Blood Twist (The Erris Coven Series) (28 page)

“No, but we are now, at least I am,” Liz struggled to explain. “We had feelings when we touched, it was different, but really nice. Braden figured it out.”

“Hey, Lexie!” a smaller Asian teen ran up, wrapping his arms around Liz’s friend. “I haven’t seen you in days. I’m so glad you’re here.” Dres
sed in black skinny jeans and
an Armor
for Sleep
t-shirt, the wrists full of rainbow jelly bracelets
set him apart in st
yle from most of the kids milling about
.
“
Can you
believe how many peo
ple came out for Courtney? I didn’t think anyone
even
liked her
.
”

Cian and Teagan
were
with him, an attractive girl too. From the way the honey blond was holding onto Cian, Liz assumed she was the damphyr’s human girlfriend and the one who didn’t know what they were.

“Theo, Brooke, this is my best friend from home Liz,” Lexie said, making introductions.
“
She’s going to be moving up here
.”

“Oh thank God,” Theo said,
looping his arm around Liz’s. “As long as you don’t t
ake her back to Connecticut,” he said.
“OMG,” his hands shot out, covering
his mouth,
“
that means you have to be
around her step-brot
hers – even the big one.
”

“
Actually,”
Lexie said, her face growing paler,
“
m
y step-father moved back to
Connecticut and brought his boys
with him.
It’s just me, Mom, and Ella now.
”
  Trying to explain, she stared from Torin to Liz, needing someone to help her out.

“It’s for the best,
” Liz
added, “Dragos was a rebo
und relationship for Ruby
.”
Poor Lexie had always sucked at lying. She never learned to keep her white lies simple.
“She deserved better.”

“Oh,
” Theo looked surprised,
“
well that is awesome. Hey, I didn’t get to tell you, I found Tomo. I was scared when I couldn’t find him, but he came home. His fur was a mess, but he was fine.”

Liz
liked Theo. From the way he dressed, she had a feeling they had
some similar tastes
.
His obvious adoration of Lexie made him even easier to like. If he was cool enou
gh to single
her a
best friend, Liz knew they would have no problems with each other.

Brooke was smiling too
, but in a weary way
.
The honey blonde wore a simple floral sundress with
ballet flats.
Glancing at Cian, she said, “You didn’t tell me that Lexie had a friend from out of town.”

“
I didn’t really have the chance. Braden has been trying to keep Liz to himself,” t
he dark haired damp
hyr replied, squeezing his girl
friend’s hand.

Liz wasn’t sure what
it was, but she thought she heard
some hurt in Brooke’s
tone
. Maybe the teen worried Liz might develop
a thing for her boyfriend or maybe she just felt out of the loop. Whatever it was, Liz would try to let Brooke know she wasn’t a threat.

While Lexie chatted with her friends
about school
, Liz couldn’t help but feel like the guys were waiting for her to say
something. She knew she couldn’t talk about becoming Braden’s fate-partner in front
of Theo an
d Brooke. Still the way they
watched her with their
silly grins was
enough to unravel her composure.

She found it strange that the feeling of Braden
being linked to her was thrilling
even now. Each time she thought of him, she could almost feel what he was feeling.
Whispered thoughts mixed with partial images made their way through her, what separated hers from Braden’s were the feel of them. Anything from her fate-partner felt solidly of him, his presence,
his
certainty about his faith in her and the life they now shared. She just had to tune things out and listen.
Love and what? Worry? Worried about the owl?

The dream…he’s remembering the dream.

Closing her eyes for a moment, she sent out a simple thought to Braden. “
Everything’s
okay.
C
ome be with me.” She didn’t know if their bond could work like that, but she figured it didn’t hurt to try. If so, it would be like text messaging via brain waves. She could save a ton on her phone plan. 

Speaking of phone, where’s mine?

Patting her pockets, she realized she must have left it back at Braden’s house. Glancing up,
she could feel herself redden when she realized his
cousins were
still
studying
he
r
.
From the mischievous gli
nt of Cian
’s eyes, she could tell he wanted to bust her butt ab
out soul-binding to Braden. Teagan
too, his s
mirk came with an eyebrow raise. Finally he turned
his attention to Torin.

“So, what’s new with the family?” the redhead asked, his tone almost a laugh.
With a nod in Liz’s direction,
“Any changes abreast?”

“Shut up,” Torin replied, his easy grin was charming. “Why don’t you go find Braden if you’re
so curious?
I bet he’d wrestle that cockiness out of you.
”
With his
build
and dark hair
, Liz could see why Lexie was hooked. Even if he hadn’t been h
er fate-partner, Torin was
her friend’s
exact
type.

