Blood Bond (6 page)

“Hey, Wes,” George called.

“George. I see Tara’s taking good care of
you.”

George smirked. “She’s doing her best.”

I ignored the innuendo and flexing of
metaphorical muscles and launched myself at Wes. He caught me
without missing a step. My feet lifted off the floor as his arms
squeezed and held. I pressed myself against him, melding our bodies
together and inhaling the crisp leather scent of his jacket mixed
with the woodsy smell that always clung to him like a second
skin.

“I missed you,” he said against my ear.

Something cold and empty inside me filled up
on his words. “I missed you too,” I whispered back.

Finally, and grudgingly, I let him release
me. I stared up at him, too excited to make sense of his presence.
“What are you doing here? I thought you wouldn’t be back for
another few days.”

“You’re here. I couldn’t stay away.” He
glanced at George, then back at me. “You want to take a walk?”

I nodded and let him lead me from the room.
Before the door closed, I turned back to George. “I’ll check on you
later. Get some sleep,” I said.

George sent me a mock-salute and the door
clicked shut.

“Keeping the patient happy, huh?” Wes asked
when we were alone in the hallway.

I fumbled for a response, feeling guilty
despite the innocent circumstances. “George and I are just friends
now, I swear.”

“Relax.” He held up a hand. “I know.”

“Yeah, but it’s not what you think for him,
either.”

“I said
I know
.” He pointed to his temple,
cocked his head meaningfully. “Today’s the full moon. You don’t
have to explain anything to me, at least not out loud.”

“Oh.” Understanding dawned. Wes had a
special gift that allowed him to manipulate—and sometimes even
remove—a person’s memories or thoughts. On a full moon, his gift
magnified and he could read minds. Including mine. He’d failed to
mention that fact on the last full moon, which led to him picking
up on the fact that Alex had kissed me and I hadn’t stopped it. It
had been the cause for our first real fight.

“I wanted to say that before we go any
further. You can tell me to leave if you want, and I’ll come back
tomorrow.”

“No, it’s fine. Stay.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want you to think I’m
eavesdropping.”

“You’re not. Well, you are, but I’m okay
with it.” I stepped closer. Our bodies pressed together in the
narrow hall. “I want to be with you.”

He looked relieved. “I want to be with you
too. Now that it’s settled, I need to do one more thing before we
go further.”

“What?”

He bent his head and pressed his lips to
mine so quickly I barely had a chance to pucker. The shock lasted
for a split second and then I was kissing him back and our arms
tangled around each other, exploring and clinging and making up for
lost time.

“Better than I remembered,” he said when our
mouths parted.

I sighed in answer, drinking in the
closeness of his scent. It dawned on me that he could hear my
thoughts, my happiness at just being here in this moment. “Are you
getting this?” I murmured against his chest.

“Loud and clear.”

Footsteps thumped up the stairs. Cambria
appeared, licking frosting off her fingers. Her eyes widened at the
sight of us, each with arms woven tightly around the other. “Oops.
I was just coming to check on George.”

“He’s sleeping,” said Wes.

“How do you know?” I asked. “Oh, right.”

“Did I miss something?” Cambria looked back
and forth between us.

“Today’s a full moon,” I told her.

She rounded on Wes, eyes wide. “You can read
my mind right now?”

“Whether I like it or not.”

She put a hand on her lace-clad hip. “What
am I thinking right now?”

Wes burst out laughing and shook his head.
“No way, I am not saying that one out loud.”

Cambria grinned at me. “I believe him.”

I sent them both a look and then decided I
didn’t want to know. “We’re going to get some air,” I said to
Cambria. “You want to come?”

“Ugh, you mean outside? In the crushing
humidity that strangles and chokes while it sucks all hydration
from inside your body and then hangs it over you like a wet
curtain?” She sighed. “Then again, I’ve eaten more pastries than
the Queen of England. I should probably walk some of it off.”

“That’s the spirit,” I said.

We stepped out the back door and started
across the yard, headed for the shade of the woods. Halfway across,
I was already sweating.

“You want to go back inside?” Wes asked, his
brows knitted in concern.

“No, I’m fine.”
I’d love a cold pool of water to sink into right
now, though.

