This Blood that Bonds Us (This Blood that Binds Us #4)

80. Eighty

Eighty

Presley

Zach and Luke were really heavy. William was right, we wouldn’t have been able to carry him. I could barely keep my brothers from falling into the street. Aaron reopened his wound, and well—

“Where the heck is it!?”

“This is the right street.” Kimberly huffed, studying the colored buildings that lined the street. Everything looked the same color at night. None of my senses were working the way they should. We’d somehow gotten off the island. Zach explained the basics of how to drive the speed boat. I almost crashed. It was fine.

“I can’t see anything!”

“Me neither!”

Kim and I were panicking a tiny bit. The other three were in and out of consciousness, and we’d gotten too far to lose one of them. I was about two seconds away from a frustration cry but was trying to keep it together.

“I think it’s that one. He said it had a red door.”

“Kim, half the houses on this street have a red door.”

“Let’s just try one.” Kimberly was holding pressure to Aaron’s chest.

“What if you’re wrong? We’re covered in blood!”

“We’ll tell them it’s oil.”

“Why are you two fighting?” Luke asked.

“Because you’re all going to die here in the street, and me and Kim are going to go back to Alaska alone and become sad, young, forever hermits.”

“Wow. Creative,” Zach said.

“Don’t panic or anything.” Aaron coughed. He was being sarcastic, and sarcastic was better than dead.

“That’s it.” Luke lifted his head and pointed to the same house Kimberly was eyeing.

I rang the doorbell on a pink townhouse. It was past midnight at least, and I’d seen only one person walking on the other side of the street.

When a few seconds passed, I rang again.

“Presley, don’t.” Aaron groaned. Kimberly’s hand was wet with his blood as she firmly held scraps of her crumpled shirt to cover it.

“Well, we’re bleeding out here. Kinda need her to hurry the hell up,” I said, trying to hide the stress in my voice.

“It’s okay. Take a deep breath. It will work out,” Luke said. His best attempt at comfort in our current situation. I missed that.

“Says the guy that’s currently bleeding all over me! Ugh!” I pressed the doorbell a couple more times while struggling not to drop him on the cobblestone.

There was a soft stirring inside before the door swung open and the one named Aine appeared. “Fuck. Who is—”

Her eyes widened at the sight of all five of us bloody on her doorstep.

“Hi,” Luke croaked out.

There was black on the edges of my vision—I’d chosen to simply ignore it — but I could make out her red hair.

“What is this?” she asked.

“Heard you had blood. We’re going to need it,” I said.

“Let Luke do the talking, Pres.” Zach groaned, clutching his side.

“What is all over you?” Her eyes remained wide.

“Wait, she doesn’t know?!” I scoffed in frustration, and we all almost fell to the ground.

“Know what?”

Luke opened his mouth to speak, but he was taking too long.

“We’re vampires. We’re dying and bleeding out. Yep, the black stuff is blood, and we just got back from killing the cult members on that island, and we really need the blood that you have. Luke said you’re the blood bank lady. If you don’t, we’re all literally going to die on your doorstep. So can you please let us in?”

“Subtle,” Aaron muttered.

Kimberly cleared her throat. “Please, we don’t mean any harm. We just need a little help. This was the only place Luke knew to go.”

Aine’s eyes were huge. “It was real. The rumors were true.”

“Yes,” Luke said. “And it’s done. It’s over.”

“Yeah. See. Can we hurry? My brothers are super heavy, and I can’t hold them much longer,” I said.

“These are your little brothers you mentioned?” She appeared to still be in shock, which I didn’t have the time to entertain because my grip was slipping under Zach’s arm.

“Here in the flesh.” I bit my tongue. “Can we come in or not?”

I didn’t want to have to pick people off the street to drink, but I’d do it.

She nodded and held open the door. “Fine.”

Her house kind of reminded me of our house in Brooklyn, but I was too busy dying to admire the furniture. She led us through a hall into what looked like a guest room with two simple bedside tables and a large bed.

“You can all rest here tonight, but I need you out by the morning. I’ll go see what I can do about the blood.”

I dropped the twins on the bed and collapsed onto the floor while Kimberly did the same with Aaron.

My entire body was shaking. The slow sense of safety and exhaustion nearly took me to the floor. I made myself get up, refusing to let go of the little energy I had left. I needed to make sure my brothers got blood and that everything was truly over.

“All of you get up till I know you’re okay. If you die now, I’m going to be so pissed.”

“We’re okay, Pres,” Luke said, sitting up slowly. He did that for me, I think. “Come here. Let me look at you.”

I froze at Luke’s eyes on me. He moved the blood-soaked hair from my eyes, inspecting me for any signs of damage. Everything else in the room blurred.

“Where are you hurt?” he asked.

I wanted to speak, but something was weighing me down. My chest was tight.

“Check his chest. Henderson got him in the chest,” Zach said, still lying on the bed with his eyes closed.

