Blood Bond (26 page)

I found my car parked where Mathias had left
it and walked around the outside, making sure it hadn’t been
bothered while it sat roadside. Nothing seemed out of place. By the
time I’d circled it, I was already sweating.

I opted for the shade of the manmade
rainforest where it bordered the circular drive, walking in no
direction in particular. It wasn’t that I needed to be outside,
particularly, but I had a feeling this might be one of my last
chances for a while. After Grandma arrived and hauled me back, I
was pretty sure I’d be on house arrest indefinitely. I’d be lucky
not to be locked in a closet somewhere.

A noise startled me. The sound was vague,
barely reaching the edges of my awareness. I froze. The tingling on
the back of my neck turned to an ache. I scanned the trees, peering
between oversized leaves and slim trunks. Nothing moved. I chalked
it up to a bird or some desert animal seeking the refuge of the
oasis. I lifted my foot, ready to resume my pace through the exotic
greenery.

There.

Out of the corner of my eye, I detected
movement. Slight. Far back in the undergrowth.

I bent my knees, going into the defensive
crouch that had become second nature to me. I held my breath. There
was danger here.

“Tara Godfrey.” The speaker’s voice was not
one I recognized.

“Who’s there?” It came out softer than I’d
intended. I swallowed and squared my shoulders. “Show yourself,” I
said, louder.

I spotted a tall plant with leaves the size
of canoes ruffling from movement that didn’t match the natural sway
of the others. The leaves parted and two figures stepped out from
behind the stalks. Two familiar figures.

“Mr. and Mrs. Lexington.”

I wasn’t sure whether to be angry or
confused. Last time I’d seen them, they’d run George and I off the
road and then disappeared. Did they follow us?

I opened my mouth to ask them what they were
doing here and closed it again. A strange itch began along my rib
cage. I rubbed my palms down my sides. I’d felt something similar
the last time I’d almost…

No. I wasn’t thinking about that now..

“You know who we are?” Mr. Lexington
asked.

“Of course she knows, dear,” said Mrs.
Lexington. “Everyone knows who we are.”

Their eyes were a matching shade of yellow
and their human forms seemed shaky at the edges, as if appearing
this way was a strain for them. The itch underneath my skin
intensified.

“I know your daughter,” I said, mostly
because I wasn’t sure what else to say.

“Victoria? How is she?” Mrs. Lexington
asked. Her eager expression smoothed out as Mr. Lexington glared at
her.

“She’s fine,” I said slowly, trying to
understand. Why were they here? And why hadn’t they sought Victoria
out themselves? “She’s spending the summer with a friend from
school.”

“Oh, good, she’s not alone, Douglas.”

“We didn’t come here for this,” he hissed at
her. He looked back at me, his yellow eyes hardening. “You will
come with us,” he said.

“Um, where?” I asked.

“The location isn’t important. You’ve been
summoned. It’s our job to bring you. You can either come willingly
or by force. It’s your choice,” he said.

Mrs. Lexington fidgeted at the mention of
force. I couldn’t tell if it was out of discomfort at the situation
or if she was simply preparing herself for a fight. My muscles
coiled at the threat. I remained carefully still, and stared back
at Mr. Lexington.

If they shifted and attacked, could I take
them on my own? I wasn’t sure.

“I’m not going with you unless you explain
what’s going on,” I said. “Why have you been following me?”

“It’s not important,” he said.

“It is if you want me to come with you
willingly. Why did you run us off the road? Is this about
George?”

“Who?” Mr. Lexington’s brow furrowed. “You
mean your changeling friend? No. This is about you and I won’t ask
again. Come with us.”

“No.” I stood straighter, trying to look
like I wasn’t anticipating their attack. Maybe if they thought I
would go easy, they’d slip up.

“Just tell her what will happen if she
doesn’t,” Mrs. Lexington pleaded. “If she knew, she might come on
her own.”

Tension emanated from each of them. Mr.
Lexington’s knees were slightly bent, like he was preparing to
spring. His form shook at the edges.

“Tell me what?” I asked, mainly to keep him
talking.

“If we don’t bring you to her, she’ll come
after your friends and family, one by one, until you submit,” Mrs.
Lexington said before falling silent under her husband’s furious
glare.