“With clothes, or without?” he whispered in
my ear.

I grinned and poked him in
the ribs.
Just testing how well the
connection works.

“Crystal clear,” he said. There was a
decidedly mischievous look in his eyes.

“Are you guys having a telepathic convo?”
Cambria demanded. “I feel like I missed something.”

I linked her arm in mine as
we neared the woods. “
You
miss something? Not possible.” Movement caught my
eye just as my goosebumps—which had dimmed to a comfortable zing
while inside—intensified.

“Wes,” Derek called as he jogged across the
yard. He clasped Wes’s hand and then pulled him in for a one-armed
hug. Over Wes’s shoulder, he sent me a cursory nod. “Hey,
Tara.”

“Hi.” I kept it short and
polite. Derek hadn’t given me reason to think he disliked me, but
he hadn’t given me any reason to think he
did
like me, either. I wasn’t sure
where he stood. It made me nervous around him.

“I saw Cord out front,” he said, his
attention back on Wes. He grinned. “She’s already bitching about
Fee letting the grass get too long.”

“Bitching makes her feel at home,” Wes said.
“You know that.”

“You don’t have to tell me.” His gaze
wandered to Cambria and lingered.

“This is Cambria, Tara’s friend from
school,” Wes said.

Derek extended a suntanned hand. Cambria
took it slowly. “Nice to meet you,” he told her in a distinctly
deeper voice.

“Nice to meet you too,” Cambria said
softly.

Beside me, Wes shook in silent laughter.
“Uh, you want to walk with us?” he asked Derek.

“Sure,” Derek said, falling into step beside
Wes. I hung back with Cambria and listened to them talk. “How’d the
hunt go? Cord wouldn’t say much, just acted all pissed off that she
didn’t get to kill anything.”

“We didn’t have much luck,” Wes said. “Every
trail we found was a dead end.”

Derek rubbed his jaw and the little bit of
stubble he had there. “They don’t want to be found.”

“Yeah, but the human-hybrids aren’t smart
enough to hide themselves this well.”

“You think someone is helping them?”

“Maybe. Either way, we’re going to need help
if we want to keep looking. We can’t afford to waste any more time
on these wild chases.”

“What do you mean ‘if we want to keep
looking?’” I increased my pace until I matched Wes and Derek. “We
can’t stop. You know what will happen.”

“I know,” said Wes. “I didn’t mean we should
give up. We just need to figure out another approach.” He took my
hand, his thumb rubbing soothing circles against my palm.

“God, it’s hot out here,” Cambria said,
pulling her shirt away from her body in disgust.

And it was. Even under the shady canopy of
the forest, the humidity penetrated. Derek and Wes shared a look.
“You thinking what I’m thinking?” Derek asked.

“Dude, full moon.
I’m
hearing
what
you’re thinking.”

“Point taken.”

“What are we thinking?” Cambria asked.

“Swimming,” the boys said in unison.

Wes and Derek led the way. It wasn’t long
before the trees thinned and a lake shone through the leaves. The
water was brackish but not swampy. Most importantly, it had to be
cooler than the air.

“Water never looked so good,” I said,
pulling my shirt away from my sticky skin. I started to take it off
and then changed my mind. If it had been only Wes, maybe, but not
in front of Cambria and Derek.

Cambria hesitated. “Do you think there’re
snakes in there? I do not swim with reptiles.”

I pulled on her arm until she inched
forward. “Who cares? It’s a thousand degrees outside. Besides, you
take down Werewolves. What’s one little snake?”

“Snakes are way scarier than Werewolves,”
she said.

I rolled my eyes and gave her a crooked
smile. “Race you.”

She eyed me and began pulling off her shoes.
I did the same, tensing, waiting for her to bolt. I knew Cambria.
She couldn’t resist a challenge. We finished pulling off our shoes
at the same time. Cambria’s lips curved up. “Last one there

We took off running. Behind me, Wes and
Derek laughed. I reached the bank and dove in head first. The
second I plunged into the cool water, my whole body relaxed.
Cambria surfaced beside me, grinning.

“Who won?” she yelled to the boys on the
bank.

“It was a tie,” Wes called.

