Jessie glanced at him. “I also like my alone time, but I might find it a little too isolated out here.”
Zach’s heart panged as he shrugged. “For me, it’s the only way to live. I can’t keep the walls up all the time. So being around people just isn’t in the cards.”
Jessie gently swung back and forth as they stared out into the darkening sky. Zach scratched the cat, but his awareness was entirely focused on her. On what she was going through. And what she was about to do.
“Are you really going to take that blood?” Everything in Zach screamed that she shouldn’t do it.
“I don’t think I have much choice.”
He’d had a glimpse of what she faced, while they’d chased down Braden. “I felt it. This attraction thing is strong.”
Jessie’s skin took on a reddish hue, and he sensed her embarrassment. “Yeah, it’s strong.” She raised a hand, and let it fall again. “He revolts me. Or he should. But I can’t seem to help being attracted to him.”
Zach’s gut twisted. He fought to keep his voice calm. “Cara said it’s the virus. It’s not your fault.”
“Yeah. I tell myself that too.”
“Well, if Cara thinks it will help. Maybe it will.” Zach grimaced. “Does it have to be Kade’s blood?”
Jessie shot him a look. “I don’t know. Cara suggested him. Why?”
Zach struggled to come up with a reasonable response, but ended up blurting, “He’s an arrogant ass.”
Jessie snorted a laugh. “I think they all are. Even Kitani has an air to her.”
“True.” The thought of anything of Kade’s touching Jessie caused his blood to boil. But if it saved her from Braden, then it would be worth it.
Wouldn’t it?
So long as it didn’t bond her to the asshole. Which, he admitted, was at the root of his uneasiness about all this.
Buffy chirruped at him and butted his hand, which had stopped scritching. As though on cue, Cara emerged from the house with a small bag. She sat with Jessie and pulled out a syringe.
Jessie fidgeted on the swing, making it sway.
“You sure this is necessary?” Zach asked Cara.
“It’s up to Jessie, of course,” Cara pointed out.
“Is it the only way?” Jessie asked.
“Are you dreaming about Braden? Looking for him around every corner? Feeling antsy, like you have somewhere to be?” Cara recited with the syringe poised in the air.
Jessie sighed and held out her arm.
Zach stiffened. She dreamed about Braden? What kind of dreams?
“I’m going to need your help with Laura,” Cara said after she was done. “She told me, quote, unquote, that ‘she had enough monster blood in her.’ She doesn’t want the injections.”
“I’ll talk to her,” Jessie said.
“Is she dreaming about him, too?” Zach asked.
Jessie nodded.
His gut twisted. “Is Braden able to inject himself into their dreams? Like, is he consciously there?”
Cara grimaced but met his eye. “Yes, he is consciously there. The dream bond was originally part of an elaborate ritual to bring the Were pair closer together before their first transformation as a mated couple. Their minds link while asleep. They may consummate the bond mentally before it happens physically on the night of the full moon. And usually, the mated couple shares a form of telepathy once mated.” She shook her head. “But not only did Braden not get permission to bond to either Jessie or Laura, he chose to bite non-Weres. In Laura’s case, a human. He is forcing these bonds. It is a perversion of what they were meant to be.”
