Not this again. “What else is there? You already taught me how to swim in the sea.”

“Now we’ll acclimate you to its rips and undertows. Ejya has a low-tide break. And tomorrow, low tide is at seven fifteen. Meet me here. I’ll drive us.”

“Wait, wait, wait.” I put up my hand. “What do you mean, a low-tide break?”

“Tomorrow, we surf.”

Gooseflesh shivered up my arms. I dreaded the water, but I told myself surfing was cool. I tried not to whine or moan, and my voice sounded strained with the effort. “What on earth will surfing teach me?”

“Surfing has many lessons to teach.”

“You’re talking like Yoda again.”

He surprised me by laughing. “Try it, Annelise. You’ll learn about balance. Fear. Patience. Inconsistency. Unpredictability.”

A feeling seized me out of the blue, a shiver rippling across my body. I sucked in a breath.

Ronan’s gaze strayed over my shoulder, focusing hard on a spot behind me, and a muscle in his jaw pulsed. “And it will teach you trust,” he added, his voice heavy.

I knew who I’d find when I turned. I’d felt him coming even before Ronan had seen him. Carden.

I braced. But I could do all the loin-girding in the world and I’d never be prepared to face my blood-bonded vampire.

Yes, my vampire.

I tried to be cool as I peeked over my shoulder, but what I really wanted to do was fling myself into him.

Carden’s eyes were pinned on me, but his words were for Ronan. “Tell me, Tracer. How is it that every time I see you, you are with our Acari Drew?”

“I’m her teacher,” Ronan said tightly.

“Yet she always seems so distressed in your presence. Odd, that.” He stepped closer, close enough to cast me in shadow.

Easy on the testosterone, guys. I glanced at Carden to give him a quelling look, but what I saw stole my breath.

Like a peacock spreading his wings, Carden had plumbed some serious vampire mojo. It wasn’t that he’d changed his appearance in any way, but suddenly he radiated power. He seemed about ten feet tall, all broad-shouldered, fierce Vampire.

Carden reached toward me, and I fought to stand upright. It felt as though there was an invisible cord connecting me with the vampire. I felt its pulse low in my belly. I fought not to sink into him.

I inhaled with a hard sniff, gathering myself. It was the blood bond. What I felt for Carden wasn’t true attraction.

Right?

He brought a gentle fingertip to tilt up my chin. Carden was big, and my eyes had a long trip up that buff body to his face. He studied me, and it felt like a caress. “What lessons have you to teach this gifted creature?”

Gifted creature. He’d meant me. My mouth went dry.

Ronan’s response was brisk. “I teach her fitness. Ann—Acari Drew,” he quickly corrected, “did not know how to swim when she arrived. We have been spending a lot of time in the water.”

Carden’s lips curled into a smile. “I’d like to see that.”

I’d rather die.

I almost said it—I would have said it if Ronan hadn’t been standing there. But something told me I couldn’t let him see how informal I’d gotten with Carden.

“You are welcome to join us anytime, Master McCloud.”

That cleared the fog from my brain. I jerked my head to look at Ronan, dragging my chin from Carden’s grasp in the process. Wow. He had to call Carden by his formal title, Master McCloud.

I could tell by the furrow in his brow that Ronan had noticed me noticing. “Curfew is soon,” the Tracer told me. “Be careful. Until we learn who killed Trinity, there is a killer on the loose.”

There was an unspoken challenge in the words, but Carden didn’t rise to the bait. Instead, he gave Ronan a jaunty smile. “If you’re done here…?” He waited for Ronan to get the hint.

Ronan gave a curt nod. “Of course. Tomorrow at seven, then, Acari Drew.” And then he left me alone with my vampire.

CHAPTER SIX

I felt a peculiar twinge in my chest as I watched Ronan walk away. He was one of the few people on this island who cared about me, and I wasn’t entirely sure why. Would those feelings change if he discovered I’d bonded with a vampire?

It was a wonder he hadn’t figured it out already. Carden’s posturing wasn’t exactly subtle. “Way to keep our bond secret,” I chided him. “Maybe you should just brand me.”

Carden scoffed at that. “He’s but a boy. He doesn’t see what’s right in front of his face.” The way he traced his finger down my cheek implied that I’d been what was in front of Ronan’s face only to be ignored.

The notion stung. I lashed out. “He behaves better than you do.” I bit my tongue, regretting the words at once. I’d seen how angry these vampires could get.

