the space between us in just one bound. I knew I should have backed away or lashed out, but I didn’t. There was just
something
about the creature that kept me planted. It was a recognition I couldn’t quite grasp.

It slowly reached out with an enormous paw—claws retracted—to graze my arm. I followed its touch to find deep lacerations scoring my flesh. Blood ran in think rivulets down my arm, collecting at my elbow. Fat drops fell steadily onto my lavender sheets, and what looked to be shredded black denim. Even as I watched, still struggling against the block in my mind, the blood began to clot and dry. The rapid healing process had already begun. When no more blood oozed from the cuts, my eyes rose to the beast. The gold of its eyes shone with brilliance, holding my stare. Within that mosaic of color, a slow understanding etched through the fog clouding my mind. Realization suddenly dawned on me. I wasn’t looking at a monster, an intruder or enemy, or even a creature I should fear in any way. I was looking at the boy I was falling for, at his magnificent wolf form. I was looking at Ty.

A sound at the end of the hallway snapped me out of my reverie. Footsteps, and more than one set, were hammering our way. My heart jumped into my throat. “Quick, you have to go!” I cried. When Ty hesitated, I pushed against his shoulders. “Now, they’re coming!”

Conflicting emotions showed across Ty’s wolf expression before he bounded across the room. His fluid movements blurred with speed as he leaped from my open window. In a panic, I shoved the shredded denim—which I now realized had been Ty’s jeans—under the sheets. Then I tugged the quilt up, covering my slashed arm and bloodied purple dress.

A split second later, Kendrick exploded into the room. He was wearing nothing but boxers and a
Red
t-shirt. Dorian was right on his tail. The chandelier flared on, casting away the shadows of my room with glorious light.

“What’s wrong?” Kendrick shouted, panicked eyes darting around my room. “Are you okay?”

Closing my eyes, I shook my head and waved a dismissive hand. I almost expected my mom to storm the room next. “I’m fine. I just had a nightmare.” Shit! I bit my lip and cursed myself. After resolving not to keep secrets, I was lying again, telling whopping half-truths. But how could I tell them what had happened? That Ty had been here? That he’d changed while asleep, and that I had the marks to prove it? It was an accident. But Kendrick would never understand.

Dorian sucked in a deep breath and rolled his eyes. “Geez, sis, you scared the shit outta me!”

Kendrick beside him raised one brow, regarding me with wary eyes. It was a look I understood well, one that in this moment filled me with dread. He’s not buying it. He had stormed into the room with as much force and alarm as my brother had, but it was obvious from his reserved expression that he still hadn’t entirely forgiven me. Clearer than that was the fact that he didn’t trust me, or believe my mounting lies.

“Well,” Dorian said looking from me to Kendrick. “I’ve got a date tomorrow. So if I’m gonna bring my A game, I need a few more hours sleep.”

Ignoring Dorian’s innuendo, I broke from Kendrick’s watchful gaze. The alarm clock on my bedside table read 12:15
AM
. That’s why she isn’t here. Mom was still at her meeting. Mindful of keeping my arm concealed, I looked back to the guys. “Yeah, sure, see you in the morning.”

Dorian slipped past Kendrick without further encouragement, leaving my best friend lingering mute by my door. His eyes were still set on me, radiating distrust. I forced a smile, which he didn’t return as he strode across the room to my open window. He peered out into the bright night sky, lit by the still-glowing full moon. Then he tugged the panes shut and secured the latch. My eyes remained fixed on him as he retraced his steps. Fear that he would rush to me and tear back the shielding covers had my pulse throbbing. But he didn’t look at me, or even utter a single word. Relief washed over me.

But as he was about to close the door behind him, he paused, nose tilting up to test the air. I could smell it now, too. Without the fresh night breeze flowing through my bedroom window, the scent of my own blood lifted on the air. It was still drying on the remains of Ty’s jeans and my tainted sheets and dress.

“Whose blood do I smell?” Kendrick swiveled to face me. Worry and anger stained his expression.

My eyes dropped and my head turned, preparing for the backlash that would erupt with my confession. As my lips parted to speak, something caught my eye. It was the glass of blood I had downed before leaving to meet with Ty. It was perched beside the alarm clock and rimmed with half an inch of drying blood. I pointed to the glass, shrugging. “Midnight snack.”

Kendrick’s eyes narrowed. For a long moment he just stood there, watching me. Each passing second raised the rapid contractions of my heart. Then without speaking he turned, dousing the chandelier before closing the door behind him.

At the sound of his retreating footsteps, I snatched a piece of chocolate from the bedside drawer. I shoved it into my mouth and fell back against the mountain of purple pillows.
Shit. Shit. Shit!
I wanted to slap myself. To be punished for breaking my own resolution. The continued strain between Kendrick and I was wearing thin. And I knew it was all because of me. In the morning, I would fix
everything
.

Sunlight woke me after a night of restless sleep. I slipped into black cotton pants and a long-sleeved purple top. Better Kendrick not see the angry, red welts painted across my arm. I was about to head downstairs when my iPhone buzzed from my bedside. It was Ty. I snatched the phone and raised it to my ear.

