Blood Bond Read Online Free PDF Page A

the mirror.
    I watched the buildings as they slowly faded
from sight. Griffin Hall loomed larger than the others. I felt
conflicted—I should’ve been relieved, excited to be leaving. And a
part of me was. Another part felt lost, like whichever version of
myself I’d brought to Wood Point was still on the grounds, left
behind.
     
    Two hours later, Grandma took an exit
advertising gas and burgers. “Anybody want anything?” she asked as
she hopped out.
    “A bottle of water would be perfect,” Vera
said. Her eyes were dark underneath where shadows had formed in the
time we’d been on the road.
    “Sure.” Grandma looked at me. “Tara,
anything?”
    “Water’s good,” I said, scratching absently
at the base of my neck. Since she’d opened the door, a strange
feeling had crept in. Not goosebumps. This was different. Still,
the threat it held was unmistakable.
    “I need a restroom and I don’t think you can
go get that,” Cambria said. She climbed out and headed off toward
the station entrance.
    I watched her, on edge, my eyes darting to
the shadows created by the gutter overhang that wrapped around the
stained stucco walls. Nothing moved. Two other cars sat parked at
the pumps and a rusty pickup dripped oil onto the space by the
door.
    As Cambria entered, a man exited. He wore
battered shorts and a shirt with so many holes I didn’t see the
point in the fabric. I stared as he got into his truck, trying to
zero in on him—or anything that could be the cause of this strange
feeling. Nothing registered. A moment later, his clutch popped and
he motored off.
    The feeling remained.
    I scanned the lot, but nothing and no one in
it seemed to be the source. I shifted in my seat, my palms sweaty;
the cool air had escaped when Grandma opened the door.
    “Everything all right?” Vera asked.
    I looked up sharply and found her watching
me through the mirror in her visor.
    “I’m fine,” I mumbled, feeling a little
awkward. Vera always made me feel that way.
    She frowned and twisted in her chair to face
me, her eyes searching. For what, I didn’t know. “You look
unsettled.”
    Unsettled.
    That wasn’t a bad way to describe it. I
opened my mouth, ready to brush her off, to tell her she was
imagining things, when the feeling suddenly spiked. Something like
adrenaline burst from my chest and ran through my veins. My leg
jerked at the unexpected energy. My incisors sharpened and my jaw
stretched forward. I clamped both hands over my mouth and stared at
Vera with wide eyes.
    “Tara?”
    I grappled for the door handle and pushed it
open. When I’d jumped clear of the Hummer, I ran. I didn’t stop
until I’d rounded the corner and reached the dumpster. My knees
buckled and I bent over and heaved. Nothing came up but my stomach
churned and roiled. My breaths came in short gasps and my lungs
swelled to bursting. Was this what an asthma attack felt like?
    “Tara?” Cambria appeared from the front of
the building. She held a bottle of water in each hand. She watched
me warily, like one might approach a wild animal.
    “I’m good,” I said, still breathing heavily.
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. “I felt like I was going
to be sick for a minute.”
    She handed me one of the waters. I took it
and gulped. It was cold enough to chill my insides as it went down.
I was grateful. It calmed the swirling in my stomach.
    “Do you get carsick or something?” she
asked.
    I shrugged. “First time for everything, I
guess.”
    “But you’re okay now?”
    “Yeah, I think so.” I gulped more water.
    “Huh.” She eyed me another minute and then
turned to leave. “Well, come on. Your grandma wants to get
going.”
    “Right behind you.”
    Grandma was waiting at the car, arms
crossed. “You all right?” she called before I’d finished crossing
the lot.
    “Fine. Carsick, I guess,” I called back.
    “You’ve never been car sick before,” she
said, though she didn’t look nearly as suspicious as Cambria.
    We