“Who will?” I asked, finally focusing on the
conversation as more than a means to delay whatever Mr. Lexington
was planning.

“We stopped you on the road to save you,”
she said, her voice shaking. “But then she found us and we had no
choice.”

I shook my head to clear it. This made less
and less sense the more she talked. “Killed who? Who found
you?”

“Olivia. Our m-master,” she said.

Mr. Lexington punctuated her request with a
growl. The sound of ripping fabric followed close behind as his
clothing tore and fell at his feet. A bony wolf with extra-long
claws stood before me, shaking his head back and forth and
squeezing his eyes shut as if in pain from shifting. His eyes
opened, blood-shot and yellowed, and focused on me.

I resisted the urge to step back, knowing
he’d interpret it as fear.

“Why does she want me?” I asked.

Mrs. Lexington sent me a look of pity, but
neither one answered.

I could feel Mr. Lexington’s intentions. Any
second now. I held his gaze while stretching my peripheral vision,
searching for a weapon to grab at. The only things within reach
were tropical leaves. They didn’t even grow on wooden branches, but
stalks of greenery. Nothing that would penetrate wolf flesh.

I tried another tactic. “Why send you?”

“It’s not just us. Olivia’s dispatched an
army to find you,” Mr. Lexington answered. He took a step forward,
low to the ground, stalking his prey. I stayed still.

“An army …? The hybrids.” Finally, things
clicked into place. “The one controlling the hybrids is a woman.
Olivia. She wants me,” I said. It wasn’t a question. At least now I
knew it wasn’t Demi.

“We’re not leaving here without you,” Mr.
Lexington said.

“You don’t have to do this. I can help you,”
I said. I gestured to the house, obscured behind me. “Me and my
friends, we could protect you, your daughter—”

“No!” he growled. “There’s no going back. No
more excuses. Last chance to come willingly.”

I opened my mouth to argue further about
Astor’s house being safe. When I did, my foot inched backward
allowing my body to twist and my hand to gesture behind me. I knew
the second it happened, I’d made a mistake. Mr. Lexington’s eyes
narrowed. It was the signal his instincts had been waiting for. My
retreat. My fear.

He lunged.

I managed to dodge him but the effort sent
me sprawling. I tucked my body, keeping my arms in tight, and
rolled to a stop on my back, half-tangled in a massive plant. I
blinked, realizing too late he was right there. The air whooshed
out of me as his paws came down on my chest. I shoved upward with
my hands, barely holding him off as his teeth snapped at the air in
front of my face.

“You will come,” he snarled.

The itching along my ribs turned to sharp
pain, and I cried out. Something alien moved inside me, pressing my
bones against my skin, almost as if they were stretching, growing.
I bit my lip and tasted blood.

At the same time, from somewhere behind Mr.
Lexington, came a high-pitched howl. It ended in a yelp and echoed
against the sudden silence left in its wake.

“Sandra!” Mr. Lexington shouted. “Are you
all right?”

I pried my eyes open, surprised at the
sudden absence of his weight. Mr. Lexington was gone.

It took me a second to recognize my own
hands as I lowered them to my abdomen, clutching my ribs against
the pain. The backs of my hands and the entire length of my arms
were covered in soft fur the color of caramel. It was thicker than
it had been the first time, and darker. I stared, wide-eyed, when
another spasm hit me and I doubled over again. I knew I should be
trying to get up, to escape back to the house while my attacker was
distracted, but I couldn’t move, except to roll side to side
against the mind-numbing agony.

I might’ve cried out again. I wasn’t sure. I
could no longer hear past the ringing in my ears.

Hands on my cheeks roused me. They smoothed
my hair back from my face and wiped away the loose leaves and dirt.
Still, I kept my eyes squeezed shut. The only thing that kept me
from panicking was the knowledge they were human hands, gentle and
careful. Mr. Lexington wouldn’t have been so kind.

The pain pulled back, almost grudgingly, as
if it wanted to remain. The ringing in my ears faded. The sound of
birds and soft breathing reached my ears. I instinctively rolled
toward the hand gently stroking my hair.

“George? Is that you?” I managed.

“Not quite,” said a voice achingly
familiar.

