“He would never hurt you,” I said, but the look he gave me said he didn’t believe me. “Come on, let’s go eat.”
“Do you really trust him?” he asked again.
“Yes, he can’t lie to me.” At least I didn’t think he could, but I wasn’t willing to admit that to Aaron. We walked out to my truck, and climbed in. I couldn’t stop myself from looking toward the old farm.
“How do you know?”
Explaining that he was my mate was an option, but I knew Aaron wouldn’t believe or understand, so I didn’t. I didn’t understand it completely. I just knew he was, and I knew I would do whatever it took to protect him. Even knowing he didn’t need my protection. “He told me, and I trust him. He’s given me no reason not to.”
“Blake, he’s a vampire. You can’t trust anything he says. His entire goal is to make you believe what he wants you to believe so he can get what he wants.”
“What do you think he wants? He didn’t ask for anything, and he offered to give us the gold that he’s hidden. I don’t understand why you don’t trust him,” I said and glanced across the cab at him.
“Because he’s a fucking vampire. They drink blood and kill you. That’s literally all they do,” he shouted.
“Aaron,” I warned. “You’re my friend, but he’s—” I stopped myself, because I knew once again, he would never understand and would most likely be horrified that I was a vampire’s mate. “If he wanted to kill us, he already would have.”
“Your own ancestor buried him. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
I was quiet until I pulled to a stop in front of the bar and turned off the engine. “There are many things you don’t understand, and I’m not willing to explain them to you yet. I have my reasons for keeping some information to myself. If you can’t respect that, then maybe we shouldn’t talk about Marlon at all,” I said and hoped that shut him down, but I knew it wouldn’t.
“What is going on between you and him?”
I considered not telling him, but I knew Aaron, and I knew he wouldn’t let up. “We’re mates. I don’t know why it happened, and I don’t fully understand it, but it’s true.” He turned to look at me, his eyes wide with shock and fright.
“Blake, that can’t be good. How do you know? And what does that mean?”
“When we went to the farm, he still wasn’t looking much better. I offered him more blood because he’d only taken such a small amount. He didn’t want to, but I insisted. This time he drank from my neck.”
“Are you okay?” he asked, even more concerned than he’d been a moment before.
“I’m fine. He didn’t hurt me. I offered him blood, and he could have easily killed me, but he didn’t. That’s what I’m trying to tell you; he doesn’t want to hurt me.”
“I still don’t believe it,” Aaron said.
“I’ll be careful, but our bond is very strong. It’s hard to be away from each other. That’s how I knew the person he thought was his mate wasn’t. He wouldn’t have been able to betray him or help someone else trap him.”
“Your grandfather made it sound like they trapped him almost as a joke. I always thought it was strange they’d be able to do that,” Aaron said.
“He trusted the man he thought was his mate, and he betrayed him. But like I said, there is no way they were mates. Marlon was in love, and my great-uncle”—great-great? great-great-great?—“used Marlon’s feelings to get rich. Someone else came here with stories of riches and a deed for a gold mine he’d stolen,” I said, telling him what Marlon had told me.
“But how can you really know for sure?” he asked.
“When he fed from me, I had visions of his life before.”
“What did you see?”
“More like flashes of his life, and how he saw my ancestor. He trusted him.”
“So, what now?” Aaron asked.
“Now, we go eat. I really am starving,” I said and was relieved to hear him laugh. Both of us got out of the truck and walked into the bar, and after putting in our order, we found a table.
“So, you and Marlon?” he asked, but this time there was no heat to his words.
“Yes. The connection I have with him I’ve never had with another person.”
“What happens now? I mean, is he just going to live here?”
