Page 10 of Bound By Blood
One of the womenglanced at him, and her eyes widened before she gave him a look hewas familiar with. If he decided to, he could take her into one ofthese side alleys, screw her, and kill her while she was stillcoming.
It would befantastic.
“Fuck off,” hesnarled at her instead.
The color drainedfrom the woman’s face, and she hurried forward with her friends.The three cast a frightened glance back at him before vanishinginto the bar.
Saber contemplatedgoing into the bar too. He could use a few dozen drinks right now,but alcohol mixed with his state of mind would most assuredlyresult in someone’s death tonight.
And while itwasn’t an unpleasant prospect, he had a mission to fulfill.
His fingersbrushed over the black stone again. No matter how unsettled hefelt, he’d failed his sister nearly five hundred years ago; hewouldn’t fail her again now.
Turning away fromCharles’s store, he strode back to his car and climbed inside. Hestared at the store for a few minutes before texting Ronan to lethim know he was here and would contact him again later.
He sent Charles atext before tossing his phone into the cupholder and pulling ontothe street. Gritting his teeth, he ignored all the people as heleft the touristy main road behind in search of a hotel.
It was best if hestayed away from humans, but he needed to hunt, a bed, and ashower. He decided it would be best to feed first, so he left thebusier areas behind for some woods. He’d prefer to hunt humans, butdeer would do for tonight.
If he didn’t hearback from Charles, he’d return to the store tomorrow.
CHAPTER 8
Carolina removedthe black plastic containers and their yellow lids from the back ofher father’s van. She walked over to the back door of the storeand, placing the containers against her hip, held them with onehand while she fiddled with the keys.
It took a fewseconds for her to find the one to unlock the door. She turned thekey in the lock, gripped the handle, and pulled the door open.
It creaked alittle as it swung open to reveal the shadowed interior she knewand loved so well. What once felt as comforting and familiar to heras her home was an awful, alien place she didn’t recognize.
Before, she’dalways been eager to get to the store, start the day, and fall intothe familiar work routine. Now, she dreaded every second of thisand wished she was anywhere but here.
You don’t haveto do this. You can just leave.
She could, but theidea of leaving behind everything she and her dad worked on wasworse than having to return to this place. So here she was, like anidiot, with containers and a whole lot of anxiety.
She sighed,slipped the keys into her pocket, and flipped on the light switch.The alarm beeped out its warning sequence as she stepped inside.She punched in the code, and as it went silent, the familiar hushof the empty store settled in.
She’d been comingto this store off and on for the past five years. The only time shemissed was when she went off to tour the world for a while, andThursdays, which were her days off. It was also the day everythingwent to shit.
She’d spent manydays here, wandering the shelves, dusting her father’s and hercreations, and helping her mother ring up sales. Over the years,she’d talked to countless tourists and answered thousands ofquestions, but it never got tiring.
She knew all theirneighbors well; they often exchanged pleasantries and gripes. Thissummer, Clarice, who owned the store next to them, threw a largebarbecue and invited everyone on the street.
With her bathingsuit in hand, Caro arrived with her parents. Of course, the humansall believed Caro was her mom’s younger sister as they looked somuch alike.
It would blow thehumans’ minds to learn the two women, who appeared to be in theirearly to mid-twenties, were mother and daughter. So, they continuedtheir charade of pretending to be siblings while they spent the daydrinking, swimming, and laughing until the fireworks started.
Her dad would havehappily stayed home, but Caro and her mom loved being aroundhumans. And he would do anything to make them happy.
There was alreadytalk about another party next year, but Caro wouldn’t be going.There was a lot she’d no longer be doing, and neither would herparents.
She wouldn’t bereturning to this place after today. This store was once her life,her love, and her passion. Now it was nothing but a mausoleum ofshattered dreams and broken hearts.
Before cominghere, she promised herself she wouldn’t cry. She’d done enough ofthat over the past two weeks and had to keep it together. It wouldtake more time to get through this if she turned into a sobbingmess.
Her parentswouldn’t want her tears, but they burned her eyes as she set thecontainers down. Placing her hands on her hips, she studied theshadowed back room as she ignored the aroma of blood and focused onthe familiar scent of her mom and dad.
If sand andsunshine had an aroma, it would be her mom. She was always warm andinviting, vibrant and full of life.
