Blood Bond (18 page)

I hit a button on the keypad and pressed it
to my ear. “Hello?”

“Tara?”

“Hey. Is everything okay? Did something
happen?”

“Nothing happened. I’m fine. Just making
sure you got out okay.”

“Oh.” I allowed myself to breathe. “Yeah,
George pretended to be in pain, from shifting or whatever, and we
snuck away.”

“Good. I’m getting close and I just wanted
to tell you I love you. I’ll call you when I have the hard
drive.”

“I love you too. We’ll talk soon.” I
disconnected, a little more grounded, a little more sure. Wes was
almost there. In a few hours, he’d have the hard drive. I’d get
George to Astor. Cambria and Alex would do their part in making
sure no one knew where we were until we’d figured this out. It
would’ve been better to fly, time saving. But I couldn’t be sure
George wouldn’t shift, and that was definitely something I couldn’t
risk at thirty thousand feet.

The phone rang again. I read the screen.

“Who is it?” George asked, leaning over to
see the caller ID. “Damn. I guess you should answer.”

I hit the button and brought the phone to my
ear. “Hey, Grandma,” I said.

“Hey there, favorite granddaughter, how’s
your day?”

“It’s been … tiring. How’s yours?”

She sighed. “I’ve had better. These stupid
meetings are wearing on me. Cambria’s mom got arrested.”

“I know, Logan called.”

“Good, he’s a nice boy. Listen, I just came
from a meeting about the whole thing and its better she knows. CHAS
is trying make an example out of her. They want to charge her with
treason.”

“What? For making a few comments to her
therapist?”

“It was more than a few, but yes, it’s
extreme, even for Gordon.”

“If she’s found guilty …” I couldn’t finish.
I wasn’t well versed in the Hunter judicial system, but they were
big proponents of the death penalty.

“I aim to not let that happen, but I think
it’s only fair that Cambria be prepared.”

I sighed. “I understand. Thanks, Grandma.
I’ll tell her.”

“You do that. I’m fixing to get out of here
by tomorrow, I think. Should be home tomorrow night. Let her know I
can talk to her about it then.”

“I will. Grandma?”

“Yes?”

I hesitated. I wanted to ask her how in the
world she could bring herself to work for a man like Gordon Steppe
and all he stood for, but I held back. How could I ask her to be
honest, to bare her most personal thoughts, when I was lying to
her? She had her reasons, I had mine. “Nothing,” I said.

“I know you’re stressed. I’ll be home as
soon as I can. How’s George?” she asked. “And why does it sound
like you’re in a car?”

I didn’t answer. Our entire plan hinged on
our destination remaining a secret, even the pretend one involving
Alex. Otherwise, I had no doubt Grandma would hop a plane just to
double-check my story.

“Is he all right?” she prompted. She sounded
worried now.

I glanced at George. He was staring
expectantly back at me in the fading light.

“He’s feeling pretty good. Wes and Derek
have been hanging out with him, running with him. I’m on my way to
buy him some new running shoes, actually.” Running shoes? Geez,
could I have come up with a lamer excuse?

“Well, that’s good he has friends to show
him the ropes,” she said. “Just be careful. No one in town can know
who you’re shopping for.”

“I know. I’ll be careful. Love you.”

“Love you. See you soon,” she said before
disconnecting.

I dropped the phone in the empty cup holder
and kept my eyes locked on the highway in front of me. Traffic was
light and getting lighter as the sun crawled behind the horizon.
Orange streaks lit the part of sky visible through the treetops
that bordered the interstate. My guilt was so heavy, my shoulders
ached.

*

Day gave way to twilight, and headlights lit
the pavement. I stopped for gas not long after my call from
Grandma. George hadn’t spoken since then. I think he realized I
needed to work through it on my own. While George pumped gas, I
used ATM to withdraw my meager savings. I wasn’t putting it past
Grandma to track my credit card footprint and find me once the
truth was out. Her resources scared me. From here on, cash
only.

Back in the car, George
flipped through songs on his iPod and I shook my head “yes” or “no”
with each choice. “That one,” I said, finally settling on some
old
Aerosmith
song I’d heard George play a thousand times. It had an edge
to it that matched the way I felt.

