Blood Twist (The Erris Coven Series) (2 page)

She could have used Torin’s mom’s kitchen to make the salad, but Liz needed some quiet time to process all that happened over the last two days.

It wasn’t every day that you took a road trip to Maine, just to discover your best frien
d hooked up with a half-vampire and
that her macho hotheaded step brothers howled at the moon.
Not to mention finding yourself work
ing with a
coven
of
“
animal blood only
”
vampires
to locate a cure for lycanthropy. Besides,
Liz liked to cook in silence so she could think. H
ow do you boot a one hundred-seventy-year-old lady out of her own kitchen?

Endellion was
nice
. After learning Liz wasn’t ex
pected back home, Torin’s mother
insisted Liz stay at their house with Lexie and Ella until Ruby was well enough to return home. With flowing red hair and porcelain skin, the beautiful woman looked like she could be the face of Oil of Olay or one of the other big cosmetic companies. She was simply stunning and her Irish lilt made h
er more charming. It was comforting to know Endellion
was doing her best to keep Ruby comfortable whi
le the coven
pinpoint
ed
an antidote for the werewolf virus
. 

Lexie’s mom was seriously sick. When Liz found he
r, the woman had clawed out clumps of
her hair and was burning
up with a fever. A thick pus-filled rash ran in spirals from her shoulders to her hips. In Endellion’s care, the fever was under control, but Ruby was in and out of consciousness as the illness wracked her body.

Alik told Lexie the virus was sexually transmitted. Ruby must have contracted it on her wedding night with Dragos. Alik also implied Ruby’s body was rejecting the virus and she just might die.

Not the most thoughtful wedding gift a bride could receive from her groom.

So far, only Braden had a lead and he wasn’t the most forthcoming about it. She needed to con
vince the damphyr that he could use
her help finding the cure
. After all, it was Lexie’s mom that brought Liz to the store to buy her first bra and to the mall for a prom gown. Only Ruby ma
de a birthday cake for Liz each
March and placed gifts for h
er under the Christmas tree in
December. Liz’s Aunt Bev never did.

Ruby can’t die. She’s the closest thing to a mother I’ve ever had.

As the stovetop pot came to a rumbling boil, Liz resolved herself to chase down Braden with a bat if necessary. She couldn’t allow him to go find the anti
dote without her. H
e
could
ge
t sidetracked once he was overseas.
Maybe even forget how
perilous the infection was.
Ruby’s life depended on that
medicine.

I
f there was one thing Liz lea
rned in her eighteen
years,
guy
s couldn’t be trusted
to follow through with anything.
Especially when a female depended on them.

2

BRADEN

Braden sat alone on his bed. His solitary existence was never easy, but lately, being lonesome was almost insufferable. As much as he craved the comfort of companionship, it would only make what he had to do even more difficult.

As he looked around his organized room, he questioned what it said about his life. He had possessions, but it was just “stuff.” He never truly created anything or made an impact on the world. His identity had been so preoccupied in preparing his cousins to protect the coven, that he missed
out on going to college, rebuilding
his
family’s old
place, or fall
ing in love
. Now it was too late to do any of those things.

Dedicating his life to his coven wasn’t a mistake. As the oldest of his four cousins, it was only natural for him to step-up and guide them as they
became loyal protectors of the family
. They couldn’t let outsiders know of their existence. It required a balance of fitting in with the townspeople, without drawing attention to themselves or their abilities.

Torin just completed the final phase of the change. Because he resisted the temptation to drink human blood, his closest friend had become a formidable damphyr. If either of them had failed, they would have become full vampires like the draug
a
r that inflicted their damage on his lineage centuries ago. Both would have found themselves cursed to an existence without the purification of sunlight.

I would rather die.

Torin never did embrace what they were. From the time he was a child, he wanted to escape his fate, until he found
Lexie. Like their ancestors before him, he dreamed of the petite bru
nette first. 

Braden was happy for his cousin.
Lexie was gentle and
patient – two elements Torin
needed in his life. He
didn’t begrudge him
his happiness; his
cousin’s
devotion to Lexie made him a stronger man.
Nothing demonstrated that clearer when he battled his blood thirst in order to save Lexie’s life.

Braden’s shoulders slumped with regret. He had hoped he could stay long enough to see Cian and Teagan through their final phase of the change, but his time was borrowed and it was running out.  They were both so close to evolving. He could see thei
r increase in speed and agility
daily.

Cian was going to make a fierce opponent to anyone that threatened him or the ones he loved. Just wrestling on the lawn last weekend, his dark haired cousin
surprised him. Although a good twenty pounds leaner, Cian
could almost hold his own
,
despite Braden’s advantage. He regretted being so ha
rd on him over the last year. The last thing he
want
ed was for
his cousin to live an eternity, only to remem
ber Braden
as be
ing a jerk.