“I think you’re jealous.
”
Cian
taunted with an elbow to
Teagan in the ribs.
“If I remember correctly, you were boasting about your own c
harm when it came to the ladies. L
ooks like Braden
beat you to the punch
.
”

Rolling her eyes, Liz planted her hands on her hips.
“I’m right here you know. I c
an hear what you’re saying.” She
pretended to be annoyed but she liked them. Teagan was a flirt, Cia
n was a swee
theart, and Torin was a
bad boy completely whipped by Lexie
. She wouldn’t have a problem with
any of
them.
It was like getting three new big brothers and the teasing that came with them.

So they’re curious about me and Braden, let them wonder for a while.

“
Teagan, h
ave you guys seen Ella?” Lexie asked
, breaking up the jokes
being passed back and forth
at Liz and Braden’s expense
. “I thought she was going to find you.”

“No, I haven
’t seen her all evening,” he
replied.

“Me neither,” Cian answered.

Liz shook her head no. She
couldn’t even tell when she last
saw Ella. It was before she and
Braden left for Vancouver.

“Do you guys mind splitting up and helping me find her?” Lexie asked.
“I hate to be the controlling big sister, but I just need to know she’s
okay. She hasn’t been herself in
day
s
.”

Yeah, since I asked her if she was involved with Nicolai.

“No problem.
The service isn’t g
oing to start for another hour. She may have walked over to
Big Wally’
s
with some friends
.” Teagan looked at Cian, “You wan
t to come? You owe me a coffee
.”

“Do you mind if I meet up with you in a bit?” Cian asked, turning to Brooke.
“I’ll bring you back a shake.”
From the way he looked at her, Liz could tell the two of them were going through som
ething.
He was careful of her feelings, but struggled with his own.

“Actually,” Liz interjected, “If Brooke can come with me,
we
can search the school.
I can
s
p
ot Ella easily enough, but
I don’t know my way around here at all
.” Smiling at the girl, Liz hoped it would give them a chance to g
et
to know each other. If she was Cian’s girlfriend, they would be spendin
g a lot of time together. It was better to get
past the awkward part
s
right away
.

“I’ll help show Liz around,” Theo chimed in.
Poking at Lexie he teased,
“Maybe she’ll gi
ve me some juicy details about you
that you’ve been holding back on
.”
Wagging his brows in Torin’s direction, Theo grinned, “I’m still dying to know what a certain boyfriend is like in the kissing department.”

“That would be great,” Lexie nodded. “Torin and I can check home to see if she went there. Maybe we can all meet back here in an hour?”

Smiling at Brooke and Theo, L
iz hoped Ella was okay.
“W
hich way first?”

34

D
E
ATH

Wandering through the yards that smelled wonderfully of damphyr
, Death
felt like he found his way back home to the century old villages of
South
e
astern Europe.

Aroostook County, Maine. The ha
lf-breeds had been so close the
whole time. After happening upon Lachlan that night in Quebec, he had traveled all over southern Canada, hoping to locate the
rest of the coven, but never thought to look
south
in the heavily wooded state.

When young Riley felt remorse for what he had done, he had taken his father’s wallet and disposed of it before
Death
could examine
the man’s identity. It had
been so long since he tasted the flesh of damphyr, his own thoughts couldn’t move beyond the fact that after years of believing no other half-breeds existed, he found one outside a smoky bar, co
mpletely unaware of Death’s company
.

Drawn to the all
y by the blood Riley spilled, Death
would have easily taken the boy’s kill if it wasn’t for the scent of damphyr around him. Watching from the shadows as the boy dragged his victim to
the
rooftop,
he didn’t wait long before
Lachlan burst through the rear exit, calling for his son.

Slicing into the tender meat, he feasted on the adult male while his son gave into his first blood lust
only feet above him
. When Riley came around and lowered himself to the
alley to find his father, Death
slipped behind the dumpster, trying to gain control. He knew if he could follow the boy, there may be more damphyrs to be had. Instead, the boy
,
shaken with grief and shame, dragged his father into an old shack, emptied Lachlan’s pockets and left him under a tarp.

Torn between following Riley and finishing hi
s meal, Death
chose to stay behind and have his way with the
enticing
corpse. In the cover of darkness, he found a place to hide from the sunlight while he devoured every bit of muscle and sinew the body offered. The pure obscenity of it gave him pleasure,
producing
his
inspired
plan.

If he could f
ind Riley, he could take him in. O
ffer him a protection amongst the nest. He didn’t think the boy would be
difficult to convert
once his lo
yalties to home dissolved
.
Death
would convince
him to share the location of his homeland.

Approaching Garrick, he
confessed witnessing a new vampire in the territory that needed to learn how to cover his tracks. He didn’t mention knowing what the boy
’s lineage was or that Death indulged in the youngster’s
father over a long weekend.
Garrick was ignorant about his own creation, let alone trying to explain what a half-breed was. Riley’s existence was simply understood as just another newborn left behind after a draugr failed to make a kill.