Blood Bond (32 page)

Alex’s expression was intense, his eyes
locked firmly on mine, unblinking, as it had been since I’d begun.
I paused, drawing strength from his steady gaze, before describing
the next part. Because all of that came easy compared to my
massacre in the woods.

Slowly, haltingly, I recounted that night.
How they’d attacked first. The countless pairs of eyes, bright
yellow with murderous intent, stalking toward us in the woods. How
Wes had gone down and something inside me snapped. And when I’d
come to, all that was left were bodies. Broken. Bloody. Dead. How
I’d reeked of wolf after. And how Wes grudgingly agreed not to tell
anyone until I was ready. Until now.

I paused, so sure someone would speak up,
unable to remain quiet any longer. But none of them did. Alex
didn’t waver in his silent intensity, but now I wasn’t sure if it
was encouragement or simply a loss for words.

I went on. About Bailey and the trip to the
lake that began so innocently and ended so tragically. About
George, and my promise to him—to myself—that no matter what, I’d
save him. Because Miles couldn’t be allowed to win.

I mentioned Wes’s contact in DC disappearing
and told them about my trip to Astor’s. Seeing Victoria’s parents
in the road, almost shifting. The metal testing, his explanation of
what my father had done in suppressing my Werewolf gene. And how it
was now struggling to break free, especially when I felt
threatened. I told them about the bond with George.

Alex’s eye twitched at that part, but
otherwise he remained immobile as ever.

Finally, I told them about what Victoria’s
parents had said, about Olivia—whoever she was—and her using them
to get to me, using all of the hybrids to hunt me.

I finished and licked my lips, rubbing my
hands back and forth on my jeans. No one spoke. I tried to imagine
what Alex was thinking. I stared out into the woods even though I
couldn’t make out anything but shadowy limbs in the darkness. The
crickets and cicadas seemed abnormally loud. As did my
heartbeat.

Grandma broke the silence. “Baby girl …” she
trailed off. I met her eyes, hearing something in her voice I
hadn’t expected. Heartbreak.

Beside her, my mother’s face caught my eye.
Something shimmered there, just under her eye. She reached up and
swiped it, and I realized it was a tear.

“Honey,” my mother said. She got up and
crouched in front of me, the tears streaming freely now.

“Mom, I’m really sorry,” I began, sure she
must be furious to be so quiet—and crying. Instead, she wrapped her
arms around me and smoothed my hair.

“Do not apologize ever again. Not for this.
I’m the one who’s sorry. I should’ve been there. I should’ve tried
harder to understand. Please forgive me,” she said.

I didn’t answer until she pulled away. I
didn’t know what to say. The last thing I’d expected was an
apology. I couldn’t help but be a little suspicious that I wouldn’t
be grounded for life when it was all over. “I forgive you,” I
said.

“Tara, we appreciate your honesty,” Grandma
said. It must’ve been some sort of signal to my mom because she
slid back onto the bench. I braced myself. “We know how hard it was
for you to tell us all of that. Very brave. And now that we know
everything, we can help you.” She glanced at Alex. “You’re still on
board?”

“As long as you need me,” he said. The
deepness of his voice sent a shiver through me.

She nodded. “Alex is going to train you this
summer,” she said to me.

“Train me? For what?”

“This thing with CHAS isn’t over and we want
you fully prepared. As much as we’d like to lock you away for your
protection,” she threw a glance at my mom and continued, “we can’t
do that. At some point, you will face an enemy. That’s a given. We
want you as prepared as possible.”

“As for the wolf side of
you, we’ve got Jack and Fee for that,” my mom said. “I’ve already
spoken with them and they’ll help you develop it as much as they
can, though there’s not much precedent for this sort of thing.
Vera’s checking the
Draven
records to see if some family, somewhere, ever
recorded anything like this.”

“You’ve already spoken with them?” I echoed.
“So you knew about me turning?”

She gave a small smile, as if sharing a
secret. “I’ve known something’s up for a while. Then, when you
left, Cambria confirmed some things.”

“You seem pretty calm about it,” I said.

