The f*******n Bond

Prologue

Prologue

“Nothing will ever be the same again.” ~Alice

Alice drifted in and out of consciousness, catching snippets of conversation around her. She heard Cain's voice, tight with worry, as he argued with someone.

"I don't care what you think. Fix her!"

Alice wanted to tell him she was okay, that she just needed rest, but she couldn't make her lips move. A cool hand brushed her cheek.

"Just hang on, Alice. I've got you."

The touch wasn’t familiar, and yet she wanted to cling to it like a life preserver. The thought chilled her because she shouldn’t want to hold fast to Cain. But it didn’t stop her. Something inside her reached out to him, using his touch as an anchor to pull her up out of the darkness.

With great effort, Alice peeled her eyes open. The room swam before finally settling into focus. She was in a massive bedroom, one she immediately recognized as belonging to the vampire king. Cain sat beside her, his elbows braced on his knees, head bowed. He looked up when she stirred, relief washing over his face.

"There's my girl," he said softly. "How do you feel?"

His girl? Alice blinked, trying to get her bearings. She didn’t have the strength to question the strange, possessive words. "Weak. Tired." Her voice came out a hoarse whisper. She lifted a shaky hand to her neck, feeling the bandage there, then everything came flooding back. She remembered Claude sinking his teeth into her flesh. The burst of pain. Cain forcing her to drink his blood.

Blood. The tang of it lingered on her tongue, mixed now with the metallic taste of fear.

Her brow furrowed as reality rushed over her. "Am I…"

She couldn't make herself say the word. She couldn't give voice to the possibility. How could she deal with the reality of being a… Cain took her hand in both of his, enveloping it in the strength that came from one of his kind. She wondered briefly if he had to temper that strength in order to keep from harming her.

"You're still you, but just becoming more," he said firmly. "Just rest and heal. We'll deal with everything else later."

Alice searched his face, looking for any deceit, but she found only sincerity. He meant what he said. She was still herself, but was she still human? Cain said “more.” In her mind, “more” in this context meant monster. So even though she still felt human, she wasn’t. But what could be done about it now? She leaned back against the pillows, and though exhaustion crept over her, there were still questions burning through the fog in her mind.

"Claude?"

Cain's jaw tightened. "Gone."

There was barely leashed violence in that word. Alice didn't doubt he would tear Claude apart if given the chance.

"And Finn? Lizzy? You have to let them go. They don’t deserve this."

"Shh." Cain squeezed her hand. "We'll deal with all of it soon. Just get your strength back first."

He was right. She could barely keep her eyes open as it was. The questions could wait. But there was one more thing she needed to say before sleep claimed her.

"Thank you," she whispered, "for saving me." Alice felt this strange urge to throw herself in his arms, as if that’s where she belonged, had always belonged. For so long, she’d felt like she was on the outside looking in. Allowing herself to be held by him would at least give her a sense of being tethered, attached to someone or something. But to be attached to a being like Cain felt wrong. How could someone be both right and wrong at the same time?

Cain's expression softened. He reached out to graze her cheek with his knuckles. "I'll always save you, Alice. Always."