But Carden shocked me with a rollicking laugh. “You’re pretty when you’re peevish, little one.” With a glance right and left, he tugged my hand. “Come, eilean mo chridhe, let me feed you. It will ease your mind.”

I felt the tug of his hand like it was on a direct line to my lady parts. I flashed to a fantasy of going with him, disappearing into the shadows, where he’d kiss me like he’d kissed me before. I’d melt into him like a pat of butter on a hot skillet.

And then we’d be discovered, and I’d be killed.

Or he’d be killed, our bond would be severed, and I’d realize I was never truly attracted to him in the first place. Then some other vampire would try to bond with me and I’d be back to square one.

No, thank you.

I tugged back, reclaiming my hand. “Was that Gaelic? What ridiculous thing are you calling me now?” Honeybun? Sugarbear maybe?

His normally lively expression grew quiet. “Isle of my heart.”

I swear, I felt an actual twang in my chest. Because that was how I felt.…I was an island, choked by my solitude. Did this reckless, inscrutable vampire actually see inside me? We had a blood bond—I’d assumed it was a purely physical thing. But had it attuned him to the ways of my heart? Could he sense my deepest secrets? Had he noticed just how lonely I was?

I felt vulnerable, and it made me wary. “I’m not going with you until you tell me what’s going on.”

“What’s going on?”

“Why can’t I get you out of my head?”

“Because I’m a handsome devil?” He gave me a naughty smile, knowing the truth of the matter was that my head had nothing to do with it—I couldn’t get the feel of him out of my body. “What’s going on is you need blood.”

“I have a shooter of the stuff with every meal.”

“My blood,” he said with a sexy growl. He got that look in his eye again—that twinkly, beckoning look—and nodded his chin away from the dorm. You’d think he was merely suggesting we sneak around back to make out like real teenagers would.

I crossed my arms at my chest, closed for business. “Not until you explain this. Do other Acari have bonds like this? Why can’t anyone find out? Is it permanent?”

“Perhaps. Because. And not necessarily.” He snatched my hand and began to walk. “Now come. Your peevishness is wearing.”

I dug in my heels and snatched away my hand. “If you’re not going to answer my questions, then it looks like we’ve got nothing to talk about. I’m going inside.”

Anger flashed in his eyes, sharp and crystalline. Adrenaline dumped into my body as I saw what rage smoldered beneath that carefree surface. “You’re a foolish child to deny me,” he snarled. “To deny yourself. It was foolish what you did to us. Now, more so, what you continue to do.”

Terror sent my heart galloping. I’d gotten too relaxed with him. With all of our flirty banter, I’d forgotten—this was a vampire. He might be easy, sexy, devil-may-care Carden, but he was a creature who could turn on me in an instant, flaying me. Sucking me dry, if he chose. He was ancient, with the strength of ages.

I wouldn’t forget again.

“You only want me because of the bond,” I said, trying to sound reasonable. “Not because of me.”

“Just let me take care of you,” he said through gritted teeth.

But I didn’t want to feel like I needed a vampire. Especially not this vampire. Until I figured out why Alcántara seemed to have it out for Carden, the last thing I needed was for the Directorate to think I was with him.

“I can’t go with you,” I said quietly. Technically, I didn’t have to agree to go with him. I supposed he could just take me. Grab me, throw me over his shoulder, and do what he would. The way he stepped closer made me think for a second that he might.

“Then I have two things to say to you.” His jaw was clenched, as though he was restraining himself from doing something bad. “First, Tracer Ronan is correct. Stay in your room. There is a killer out there, and no, it’s not me.”

I mustered my willpower. It was the hardest thing I’d ever done. Putting space between me and Carden felt like walking away from an ice-cold glass of water while dying of thirst. But I swallowed hard and made myself say, “And the second thing?”

“The second thing,” he announced, biting out the words in a glacial tone. “Stay away from me. If you won’t accept me, it is the only way.”

Maybe I was stubborn, or afraid, or cautious, or just a romantic hoping for more.…Whatever my reasons, I hadn’t wanted to go with him. But now that he forbade me, well, that was a different story. It felt so final. I laughed nervously. “I thought I was your wee dove.”

His eyes narrowed, his desire grown fierce. The quiver I’d felt in my belly shot through my whole body, heating me, weakening me, until my knees went shaky. He wanted me, and it was a heady thing.

“I grow hungry,” he said, his voice hoarse, “and yet you wish to sever our bond. To be this close is to be too tempted.”