I’d barely opened my eyes when my hand shot
out and closed around his wrist, just in case this was a dream and
he’d be gone when I looked up.

“Alex,” I said, enjoying the way his eyes
softened just a little at the edges when I said his name. The
pressure in my chest, the anxiety over what I’d just been through,
eased at the sight of him.

He smiled down at me, the worry etched in
lines across his forehead and around his mouth. “Did you have a
nice nap?”

“I was—” I stopped. How
could I possibly explain this to him?
I’m
becoming a Werewolf a little more each day, no big deal.
I couldn’t bring myself to do it, not with him. I
was too afraid of the way he’d look at me. Then I remembered the
fur on my hands. I glanced at where I still held his wrist,
dropping it like I’d been burned, and inspected my hands. The fur
was gone; in its place was smooth skin, as if it had never been
there at all.

“Stop debating on which lie to tell me,” he
said, his smile disappearing. It was the same expression he’d worn
the day he found me in the woods on my way to meet Miles. The same
one he’d used at the hotel when he’d demanded answers.

“I wasn’t going to lie,” I said. It sounded
weak, even to me.

He rolled his eyes. “Right. Tell me what
just happened. Why were the Lexingtons trying to have you for
dinner?”

“They’re gone?” I twisted around searching
for some sign of them. Nothing.

“For now.” He frowned. “I thought they were
locked in a lab somewhere.”

“So did I.” I took his offered hand and sat
up.

I pulled my knees against my chest and we
sat face to face. A rush of warmth spread through me at the sight
of him. I had the urge to grin but bit it back as I studied him.
His hair was longer than its usual buzz. There were shadows under
his eyes, as if he hadn’t been sleeping. The rest of him was deeply
tanned. He smelled like the outdoors. It made me ache for the days
when I’d trained with him, sparring until I’d been so winded I
couldn’t see straight, sprinting through the forest shoulder to
shoulder.

I realized he was studying
me just as hard and looked away before he could see what I was
thinking. “What are you doing here? How did you find me?” I
asked.
I missed you.

The words hung in the air between us,
unspoken and heavy. I could see them forming on his lips and then
he seemed to think better of it. “No changing the subject. You
first.”

I sighed, knowing I wouldn’t get anything
out of him until I’d given him an explanation. “They wanted me to
come with them,” I said. “A woman named Olivia is behind the
hybrids. She sent them to bring me to her. If I don’t come, she’ll
go after my family and friends.”

“And you have no idea who she is?”

“No. Mr. Lexington called her Olivia. That’s
all I know.”

“It doesn’t sound familiar. Did he say
anything else? Where to find her?”

I shook my head. “He was on me before I
could get anything out of him. And then I …”

“Sprouted fur?” I didn’t answer. “Talk to
me, Tara,” he said quietly. “I want to help.”

“Yeah, right,” I said. “You say that, but I
doubt you could really handle it. If you hadn’t known it was me,
you would’ve attacked me.”

He opened his mouth—probably to argue,
though I wouldn’t have believed him—but was interrupted by the
sound of someone approaching. A strange feeling, something between
goosebumps and the tingling I’d felt earlier on the back of my
neck, came over me, strong enough that I shuddered. The skin around
my arms tightened.

Alex narrowed his eyes, let go of my hand
and jumped up. In his other hand he held a stake tipped in metal.
Alarm shot through me. I followed Alex’s gaze as he scanned,
expecting Mr. and Mrs. Lexington to reappear, ready to finish what
they started. A Werewolf appeared, its coat the color of golden
sunshine.

It halted at the sight of Alex and me,
looking momentarily confused. Then it zeroed in on Alex, teeth
bared, and hurtled forward. Alex rushed forward to meet it.

“Stop!” I yelled as I recognized the wolf.
Panic shot through me and I scrambled to my feet. “Alex! George!
Stop!”

At the sound of each other’s name, they
faltered. I held my breath, sure Alex would follow through with the
swipe of his stake. At the last second they each turned away.
Alex’s stake barely missed catching George’s shoulder. They righted
themselves and glared at each other.

“Watch it, mutt,” Alex said.

George growled. “Attacking you before was
reflex. Don’t make it premeditated next time.”