“I’ve had a little time to digest,” she
admitted. “I’ve been meeting with Jack for a few weeks now. He’s
been slowly filling me in on what I’ve missed these past years,
helping me ease into it.”

“Ease into what?” I asked.

“Being a Hunter again.” Her face contorted
and I could see her struggling for words. Her eyes glistened again.
“After losing Julie and everything with Leo … it’s been hard. I
never wanted to return to all this.” She extended her arms, as if
to include this very conversation. I felt a pang at the memory of
Julie, my mother’s assistant at the shop. Leo had killed her and
left a bloody message at the crime scene, addressed to me. My
mother went on, “But I have no choice, and I’m willing now,
especially if it means protecting you and being a bigger force in
your life. I’ve let you be on your own too long. I don’t want to do
that anymore.”

“So, you’re going to what? Hunt again?” I
asked. I couldn’t help the disbelief. My mother, the Hunter? The
mental picture was even more ludicrous than Grandma in a battle.
And even that was something I’d had to see to believe.

She twisted the glove still in her lap.
Obviously, she wasn’t excited about the idea, either. “If it comes
to that,” she said.

I wasn’t sure I believed her, but I let it
drop.

“So, back to training,” I said. “And in the
meantime, what? Are we going to keep looking for the hybrids?”

“The first step is to find out who Olivia
is,” Grandma said. “I’ll get some people working on it.”

“What about Victoria’s parents?” I looked
back and forth between Grandma and Alex.

“What about them?” she asked.

“Last I saw, they were in CHAS custody,
heavily sedated. How’d they escape?”

“They didn’t.” Something about Grandma’s
tone made me tense. “CHAS had been looking for a way to draw out
the hybrids, something that would let us know where they were
hiding. They took a vote. It was decided by a 90 percent
margin.”

“What was decided?”

“They let the Lexingtons go with a tracker
device planted inside them. CHAS was hoping they’d lead us to the
hideout.”

“They let them go?” My first reaction was to
be surprised at CHAS going so easy on them, but then I realized
their true intent. “They could’ve been killed. Olivia’s obviously
done something to them. They called her ‘master.’” I shook my head.
“I can’t believe CHAS used one of their own as bait.”

Alex grunted in what I suspected was
agreement.

“It was wrong,” Grandma agreed. “But CHAS
doesn’t see them as one of their own anymore. Either way, the plan
failed. The tracker was disabled a day into their release. I had no
clue where they were until you told me about them finding you.”

“And CHAS?” I asked. “What are we going to
do about them?”

“CHAS is a little out of our hands right
now.” Her voice held a note of defeat that hadn’t been there a
moment ago. “Steppe is garnering support, God knows why. I guess
there’s more evil than good in our kind anymore. We’ll do what we
can, use our contacts to try and sway the undecided. The vote is
coming soon, though. All we can do in the meantime is keep you off
his radar.”

“And George,” I added.

“And George,” she echoed.

“When will they be home?” I asked.

“A day or two. They know to come here, so
don’t call them. I’ll be getting you and George new phones. Until
then, no more using yours. I mean it.”

I nodded. “Okay. No calls.”

“I see that look in your eye,” my mom said.
She held her palm out.

“I wasn’t going to—”

“Hand it over.” It was the same tone she’d
used earlier, when I’d first gotten out of the car. My hope of
avoiding punishment in the face of my honesty was misplaced. I
relinquished the phone. She dropped it and stomped on it.

“Mom!” I gawked at the pieces, nothing more
than little black shards of plastic.

“I know you. You wouldn’t have been able to
resist,” she said. “Now listen, Grandma’s given you the facts, the
reality of the situation we’re in. None of that is your fault, so
you’re not in trouble … for that,” she added. My shoulders slumped.
“For running off instead of asking for our help in the first place,
there are consequences, which, I might add, tie in nicely with my
goal to keep you safe. Here’s how it’s going to work: each day, you
will be driven to Jack’s for training by one of the three of us and
then driven back at the conclusion of said training. In addition,
you will spend three hours a day training with Alex.”

“Three hours? I didn’t even train that long
at school!”

She went on as if I hadn’t spoken. “Except
for those two activities, you are grounded to the house until I say
otherwise.”

“How long can I expect until you ‘say
otherwise’?”

