Don't Bite the Bridesmaid Read Online Free PDF Page B

responsibility,” Alex said finally.
    Alex didn’t say what they were both thinking, although the little he said was true enough. It was a responsibility. One that had kept Alex around the last five years. One that would keep him alive—whether he wanted to be or not—for another five. A heavy weight settled on Noah’s chest at the thought of his friend being gone.
    Like humans, vampires varied in their appearance and personalities, but nearly all shared a sense of duty and honor to their fellow vampires. It was something ingrained culturally and had been for centuries. And though it was treated as a trait—a sign of the mental fortitude and control required to make it as a vampire—Noah had long suspected even more than mental character was at play. That magic was behind their need to preserve the lives of their fellow vampires.
    And if one vampire died, his or her bondmate died as well.
    This fact meant bonding was not only used to connect vampires who wished for something deeper than human marriage, but also to give life to older vampires through the psychic connection. The bond allowed younger vampires to gain strength and much-needed control, and gave older ones a chance to fall in love with life again.
    “I don’t think—hell, Alex, I know I don’t need a bonding.”
    “Because you aren’t yet so tired of this life that you’re suicidal—so the forced bonding would be worthless to you?” Alex asked, bitterness lacing his tone. “That’s what Charles will tell The Council. Two hundred or no, you haven’t hit that place yet where you need a bondmate to tie you to this life. In all likelihood, they’ll grant you a fifty year stay. Then you’ll have a few more decades before they’ll propose this again.”
    Noah nodded to himself and then stepped even closer to the wall as a large group of young college-age students—party-goers, not wedding guests, he would bet—passed him on their way to miniature golf.
    “How are you doing these days?” Noah asked, then immediately regretted the impulse.
    “Just as tired as always, my friend.”
    The line clicked and Alex was gone.
    Noah shook his head. He’d do anything to help Alex, but decades of trying to pull him out of the shell into which he’d bound himself hadn’t worked. The bonding The Council had forced on Alex hadn’t revived him either. He certainly couldn’t do anything during a five-minute phone call. Frustration burned in his chest. Alex was a good man. A strong warrior. A loyal friend.
    He didn’t really believe Alex was suicidal, but he showed all of the signs of a vampire nearing the end of his life. So he’d been bound to a bride, which tied his fate to hers. And like most of his kin, Alex wouldn’t take the life of a young vampire in order to soothe his own pain. So his continued life—for the time being—was guaranteed.
    “Hey, there.” Alice still wore her bright smile, but tentativeness shadowed it now. Had something happened while he was on the phone? He glanced behind her but didn’t see anything amiss.
    “Is something wrong?”
    “No.” She shook her head, then more firmly, “No. Do you want to go relax for a few minutes? We have a little over an hour before dinner.”
    “Sounds good.”
    He followed her down a hallway and up several flights of stairs until she stopped at a room and used her keycard to open the door.
    “Is this your room or mine?” he asked, peering in from the doorway. The suite appeared spacious for a cruise ship room. A large bed equipped with a dizzying bedspread took up most of the room space, with a loveseat and dresser filling the rest of the room. Propped up high was a flat screen television. A small table—nightstand size—was the only other furnishing inside the room. But sliding glass doors led to a small balcony on which he glimpsed a couple of chairs and a table. Alice’s family had spared no expense on the rooms.
    Most importantly, heavy curtains were pushed to one side of the