“Amelia!” Ty’s voice was frantic. I was almost surprised to hear a human voice, rather than the growl of a wolf. “Are you alright?”

“What? Of course I am.” I cringed at the memory of last night. He was asking if
I
was alright? Ty was the one who’d transformed. He was the one who’d had every bone in his body broken and reset. His flesh had stretched out to cover his expanding beastly shape. Not me. “Are you?”

His next words escaped in a rush. “I called as soon as I could. I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to leave you.”

“Ty, where are you?” I knew I had resolved to fix things with Kendrick, but I couldn’t leave Ty in such despair. I had to at least prove to him that I was fine. “Can I see you?”

“No!” Alarm rang in Ty’s voice. “I mean, it’s not safe. I’m not stable.” He sighed, a terrible rattling sound. “Tomorrow afternoon. Meet me at Mount Major, below the bluff beside the river.”

The same forest Kendrick and I hunted in. My throat felt dry and I swallowed, recalling how hard it had been not to kill my prey. “Okay,” I said, blinking away the memory. “I’ll see you then.”

Pushing my anxiety aside, I hung up and bounded downstairs. Dorian and Kendrick were both in the kitchen, busy stuffing their faces. The space was in disarray. Littering the limestone counter was an omelet-rimmed mixing bowl, a bacon-spattered frying pan, burned toast, and scattered eggshells.

Dorian glanced up at my entrance. Then his eyes slid sideways to Kendrick who had ceased eating to sit motionless and stiff at the breakfast bar.

It’s time. With a deep inhale, I planted my hands on my hips and walked over to him. “Kendrick, I need to speak with you, and I’m not taking no for an answer.”

Kendrick’s eyes flicked to me, his expression provoking. Irritation scratched beneath my skin. The urge to slap that look off his face grated on me, but I thought better of it. Instead I grabbed his hand, pulling him from the bar and out the terrace doors. He stomped with reluctance and yanked the hood of his boarding jacket over his head as I led the way. Down the stone path to the hedge-bordered alcove, I forced him onto the stone bench. It was the same one Ty and I had sat at before the auction. Memories of that day lifted in my mind. It was the day I had learned how wolf transformations worked. It was the same day Ty had unintentionally shattered my heart.

With great effort, I forced all thoughts of Ty and that day from my mind and focused on Kendrick. He sat at the end of the bench, elbows resting on his knees and resentment pouring from his hunched stance.

I reached forward, placing a gentle hand across his knee. “I know you’re still mad at me, and I understand why.” Kendrick frowned, lips parting as if he were about to rebut, but then thought better of it. Instead his head turned, meeting my staid expression. Taking the silence as encouragement to go on, I said, “I should have told you. Not kept all this from you. But with everything between us…I just didn’t want to hurt you any more than I already had. I never,
ever
, want to be the cause of your pain.”

The slightest warmth returned to my best friend’s face. “I know it’s not fair that I’m still…
upset.
I don’t want to be. But just the thought of you and
him,
” he spat the word then hesitated, taking a deep breath. “I can’t understand what you see in him. You know it will never work.” The anger from his expression had completely subsided. He turned on the bench to face me, drawing his posture straight. A light breeze had picked up, rustling the leaves of the surrounding hedges. “When your mom finds out—and you know eventually she will—she is going to freak. Besides, you could outlive him ten times over.”

The sun peeked over the barricading hedges. Water pooled in my eyes from the blinding orb coupled by his stinging words. Like trying to see underwater, my vision turned misty. I turned my head away. Everything he had said was the truth. A normal relationship could never work. How could Ty and I stay together when we’re so different?

After meeting Ty’s dad, I knew my mom would be just as against our relationship as he had been. Plus with her position on the Portsmouth Vampire Council, I didn’t even want to consider the complications. Tightness constricted my throat.
Uncle Caius.
What would he do? Being a royal like Kendrick, and one of the reigning Pure Bloods, he’d have to be explicitly against our union. Ty and I were supposed to be mortal enemies. And the aging issue was another huge hurtle that we still hadn’t covered in realistic detail.

Unable to look Kendrick in the eye, I stared at the lush grass while breathing in its freshly cut scent. A sigh escaped my throat as the weight of the heavy task ahead of me settled in. “I know it isn’t going to be easy. But it will work. It has to.”

“You’re deluding yourself if you think this will last,” Kendrick expressed not unkindly. Blinking, I forced my misty eyes up to meet his somber expression. “But what I’ve said in the past is still true. I love you, Amelia. My feelings for you will
never
change. I will still be here when he’s dead and gone.”

Every factual word he spoke caused a maddening anger to well up my throat. The thought of giving Ty up was too agonizing to bear. I freed my hands from Kendrick’s and sprang to my feet. “You don’t know anything!”

I began to stalk away, but Kendrick clutched my wrist, stopping me. “Amelia, wait,” he pleaded. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to fight with you.”