“Don’t hold your breath.”

I swallowed and asked the only other
question that mattered. “And Wes?”

She frowned, and my calm cracked. “He can
come here to see you when you’re not training. And you’re free to
talk to him at Jack’s, but no going out.”

It was more than I’d hoped for, less than
I’d wanted. “Fine,” I said.

Grandma and Mom went inside after that. It
wasn’t so much prison as house arrest; I could do what I wanted, as
long as I stayed on the grounds.

Alex started to follow them, but I grabbed
his wrist and pulled him down beside me.

“I can’t stand not knowing,” I said,
“especially if we’re going to be spending all this time together.
Just say it.”

“Say what?” he asked.

“What you think of me now that you know …
what I am.” I looked down at my shoes, kicking them absently
against the wooden planks underneath my feet.

“Tara, I’ve always known what you are,” he
said. His voice was gentle, but I suspected that was only because
he didn’t want to hurt my feelings.

“And you’ve always hated it. You can say it,
you know. Get it out in the open. I deserve that, at least.”

“I won’t disagree—telling
you that would make for better combat training. But in the interest
of protecting my, uh,
parts
, I’m not going to risk a
repeat of our first meeting.”

My head came up. He was smiling. It made me
want to smile too, but I held back. “Stop joking around. I mean it.
Just say what you’re thinking. I won’t kick you.”

His smile faded. The intensity from earlier,
the way he’d watched me throughout my story, returned. He looked
fierce in the dim moonlight, like a warrior ready for battle.
“Listen to me, because I’m only going to say this once.” He took my
hand, squeezing it hard in his. “You want to know what I thought
listening to your story? What I think every time I look at you?
Here it is: you are, without a doubt, the bravest girl I’ve ever
known. It doesn’t matter what kind of blood flows in your veins.
You are a Hunter, in every sense of the word. Your courage and
bravery, your desire to protect everything that’s innocent in the
world, proves it. Whatever physical form you take won’t change
that.” He released my hand. Some of the fire left his voice.
“Sometimes I’m jealous of you.”

“Jealous? How?”

“The way you can cut right through all the
complicating details and simply know what’s right. The way you
always know exactly what you believe. And you fight for it.
Unswervingly. But also without hate. I could never do that.”

“Thanks.” I swallowed against the lump in my
throat. “I’m glad you’re here,” I whispered.

He smirked, the old Alex coming through.
“Are you sure it won’t complicate things for you?”

I felt the corners of my mouth twisting.
“Only a little. I’m sure you don’t mind terribly, though.”

He laughed, and a part of the tension inside
me eased. “If it gets too crowded, there’s always running,” he
said. “Speaking of, I hope you’ve kept in shape. I was thinking
five miles tomorrow, to start light.”

I punched him in the arm. He grinned.

“Well, well, I see I’ve arrived just in
time.” Cambria materialized in the darkness, her sandals clunking
against the bottom step of the gazebo.

“There you are,” I said. “I was beginning to
wonder. You missed all the good parts.”

“Not all,” she said. Even in the darkness, I
could see her brow lift.

I smiled. I was too busy enjoying having
Alex back in my life to let Cambria’s insinuations bother me. I
hadn’t realized how much I’d missed his friendship—or punching him.
“Did you have fun with Derek?” I asked giving her the same look
she’d just given me.

She lowered herself onto the bench across
from us and leaned her head against the wooden support beam, her
hand draped over her forehead in a dramatic swoon. “Gawd, that boy
is hot. I mean, sweat in secret places kind of hot.”

“Just what I wanted to hear,” Alex said. I
laughed.

“What about you?” she asked, sitting up
straighter. “How did it go with Thing One and Thing Two?”

I could only assume she meant my mom and
Grandma. “Is that what you call them?” I asked.

“Have you seen them in action? They can
finish each other’s sentences. Which is pretty scary in an
interrogation, let me tell you.” She shuddered, though I couldn’t
tell if it was real or for effect. Whatever put that expression on
her face was best left unexplained.

“I told them everything,” I said.

“Everything? As in … everything?” she asked.
“How’d they take it? Should I sleep somewhere else tonight?”