My phone buzzed with a text from Cambria.
George read it aloud. “Back from the run. No one suspects. Cue the
compulsion. Be safe. XO.”

The sign above us said “Kingsport, Tennessee
5 miles” when my eyes began to droop.

“You could just let me drive, you know.”

I shook my head as I maneuvered us into an
empty space. The neon lights from the beaten-down motel glared on
the dashboard. A blinking sign propped against a weather-faded
concrete wall read “Vacancy.” It strobed in and out above us,
hurting my eyes. I cut the engine.

“It’s too dangerous. I know your stunt
earlier was fake but something like that could happen at any time,”
I told him.

“Then I’d pull over,” he argued.

“There might not be time. And if you wrecked
the car, what then? My mom would love it if I had to call her for
bus money.”

He sighed. I was right. He knew it.

We got out, abandoning the argument I was
sure we’d have again before it was over, and climbed the metal
stairs in search of room 207.

“We’ll sleep for a few hours and get back on
the road,” I said, pulling out the silver key and fitting it into
the old-fashioned lock. I stepped inside with George behind me and
groped for a switch. Yellow light swathed the dingy room. It
smelled stale, overused and undercleaned. My nose twitched and I
forced my growing sense of smell back down. I walked to the bed and
pulled the covers back, inspecting. George emerged from the
bathroom and made a face.

“Don’t go in there if you can help it,” he
said.

“That bad?”

“I’ll get my shower at the next one.”

“Hopefully, the next one’s better.”

He grunted and flopped down beside me onto
his back. He didn’t bother pulling the covers down before reaching
for the remote and clicking on the TV. He flipped until he found
the sports channel and settled in with his hands propped behind his
head. I sat next to him in silence.

I couldn’t help but think back to another
night, another hotel room. A heated kiss, slow to start, but then
spreading warmth as it deepened. The memory of it—and Alex, of
waking next to him—stirred the animal inside me that seemed to rise
so suddenly to the surface lately. I breathed in and out
deliberately and tried to clear my thoughts until it receded. It
left behind an ache in my chest I suspected had more to do with
missing Alex than quelling my inner wolf.

My inner wolf.

At some point I knew I’d have to face it.
Maybe it would be easier to do a thousand miles from home.

“Those are some heavy thoughts you’ve got
going over there.” The sound of George’s voice was a welcome
distraction.

“How do you mean?” I asked, twisting so I
could look at him.

“That frown you’re wearing droops all the
way to your chin.”

“Funny.” I punched him lightly on the
arm.

His smile faded and he seemed to be
scrutinizing my expression, trying to decipher the thoughts behind
them. “You want to talk about it?” he asked.

“That could take a while.”

“I’ve got time.”

I winced. We both knew that was technically
a lie, but I didn’t argue. “I don’t even know where to start.”

“How about the phone call from your
grandma?”

“You heard?”

He pointed at his ear. “A blessing and a
curse, these heightened senses.”

“Yeah, I figured.” What did that mean, as
far as time left, if his hearing was already sharpening? “She’s
worried about you.”

“Do you think she’ll be mad when she finds
out where we’ve gone?”

“Yes. I’ll be surprised if the cops aren’t
waiting on my doorstep when I return.”

“She’d call the cops?”

“If not her, then for sure my mother.”

“But they know you’re safe. Or I mean, at
least as far as the human world is concerned.”

“My mother has a hard time separating the
two. She lives very much grounded in the human world. I think she
hopes if she focuses hard enough on being human, all the rest of it
will just fade away.”

“Ignorance is bliss.”

“Worse. Denial—and she’s a pro. And Grandma,
she’d do it simply to use every resource at her disposal.”

“So we stick to the plan and keep to the
back roads?”

I nodded. “Tomorrow we’ll ditch this highway
for a smaller one.”

“Is there a smaller one than this?”

“I think so. I saw it on the atlas I
brought.” He opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off.
“Don’t ask me to drive again.”

He sent me a half-hearted scowl. “Whatever
you say, boss.”

“I’m serious. We have to be careful. If your
senses are heightening, it means you’re getting close.”

“We’ll bring some water. Keep my temperature
down.”