He and Derek pulled off their shoes. I
waited for them to get in, but they kept walking, dodging roots and
branches as they skirted the edge.

“Where are you going?” I called.

“You’ll see,” Wes said.

I spotted the rope just as Derek reached the
tree and began to climb. Someone had nailed pieces of wood to the
thick trunk, creating a makeshift ladder. Derek scaled it easily
and made his way onto a branch that overhung the lake. He inched
forward and grabbed the rope, pulling it back until his feet
reached the edge, and then launched himself out over the water. He
swung wide and then released, falling with a splash just a few feet
from where Cambria and I treaded water.

I turned my head to keep the water from
splashing in my eyes. Cambria shrieked and flailed to get out of
the line of fire. I’d just finished wiping the water from my face
when another body dropped, this time closer to me. I tried to get
away, but Wes surfaced and grabbed my leg, grinning madly.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he
said.

I splashed him and spun away, shrieking when
he gave chase. Cambria twisted under Derek’s grip on her wrist,
frantically trying to swim away. Each time she tried, Derek twisted
her back and sent her a faceful of water so she couldn’t keep her
eyes open.

“Can the sight of cliché flirting make you
sick, Bailey?” Cord’s voice rang out over the lake, dripping with
sarcasm.

“Glad you could join us,” Wes said.

Cord ignored him. “I’m serious, Bailey. Are
you nauseated or is it just me?”

“It’s just you,” Bailey said cheerfully. He
stood beside Cord, his wiry frame way too tall for his fifteen
years, especially since his open smile always made him look even
younger than that. “Hi, Tara,” he called.

“Hey.” I waved.

He nodded at Wes from
underneath a mop of blond hair that he’d apparently grown out over
the spring. “Glad you’re back, even if you did bring
her
with you.” He jerked
a thumb at Cord and rolled his eyes.

“Take the good with the bad, I guess,” Derek
said.

“You boys are hilarious.” Cord stood with
hands on her hips, staring disgustedly at the briny water. Bailey
peeled his shirt off and moved toward the lake’s edge.

“You coming in, Cord?” Wes asked.

“No, thanks. I’ll take the choking humidity
over the shameless flirting.”

“I see,” said Wes, a glint in his eye.
“Bailey, if you would?”

Bailey grimaced. “You know I’m taking my
life into my hands.”

“I’ll protect you,” Wes said.

Derek chuckled. “No offense, but my money’s
on her.”

Bailey crept up behind Cord and grabbed her
just as she realized his intention. I clamped my hand over my mouth
and waited for her wild swings to connect with Bailey’s face.
Somehow, he managed to get her into the water. When it reached
knee-deep, he let go and Cord fell under. She came up sputtering,
her hair falling in strings against her face. She glared at Bailey
with an expression I’d only ever seen directed at me—and Miles.
Bailey was already running for the rope swing.

Cord let out a growl that could’ve rivaled a
Werewolf and took off after him. Wes and Derek high-fived.

“She’s going to kill him,” I said,
horrified.

“Nah, she’s harmless. Watch,” Derek
said.

Bailey swung out and splashed down just as
Cord reached the tree limb. She didn’t waste time with the rope.
Instead, she ran to the end and launched herself out over the
water, doing a perfect dive and coming up inches from Bailey.

He tried swimming away, but Cord caught him
around the ankle and yanked him back. He was pulled under—only his
arms could be seen above the surface, flailing in a blind attempt
to grab Cord.

She yanked him to the surface and scowled at
him. “Give up! Say you’re sorry,” she demanded.

“Never,” Bailey sputtered, half laughing,
half coughing.

“Then suffer the consequences,” she said as
she dunked him again.

Derek shook his head, swimming toward them.
“Pick on someone your own size,” he said. He jumped and pressed
down on Cord’s head, taking them both underwater. She came up
sputtering and … laughing?

“Twilight zone, right?” Wes’s voice in my
ear was an echo of the thought in my head.

“Exactly,” I said. “Why isn’t she trying to
murder them?”

He shrugged. “They’re family.”

And for them, it was that simple. It didn’t
matter that Cord was a Hunter and the boys were Werewolves. Just
like with George and I, being family had nothing to do with
DNA.