Blood Tied Read Online Free PDF Page B

recently, I had my doubts.
    “Eight o’clock,” he answered through gritted teeth.
    And they’d all be on time too.
    “Well, we’ve got plenty of time to get things ready,” I finally replied. “I’ll be there no later than six, and, I’ll take over and make my brothers toe the line.”
    He snorted. “Good luck with that.”
    They’d listen all right. Or they’d be walking around with freeze-dried nuts for the rest of their lives. “Don’t worry, Dad. I’ve got it covered.”
    “Thanks, Thad. I appreciate it.” The tension in his voice had disappeared, and I was relieved. “I’ll see you at six.”
    “See you then,” I said before I ended the call.
    A road sign up ahead revealed Havenbridge was fifty miles away. In just under an hour, I’d be home with a family that was often more frustrating than getting a cat to obey. Still, it would be nice to be home again. So why did the weight that sat upon my chest only grow heavier?
     
     
    WHEN I crossed the Havenbridge town line, I was about five minutes from home, and the woods that made up the rear of our estate stretched to my right. I pushed down on the accelerator, causing the scenery to flash by in a blur of orange and brown.
    I foolishly hoped that if I drove faster, I could outrace the strange sensation that had overcome me a few miles back. It wasn’t working. The bizarre feeling persisted and had only gotten worse. Unease had settled across my skin like frostbite.
    I shook uncontrollably, as if my body couldn’t get warm enough, and it felt as if some unseen entity was stabbing me with dozens of sharp needles.
    The last couple of times this happened had been when we got news of my mother’s prognosis and right before the vampyre attacked us at our house.
    Something bad was coming. Its presence drifted outside the cone of light my headlights cast onto the darkening road, and no matter how wide I opened my magical senses, I couldn’t detect what lay in wait out there.
    It couldn’t be the vampyre. Drake had run a stake through its heart. No, that vile creature was most definitely dead. Was it some new threat? Perhaps it was the shadow weaver that had almost killed Mason and Drake or even the mysterious enemy that worried the Conclave.
    A fireball suddenly flew out of the woods and bounced off the hood of my car. The impact caused me to swerve. I slammed on my brakes and the rear end fishtailed before skidding to a stop on the shoulder. I was about two feet away from rolling over into the ditch.
    A second fireball exited the woods and slammed into the speed limit sign on the other side of the road.
    I scrambled out of my car.
    A cry of pain shattered the eerie darkness that had suddenly enveloped the woods. I rushed toward the sound on instinct. The only sound I could hear was my pounding heart.
    I sprinted through the woods, leaping over fallen logs and praying my trench coat didn’t trip me up and cause me to stumble. I ducked past the withered limbs of saplings that had succumbed to the advancing cold, my breath pluming in front of me. I was winded, but why couldn’t I hear myself panting anymore as I ran?
    I trampled over dead leaves, but they didn’t crunch. I stopped and snatched a thin branch off one of the younger trees and bent it in two. No snap.
    Slowly, the noise of the woods came back as if some deity had his hand on the volume button of the world and gradually turned the knob back up to normal. But he didn’t stop there. He moved the dial from a normal five all the way up to ten.
    My panting echoed around me as if I were screaming. The crunching of leaves beneath my feet became explosions. I placed my hands over my ears, hoping to drown out the deafening cacophony, but it didn’t work.
    The world continued to grow louder and louder until it became white noise, which vibrated my bones.
    I sank to the ground, the cold, damp mud seeping into my jeans. I swept my gaze left and right, trying to discern what the hell was happening to