“Here, let me see.” Luke inspected my torn clothes. As I stared at him, everything came crashing down on me. He looked so different yet the same. His skin was warm.

We did it. It really was over.

“Pres, are you okay?” Luke shook me urgently.

How long was I staring?

“Am I ? Are you?” I finally said, tears running down my face.

“Yeah. I’m okay.” He nodded. “Thanks to you. All three of you.”

“I waited for you to come home, and you didn’t. I thought . . . maybe you forgot about me.”

“I wanted to come, Pres. I tried. I promise I tried.”

He wrapped me in a hug that was oddly soft in comparison to the ones I remembered, but it was still good.

“I know. I just missed you so much, and I couldn’t tell you. It was terrible. So much stuff happened, and a lot of it sucked. And I wasn’t that good while you were gone. I’m sorry. I was really close to robbing a bank.”

It was like seeing him for the first time in months. All my memories after the blood in the church were foggy. I couldn’t remember if I’d told him how much I’d missed or if he even remembered.

Tears formed in my brother’s eyes.

“Don’t cry, Luke.”

“No, it’s a good cry.” He wiped his face, wearing a toothy smile. “I still can’t believe this is real. Is this really happening?”

“It’s real, dude.” I squeezed him harder.

I turned to Zach and punched his only good leg. “And you. Get up.”

He groaned and pulled himself up to his elbows, and I fell onto him. Hugging him and relishing it and not caring about the embarrassment of it all.

“Did you miss me a little?”

He rubbed my back, and his voice cracked. “Yeah, Pres, I did.”

“Are you mad I came?”

“No. You came at the perfect time.”

I tried to push back and remember. It was hazy, but I vaguely remembered Zach leaning over Luke covered in blood.

“You were . . . fighting.”

He rubbed my head. “It doesn’t matter now. None of it matters.”

“You’re right. You’re free. Shit, Mom is going to be so happy to see you.”

“Mom,” Zach and Luke said simultaneously.

I couldn’t wait for them to see her and her to see them. It would be like getting her the best Christmas gift ever. There was no topping something like that.

Then we were all crying, and every tear made me feel lighter. Like all that time we were apart and the pain had melted away. I’d dreamed of that moment so many times.

“Wait, I’m not dead, am I?” I sat up, wiping my face of the blood and tears.

“If this is death, I’m pissed it hurts so much,” Zach said, unable to get up with the wound in his side.

“You.” Luke was focused on Aaron who was still barely conscious in Kimberly’s arms. They’d been whispering back and forth too low for me to concentrate on.

“Don’t ever do that again.”

“Don’t make me ever have to.” Aaron smiled, spotting me and winking.

I loved that sweet bastard with all my heart.

“You’re okay. You’ll stay awake till she gets us blood?” Luke had his forehead pressed to Aaron’s like he might die any minute.

“Yeah. I’ve got people who need me.”

The swift image of me slamming a freaking dagger in Kim’s leg shot me to my feet. “Oh, my god. Kim, I’m so sorry. Let me see your leg.”

“I’m fine. I’m in a lot better shape than most of you. It’s okay.”

“You did amazing back there,” Luke said with tears in his eyes, smiling at her.

“She did it. She finished it.” Aaron leaned up to kiss her. “It’s over because of her.”

“Because of you.” She kissed him again, and her voice cracked. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“I’m sorry you all had to do this,” Luke said.

“No apologies needed. We’re all family. That’s what families do, I hear,” she said, and I glimpsed the ring on her finger.

“You got engaged without me!? What the hell?” I moved to stare at the perfect ring on Kimberly’s hand. I hated to give my brother kudos, but since he literally died for all of us, I’d probably have to start handing it out more. Plus, the ring was perfect for her.

“We’re kind of . . . married.”

“What!?”

“We said our vows before we came.”

“If that wasn’t the cutest thing ever, it would be terrible news.”

“That’s what you get for running off. Don’t scare me like that,” he said.

“I second what Luke said. Don’t kill yourself for us, then. Let’s all agree. No more sacrifices. No more dying. And no more running away.”

“Deal,” we all said together.

“Don’t worry, Pres. You’ll still get your wedding,” Aaron said.

“Thank god.”

There was a knock on the doorframe. “Here. I don’t know how much you need, but it’s all I could spare at the clinic. I can try to get more tomorrow morning. I also found you all a change of clothes since you all look like you’ve been rolling around in oil.”

“Thank you.” Luke nodded.

“Don’t leave my bathroom looking like a crime scene.”

We nodded and inspected the clothes she gave us.

“These fucking shorts.” Zach held up a small set of shorts. “There’s one set of sweatpants.”

“Can I have them? I’m so cold,” Kimberly said.

“You can have anything you want, Kim,” I said. “The queen has spoken.”

I said it loudly, and we all juggled the weirdness of that sentence, then the strangest laughter trickled out of us one by one. We laughed together for the first time in months. Everything would be different, but I wasn’t scared anymore because we were together again. Now and forever.