Page 2 of A Bond Beyond Blood

Interesting.

He dropped his gaze and returned to the task at hand, filling the cooler bags with this month’s order.And, as intrigued as I was, I allowed Franco’s sin of omission to sit in the air between us.

I would find the truth in time, of that I had no doubt.I had so much of it remaining, while he had very little.He finished bagging my order, and I pondered his simple answer to my inquiry.

Jack, the butcher’s offspring, would take over upon his death.

Jack.

A name I’d heard in passing over the years, but nothing more.As my visits were scheduled under the darkness of midnight at a prearranged time, the butcher was always alone, and frankly, as long as my requirements were met, I cared little about his personal life.

That was, until now.

But if Jack was to take over upon his father’s demise, I would need to meet the lad soon.The arrangement the butcher and I made decades ago was one that had no expiration.Franco knew that when we went into the agreement; I had been forthright about the details.And anyone with even a vague understanding of vampire laws knew the cost of a vampire’s bargain.

A deal with the Devil herself would be less costly.

Franco secured the bag and pushed it across the counter toward me.When he met my gaze again, his eyes were glassed with unshed tears.“Will you allow me out of our agreement?”

I closed my eyes in a long blink.“You know I cannot.”

Franco sniffed as he nodded.“I do, yes.”

The only way out of our agreement was death.Not his, but mine.Whether ten years or ten-thousand, as long as I remained walking the earth, the butcher’s progeniture would continue to serve me.He’d made a bargain, forged with blood, and nothing but my demise would terminate that bond.

To give of life is to take in return, but it was because of my benevolence that I only required a steady supply of animal blood as repayment for our bargain.Others of my kind would demand far worse from their blood-bonded.Servitude in countless ways.

And I had no desire to turn humans into pets, food banks, or...

Or worse.

After a long stretch of silence, the butcher finally met my gaze head on.“Jack is...”He swallowed hard, the sound audible in the heavy silence.“Special.”The man’s voice cracked on the word.“Please be kind.”

I tilted my head, eyes narrowing as I watched him.Had I ever been anything but?

There was more to this situation than he let on, but this was not time to question him.The man was weakened by illness, and though my heart had been hardened by lifetimes of lonely existence, I knew of empathy and could give him at least that much.Whatever was special about this son of his would be revealed in time—and Heavens knew I had plenty of that.

Franco, sadly, had very little.I refused to waste a second of it on unimportant minutiae.

“How much time do you have?”I asked.

“A month.Maybe more...if lady luck is on my side.”

Luck.Had luck been on his side, we would have never met.“And your affairs?I assume you have them in order?”I didn’t know what possessed me to inquire, as if I cared about his human dealings or could be of any help upon his death.

Franco nodded.“Yes, Mr.Bristol.”

I nearly flinched at the use of a surname I hadn’t heard spoken aloud in years, though I had little doubt it had been whispered and cursed among my kind.

Franco had addressed me by my given name as far back as I could recall.A funny sense of melancholy came over me then; with Franco’s death, the last person who knew the truth of my existence would be gone.

I would truly be alone.A recluse hiding in shadows and surviving on animal blood, no better than a wild animal running loose in the forest.

An unexpected desperation claimed me, tightening my chest and setting my pulse to race.

“I could save you,” I said, and my eyes widened as words were liberated from my lips before I could think better of them.

Franco’s quick inhalation indicated his surprise, but all he said in response was, “I know.”

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