Feral Bonds

Chapter 20

Lily cornered her when there was only a week left on her bargain. "You're not going to stay?" she demanded, throwing her arms on either side of Natania's head, leaving her pinned against the wall.

Natania rumbled with a growl. "Why would I?"

"For us? For you? For me?" Lily said, incredulous.

"You've made it clear you've no interest in me aside from as a fuck buddy," Natania snapped, tightening her muscles so she wouldn't flinch at the words. "That's not enough to keep me here. Not worth being a slave for. Or a blood bag. You may be happy being his slave, but I never will be." Lily was worth staying for, but not if she was stuck in the limbo of belonging but not belonging to her. But the vampire didn't do strings, and Natania needed them.

Hurt seared across Lily's eyes and Natania pushed back the guilt. "I'm still your friend, Nat," Lily snapped. "You don't have to be anything, you could just stay here. You could just be family. Master and I would protect you without any strings."

"I don't need protection," Natania snapped, then took a breath and tried again. "If I stay here, I'll be nothing more than a convenient snack for the rest of my life." She ducked under Lily's hand, she needed some personal space. "I'm sorry, I'll miss you, but I can't do this anymore."

"You're going to get hurt," Lily shouted. "You have to stay."

Natania stiffened. She didn't care what Lily saw, she didn't want to know. She was going to live, and she was going to do it far from here. "Then I'll get hurt," she snarled. "I'll fucking survive. I always do."

"Nat." Lily reached for her hand and Natania snatched her arm away. "Please." Lily's voice was soft, hurt and frightened. "The things I've-"

"Don't," Natania growled. "I don't want to hear it."

"If I hurt you so bad, why didn't you ever say so?" Lily snarled. "We could have stopped at any time."

"Because I couldn't," Natania hissed. "Because time with you was the only good thing about this place. And loving you is going to destroy me." Her voice cracked and Natania hastily wiped her eyes. "Just forget it."

Lily flinched at her accidental admission. "At least wait a couple days," Lily begged. "Until they're-"

"Just stop," Natania shouted. "Enough." If she stayed even a minute longer than she had to, there would always be some reason to stay. And she needed to leave.

Lily's gaze hardened, her eyes going cold. "Have it your way." She threw the words over her shoulder and stalked away.

Regret seized her heart. "Wait, Lily." Natania reached out a hand towards her, but the vampire was already gone.

~

Vincent waited with her while they counted down the last hour of her bargain. They stood in the hallway, near the front door. Vincent leaned against the wall while Natania sat on the edge of one of the tables. "My offer still stands," he said, "you could work for me, no bargains or blood involved."

"No," she said. "I need to go my own way." She glanced down the hall, half expecting Lily to show up at any moment. But the vampire had disappeared, Natania hadn't seen her since their fight. Vincent had told her she'd gone on a mission out of town. Natania hoped she would return in time so that she could say goodbye. She didn't want their last words to be in anger.

"I understand," he said. "I won't push." He tapped his fingers on his thigh. "You can always come here, if you need anything." Vincent offered a hand. "As a friend."

Natania slid off the table and took it, but internally decided he was the last person she wanted to be indebted to. "Thanks, Vincent," she replied, blinking as nothing stopped her from using his name. Relief threatened to buckle her over. The clock had run out. She reached up and unclasped the collar, handing it to him.