I laughed. “I made that up. I have no idea
if that even works.”

He chuckled. “What if Vera or Cord had
called you on it?”

I shrugged. “I was banking on Cord’s lack of
knowledge with this sort of thing. And Vera’s not going to say
anything.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Vera’s sort of … invested. She basically
gave me the idea for this whole plan.”

“Why? Does she know something we don’t about
this Astor guy?”

“She used to know him, but I think it’s more
than that. If I know Vera, she’s had some vision or premonition
about this working out.”

“So she’s psychic or something?”

“Sort of. I don’t think she gets to pick and
choose what she sees, though, and she doesn’t ever tell me what she
sees. Well, except the first time.”

“What did she tell you the first time?”

I hesitated, mostly out of habit. I was very
aware that this was George I was talking to, someone who, until
very recently, had been high up on my “do not tell about my secret
life” list. It felt nice, despite the circumstances that had made
it possible, to finally be able to tell someone from my old life
all about my new one. Not to mention there was finally someone who
knew less than me about this world.

“Well, you know The Cause, the group all of
them belong to?”

“Yeah, they want to bring peace to the two
sides, Hunters and Werewolves, right?”

“Yes. Vera saw a vision before she ever met
me, of me leading The Cause and bringing peace.”

“I take it you don’t agree?”

“I don’t think it’s a matter of agreeing or
not. It’s … pressure. She thinks I’m special. ‘Like no Hunter ever
seen before,’” I said in a deep, mimicking voice. “They think I’m
going to save them.”

“From what?”

“I don’t know.” I threw up a hand. Talking
about this always frustrated me.

“Are her visions ever wrong?”

“Not that I know of. I mean, they can be
changed, I guess. Free will and all that.”

“So change it,” he said simply.

“It’s more complicated than that. Wes
believes it. They all do, but him most of all. And he believes
we’re supposed to do it together.”

“He said that?”

I nodded. “He says Vera saw
the two of us as leaders.” The memory of it, Wes finally admitting
Vera’s visions to me, of how excited and hopeful he’d been that
night, washed over me. “He used the word
destiny
.”

George whistled. “That’s a little heavy for
someone just finding out about all this. I’m pretty overwhelmed as
it is, and I don’t have any sort of mission or purpose to
fulfill.”

“He wasn’t supposed to tell me. Jack and
Vera ordered them all not to, so I wouldn’t get scared away, but he
did, anyway.” I smiled. “Because of you, actually.”

“What do I have to do with it?”

“He told me he saw the way I was with you
and he wanted that same openness. He wanted us to be able to tell
each other anything.” I fell silent. We’d come such a long way
since then—for a while, in the wrong direction. “That was the night
he told me he loved me.”

“And you love him.”

I looked up, unaware I’d said the words
aloud. “I do. Is that—? I mean, I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You’re not. I do care
about you, Tay, a lot. But it feels different as time passes. The
longer we’re apart, the more it feels … I don’t know,
settled
.” He shook his
head. “That probably makes no sense.”

“It does, actually.”

“I guess what I’m trying to say is, we’ll
always be friends, and more and more, that feels good enough.” He
smiled slyly. “Don’t get me wrong. If you change your mind about
Wes, I’m here.” I laughed. “But mainly I just want you to be happy.
Does he make you happy?”

I looked down at the blanket, at the
swirling paisley patterns, and thought about how it was before Wood
Point, before Alex, before Wes had become a leader. “He does.”

“Happier than that Alex kid?”

I glanced up sharply. “What?”

“I saw the way he looked at you when I was
there, and you had a few looks of your own. You can’t tell me
there’s nothing there.”

“I—”

“And why did he agree to pretend you’d gone
to visit him so we could go on this trip? Doesn’t he hate
Werewolves?”

I concentrated on tracing the patterns
again. “He did it for me,” I mumbled.

“So the question remains—who makes you
happier, Godfrey?”

My heart hurt. I tried to think of an answer
and couldn’t. Wes’s name was on the tip of my tongue but I held it
back. If I said it out loud, it was like closing a door on the
other. It felt final, like walking away. Besides, during those
first few weeks of school, when Wes and I had been fighting, Alex
had made me happier. Is that what it came down to?