Teagan, on the other hand, was probably the one he should have b
een toughest on. The redhead
was the baby of the family and had the luxury of
using his natural charm to get his way
. Braden shook his head in disbelief. Teagan built himself
quite a reputa
tion
over the years
.
Chicks were helpless to resist him.

T
he
youngest
damphyr
would need to take
the change seriously. When the stationary vampire heart awakens, blood thirst is all you can feel. It requires determination and dis
cipline to fight it off
and gain control. Teagan had always been impulsive – Braden only hoped he wouldn’t be when it was his time to turn.

With his heightened senses he c
ould smell an abundance of food
being set up on the patio. The families were preparing a shared meal, but he doubted he could eat. The scent of cooked food was unappealing – however, he normally enjoyed fresh fruits, nuts and vegetables. He needed living blood to survive, but raw foods were still
pleasurable
. Although he knew Teagan’s mom
,
Aileen
,
would see to it that all of his favorite snacks were
a part
of the spread, Braden
had too much on his mind to
consider dining.

Floating in from outside, a delicate perfume smelling of brown sugar and vanilla mingled with the other fa
miliar scents. Instantly, he
k
new it belonged to Lexie’s
friend
,
Liz. It amazed him how close the two
girls
were, considering they were polar opposites. Where Lexie was soft spoken and delicate, Liz was direct and forceful.

He chuckled recalling how well Liz handled herself when he charged into the basement ready to take on the shifters.  He had expec
ted to find the Serovs
feasting on
Lexie
’s family
. In
stead, there was a
beautiful stranger with a loud mouth giving him hell for making h
er jump. If he had more time, Braden
would have enjoyed getting to know the spitfire better. If Lexie loved her, she must have some remarkable qualities.
Just the way the girl smiled was enough to make him interested.

I guess I’ll never know.

Braden stood and walked to his window. The view from his bedroom looked out on Teagan’s family ho
me.  He and his mother
had lived on their property in a
small guest house for years. Brigid
no longer ventured out to socialize with the others. It wasn’t that she didn’t love them, because she did.

They understand…

After Braden’s father passed away twelve years ago, the magic that bound Brigid to Lachlan dissolved. Her once shiny flaxen hair had paled to an almost white. Delicate lines were beginning to appear across her brow and around her mouth,
but Braden still found
his mother
lovely.

The truth was, without the magic of the bond, Brigid was growing older.
As soon as his father passed, she began aging at a normal rate.
Seeing the others full of youthful energy with their
fate-partners had become too painful for her to endure. So, as a matter of emotional survival, she lived a quiet existence in her r
ooms as she waited to
be reunited with Lachlan in the afterlife.

Braden hated leaving his mother like this, she needed him desperately.
He was all she had left of Lachlan, other than the memories.
But, even she didn’t know the secret he kept tightly to himself for the last eight years.
Never would he have allowed her to be troubled with such a burden
, especially in her fragile state. Besides, if he confided in her, Brigid would have begged the coven to intervene. More lives would be lost.

He had to face his death alone.
 

3

LIZ

Liz shifted the glass serving dish into one arm as she adjusted her sunglasses. No matter which brand she bought, they were always sliding down the bridge of her nose.

Although she suffered a momentary anxiety attack when she parked her rust bucket in the McKenna’s driveway, she was fine once she reminded herself whose home it was. Any parents responsible for breeding a Casanova like Teagan were sure to be a blast.

The lawn looked like it belonged on the cover of
Better Homes and Gardens
. She would hate to st
ep on a single blade of grass; t
hey were all too perky and evenly level to ruin with the indentation of her foot. Torin’s place was the same way. Endellion was growing flo
wers with blooms the size of Liz’s
head. Did the Irish damphyrs have a magical explanation for their gardening or did they just have green thumbs? 

Liz followed the cobble walkway that stretched around the large white Victorian into a sprawling backyard. Endellion and Cian’s mother, Fianna, were setting up a large banquet table for their buffet styled luncheon. Fresh cut flowers in whimsical vases of all shapes and colors adorned the past
el linen covered surface. Lemon
grass scented oil burned in amber effusion lamps, while ivory pillars made
of beeswax
dotted the table.

All we need now is for David Tutera to pop out for an episode of
“My Fair Wedding.”

Endellion was splendid in her long, moss green gown next to the taller and polished Fianna. Cian’s mother had eye-catching espresso hair that complimented her ivory skin. She rocked a tailored, raspberry cocktail dress with strappy sandals. Liz smiled
. I
f she could look that slamming in her golden years, she would be partying until the day she died.

As soon as Endellion spotted Liz, her gentle face lit up. “Hello,” she said, giving her a
tender
hug. “What have you brought us, darling?”

Liz looked down at her large bowl covered with aluminum foil. “It’s just a potato salad. It
’s one of my special
ties
.
I make it for my dad when he comes to visit.
”