Blood Bonded

20

Rae and Dominic rode back in silence. Rae pet Dane absentmindedly, thinking about what she had seen. A vision? A dream? A nightmare? A hallucination?

She glanced over to see the cut on his cheek. Surely it wasn't a hallucination. "What happened to your cheek?" Didn't he heal? Why was this healing slowly?

Dominic sighed and glanced over at her. "I talked to my father today."

Rae frowned at his sudden change in subject but didn't want to press. "Did you tell him about me?"

He shook his head. "It's better if I don't."

"Ah." Rae glanced down at her scuffed shoes. "I probably don't fit in all that well, huh?"

Dominic looked down at her. "As a human?"

No, as a poor plain Jane who can't even afford college. She nodded and then cleared her throat. That was probably for the best. After all, none of this was part of the plan. Once she and Dominic found a way to get rid of the marks and blood bond—whatever that meant—they would go their separate paths. "We should, you know, probably make a plan."

Dominic raised an eyebrow. "A plan?" He raised an eyebrow. "And what, exactly, are we planning to do?"

Rae shifted under his gaze. "Survive." She leaned forward. "Look, until we can figure out a way to break this bond, we have to figure out a way to live with each other, right?"

Dominic looked away. "What we're doing now works."

She shook her head. "You need blood from me, right?"

Dominic nodded warily.

"Okay, whatever you did this morning worked, so let's do that. How often do you need to feed? Like, just to get by?"

He frowned. "Every other day."

Rae pulled out her phone. "Okay. So, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. That'll put us close. What time works for you?"

"Time?"

"So I can put it in my calendar."

"How about I just come by when I want to?"

"Well, what if I'm at class? Or work? Let's just say 7." She began typing in her phone.

The slice on his face burned. "I'll stop by whenever I want to."

Rae stared at him. "That doesn't work for me. I have plans—"

"It's decided."

Rae frowned. "That's not how this works."

"That's how I work."

"What do I get from you, then? You get to feed from me. What do I get?"

"You get my protection."

"Protection?! The only reason I have ever needed protection was because one of your psycho mafia enemies tried to get at you. If you really want to protect me, you should find a way to get rid of this mark!"

Dominic glanced down at his watch. Her heartbeat was rising, but not from fear. "Let's talk about this tomorrow. You have class."

"So now you care about my schedule?" Dominic didn't respond. "Fine. We'll talk about it tomorrow."

&&&

"How was class?"

Rae glanced at Sam. "Fine."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Wow. You've got to be PMSing, right? Got some hormones that need regulating?"

"No. I'm..." she glanced up from her textbook. "So, I respect people's time, right?"

Sam nodded. "To an obscene level, yes."

"Is it so much to ask that someone respects my time?"

"Is this about your boyfriend?"

"He's not my boyfriend."

Sam looked up. "That bad, huh?" Sam climbed over the couch and stood across from Rae. "Look, I'm not sure how you met or what your plans are. Maybe it's just a casual thing. But if you broke it off, then you need a distraction."

Rae huffed. "I need money."

"No," Sam said, grabbing on of Rae's planners. "You need to follow your plan, right? Why don't we go to the club again? You get the opportunity to hang out with Trevor."

"Not the club. Rae pulled out her phone. "But maybe a double date would do me well." After all, it wasn't like Dominic was an option. He was an unfortunate speed bump—totally out of her league—and, after all, he hadn't told anyone in his family.

Sam smiled. "Deal. I'll invite the boys."