TEN
Reed lowered his gaze from my face to his whiskey glass, dark brows furrowing, and seemed hesitant to answer my question, to say the least. And when he didn’t after a long moment or two, I spoke again, being careful not to give Polly up as my source of information.
“Look, Reed… you told me yourself about how Sean died, and I know he was pretty newly-married to Polly when it happened. I’ve been able to gather that they were very much in love. So, just putting two and two together, I’m guessing that you think maybe that the Bloodborn were able to kill Sean because he was so distracted by being head-over-heels in love. I’m also guessing that maybe this is why you seem so hesitant to even enter into a friendship with someone that you’ve already shared a bed with… because you think that developing any sort of feelings could ultimately lead to you getting killed.”
Reed didn’t answer me, instead continuing to stare into his whiskey glass. However, that was all the answer I needed. Not expecting anything more, I was almost startled when he spoke.
“There was a prophecy about Sean’s death, you know.”
“A… a what?”
Swirling the remaining whiskey in his glass, Reed sat back in his chair with a deep sigh. “One of the great-grandmothers of one of the Bloodborn bears… she was supposedly a witch of some sort, and her name was Raven. A few years ago, just as the Bloodborn were trying to invade us here in Somerset, she told them that she’d cursed us Somerset bears. She’d cast a spell on us that would lead to us losing one of our own before the year was up, she said. The Bloodborn sent a message to me, telling me about this prophecy, and saying that it could all be avoided if I’d just cede my land to them. Obviously, I didn’t. And a few months later, Sean was killed.”
I thought for a few moments before responding. “Well… that might have happened anyway. Just because Sean died, it doesn’t mean that there was any kind of an actual prophecy or a curse involved.”
Surprising me, Reed looked up and actually gave me a little smile. “I know that… and really, I don’t even believe in curses and prophecies. It just makes me feel better to think about sometimes… just to think that maybe it was some curse that took Sean’s life… and not a leader who didn’t make him sit out of combat situations, knowing that Sean had become so distracted that he’d become a liability.”
“So, you blame yourself for Sean’s death, then?”
Not looking at me, Reed took a deep breath through his nose, jaw clenched. “In a way, yes. But more than anything, I blame love itself. It made him absentminded. Less sharp. Sometimes I even think it sapped his strength in a way, and actually made him physically weaker. And that’s why I don’t want it for myself. I don’t want to let myself be killed, and I don’t want any more of my fighters to be killed under my watch. So, love is not for me.”
“And you plan to spend the rest of your entire life without love?”
A faint wince flickered across Reed’s face.
“Yes. As long as I’m chief of Somerset, entrusted with keeping everyone safe, I can’t risk taking any chances. I can’t allow myself to become as distracted as Sean was.”
“And you think that refusing to allow yourself to become ‘distracted’ won’t cause you to become distracted in and of itself?”
Reed suddenly cleared his throat, seeming as if he was suddenly having difficulty maintaining eye contact with me. “I’m not going to lie and say that you haven’t already begun to distract me a bit, Samantha. I think you're...” He paused for another throat clear. "I think you’re absolutely gorgeous, and I don’t think it would be a very hard task to become closer to you. That being said... I can’t let this happen. Not now, and probably not ever. Not unless…”
“Not unless what?”
“Well, not unless all the Bloodborn are wiped out at some point. If they didn’t exist, I wouldn’t have to worry about remaining sharp for battle so much.”
I took a quick sip of my wine with my mental wheels turning a mile a minute. “Well... how long to you expect it'll take to kill all the Bloodborn?”
Reed sighed. “I’m afraid I can't even give you a rough estimate. I wish I could. We’ve picked dozens of them off here and there over the years, in the course of defending Somerset and other nearby villages from their murderous attacks. But despite all the battles we’ve fought against them, the majority of them always seem to escape us, including their leader, who’s a Bloodborn named Gerard Blackthorn. He and a few of his men even made an attempt to kidnap some women here in Somerset a few years back, and although they failed, it took every single one of my men to make it so, because we were so incredibly outnumbered. Gerard is well aware of that fact. He’s also well aware of the fact that I'll never attack him and his men in their little village, Blackbrook, because they have women and children there who could be injured. So, like I said, I can't even give you a rough estimate of when I and my men might be able to do away with them all for good. I can see it being months... years, even. So, I’m living my life accordingly.”
“Your life completely devoid of love?”
With a little sigh, Reed picked up his whiskey glass and began drinking, seeming like he had no intention of answering me.
With a little sigh myself, I picked up my wineglass and took a good long drink, one probably far longer than was ladylike, before setting my glass back on the table. "So, to boil it all down, you have no intention of ever opening your heart, indefinitely, until Gerard Blackthorn and all his men are killed, which will be at some indefinite point in time, months or even years away. Do I have all this correct?"
Wincing slightly, Reed drained the rest of his whiskey in a gulp and set the glass back on the table. "Please believe that I...” He paused, swallowing. “I do want to open my heart, Samantha. I really do.” He sighed once again, pulling his gaze from mine and raking a hand through his thick, dark hair. “I hope you can believe me when I say that. But I know I have to resist opening my heart. I just have to.” He abruptly stood, raking a hand through his hair yet again. “I think I'll probably say goodnight now, hoping that you know that despite all I’ve said, I’m still committed to having a business relationship with you for our mutual gain. To that end, maybe you’ll have dinner with me again tomorrow night.”
With that, he began striding from the room, leaving me all alone at the long, polished dining table. All alone and entirely frustrated and disappointed. The sight of his tight rear as he walked away was almost more than I could take. Once he’d disappeared from view, I turned back to the table and drained the rest of my wine, thinking that another dinner with him while not knowing if we were even going to sleep together again would be similar to torture.