Page 6 of A Bond Beyond Blood

I slipped my hands around one of his and squeezed gently, my breath lodging in my throat at the sheer magnitude of this moment.The once strong, calloused hands of the man who raised me were small and featherlight...so frail between my hands.“Okay, Daddy.”My voice cracked so I cleared my throat.“I’ll be ready.”

“He saved you, Jackie, but he couldn’t save your mother.”

My brow furrowed as ice flooded my veins.“What?”

“Too much blood.”His eyes went distant, unfocused, but then they snapped back to mine.“We owe him now.Animal blood.Every month on the fifteenth.”

I sighed.“No, Daddy, I think you’re confused.Mom died during childbirth.”

And vampires don’tsavelives; theytakethem.

“He doesn’t know about you.He’ll want you when he sees.”His eyes flicked around the room then landed on mine once more, before drifting down to lock on my throat.“Animal blood won’t be enough then,” he whispered.

The hair on the back of my neck stood on end.Shaking my head, I said, “Daddy, I don’t understand.”

“He’ll want you when he sees.”His dark brown eyes grew wide then flicked to the space immediately behind me and a shiver skittered down my spine.I jerked my head around, but no one was there.When I took a deep breath and looked back at my father, his eyes were closed, the only sign of our brief conversation evident in the crease of his brow.

As I watched him, unable to move, Muriel slipped into the room, humming quietly as she moved around to the side of the bed.She leaned over him and rubbed her thumb over that crease between his brows, then she went about fluffing his covers and checking his vitals, smiling sadly as she finally looked up at me.“It’s happening, honey.”She motioned to my father.“Tell him you’re going to be okay.Sometimes they wait for permission to go.”

Jaw tight, I shook my head.Permission?No.No way.He couldn’t leave me.I would never tell him togo.

She smiled inthat wayagain, then patted my hand and left the room.

I lowered my head, resting my forehead on his arm, and cried like I never had before.

Eventually my brothers would come, and maybe then I’d say my goodbyes.But not a second earlier than was absolutely necessary.

Chapter Three

Jack

Days passed before I could pull myself away from his bedroom, from his empty bed.I’d gotten halfway through putting clean sheets on before I curled up in a ball and succumbed to my new reality.

I moved only as far as the bathroom attached to his bedroom, but even those trips came less frequently once my brothers cleared out and I was left to fend for myself—which I couldn’t find it in me to do.

It was on the fourth dayafter deaththat my tongue was so dry it felt plastered to the roof of my mouth and I finally dragged myself into the shower, standing open-mouthed beneath the spray, still fully-dressed.Still sad.Still feeling like a shell of the girl I once was.

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