Blood Ties

by Gina Whitney

“I knew the moment I saw you that we were destined to be together. But still…even when fate is involved…a man wants to be certain a woman made the choice to be with him of her own free will. This is why witches do not drink the blood of another. They become linked to each other in an unbreakable bond whether they want to or not. I want you to love me on your own. I never want to wonder if it was just the blood that made you want to be with me.”

  “When you walked through Aunt Evelyn’s door for the first time, I knew it then. So you don’t ever have to wonder if it was the blood or not. I do love you. I’ve always loved you.”

  James looked at me for a moment and then suddenly reached for me. I grabbed him in return. Our lips met like they had been searching for each other for a thousand years. We pressed our bodies together as hard as we could, like we were trying to merge into one person. The boat wobbled with our movements, and James steadied it with a swipe of his hand. Ripples started to extend from underneath the boat, and the water heated up with the intense energy we generated. The water became agitated like a small-scale hurricane on the pond.

  James slowly rubbed his cheek against mine. Then, with one hand, he cupped my face, which was flushed with desire. With the other he pulled my hair back until my neck was exposed, and slid his fingers to hold it firmly in place. Then he kissed and gently caressed it with his tongue. He stopped at my chin. I raised my head to see why, and he gazed deeply into my eyes. I could see myself reflected in his. James parted my lips with his tongue, and mine met his anxiously. I let him take the lead like the man he was, and I loved every minute of it.

  I’d heard about people feeling like they were melting when they kissed someone. I’d thought that was an exaggeration. Not anymore. I literally felt like I had melted into James, the boat, the water… I was at one with everything.

  We pulled back and looked into each other’s eyes. We couldn’t deny it any longer. There was no way we could fight the base urge to become one soul, one body. James rowed us to the bank of the pond, and we got out as fast as we could. He took me by the hand, and we ran into the forest like little children. I trailed him to a clearing in the middle of a group of massive oak trees. He swung me around in front of him, never letting go of my hand.

  My skin flushed, and my body trembled with anticipation. I could tell he wanted me too—the dampness of his hand and his dilated pupils gave it away. He stepped toward me and placed his ember-hot fingers on my hips. But as James leaned in to kiss me, something stopped him. He held me at bay with a pained expression on his face.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked. I was practically lunging at him as I attempted to make lip contact.

  James held my body stationary. His grip was firm and resolute. He pushed away a wisp of hair that had been covering my eye. “Grace, you are so beautiful. The last thing in the world I want to do it is hurt you. But…”

  Aw, no, I thought. The dreaded “but.” Nothing good comes after that.

  “I don’t take the idea of making love to you lightly,” he continued. “And trust me, you and I making love is nothing to trifle with. We just can’t do it right now, if ever.”

  But James couldn’t fool me. I saw through that stoic look, straight to his hidden torture. A battle raged inside of him. One side wanted to take me right there, and powerfully so. The other struggled against it with all its might. James, for some reason, was trying to inhibit his desire and stay in control.

  I was still on fire, though, and wanted to totally lose control. My lust was an F5 tornado rolling over an old trailer park. “I want you,” I panted as sweat burst out of my pores. “I’m pretty sure you want me too. What harm could it do?” As I started feather-kissing James on his neck, he grabbed me by the shoulders and gave me a slight shake. I could see the anguish on his face as his half-closed eyes gazed back at me.

  “Tell me what you need and I’ll give it to you. Tell me what you want and I’ll go to the edge of the universe to get it. But for your benefit, making love is the one thing I can’t give you right now. I am not going to allow this to go any further. Damn it, Grace, my entire being wants nothing but to be with you. But I can’t do it. You’ve got to believe me when I say I’ve got your best interest at heart.”

  Then he looked away, toward a crumpling sound coming from the woods. “Did you hear that?”

  “No, nothing,” I said. The truth was that a freight train could have run through there and I wouldn’t have heard it. That’s how much I was into James at that moment. The very essence of my being was totally zoned in on that man. It was more than mere sexual arousal. Something in the blood I had ingested had enhanced me.

  James dropped my hand and walked over to the clearing’s perimeter. Forever vigilant, he scanned the woods for something. And indeed there was an unwanted spectator in our midst. Adrian lurked behind a tree; he’d been watching us the whole time. His blood had grown so hot with jealousy, he singed the tree where his hand touched it. With thoughts of revenge, he ghosted out of the woods.

  “Something’s there,” James said. He had seen a streak of Adrian, but did not know what it was. Neither did I at that point.

  I sucked my teeth, disappointed that James wasn’t going to let it go. “Where?”

  “In the woods. We’ve got to go.”

  “Why? We just got here,” I argued. At first I was convinced this was some ruse to distract me. But I could see James was genuinely concerned, and I had to learn to trust his instincts as well as my own.

  “Alright then. Let’s go,” I reluctantly said. If I had been male, I would have been standing there with a massive case of blue balls.

  James hurried us out of the woods. I could barely keep up. Though we didn’t know it, we passed right by the tree Adrian had been creeping behind. The burnt-on imprint of his hand still smoldered a bit.

  In my ignorance, I said to James, “Do you smell something burning?”

  When James and I arrived at Aunt Evelyn’s, everyone else was back from their excursion, and we were trying to pretend nothing had gone down between us.

  Julie was in the kitchen with Aunt Evelyn, but when she saw James and me together, she just walked out. I blew it off, making an excuse for her behavior: Obviously I didn’t hear her say hello. Yeah, that’s it.

  “Where have you two been?” Aunt Evelyn asked as she unpacked groceries. All the cabinets were wide open as she filled them with cans of tuna, sardines, and Vienna sausages. Yuck.

  James and I looked at each other slyly and said in unison, “Training.” Aunt Evelyn gave us a suspicious look.

  “I think I’ll go take a shower,” James said. He gave me a light squeeze on the hand and was off.

  Aunt Evelyn pointed at a chair. “Sit.”

  I sat down, trying to act as nonchalantly as possible. “You want some help with the groceries?”

  She waved her hand, and all the cabinet doors shut. “I know.”

  I got a little scared. “Know what?”

  “I know about you and James. I can feel it. I should’ve talked to you about this possibility before he got here, but I just didn’t get around to it…considering everything else that’s been going on. If it were going to happen, I didn’t think it would happen this fast.”

  “What are you talking about?” I said, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

  “You two like each other—a lot. I won’t tell you what do to in regard to the relationship. But I will say, don’t let it become a distraction—not only for you but for the group as a whole.”

  “It won’t,” I said, feeling relieved that I wouldn’t have to hide it from her. Aunt Evelyn hugged me and started to tear up.

  “What?” I said, trying not to cry as well, especially since I didn’t know why I would be crying.

  “You’re really grown now. With so much work to do,” she said with pity in her voice.

  “I’m okay. Really. I’ll be fine.” I returned Aunt Evelyn’s hug, hoping she wouldn’t smell James all over me.

  With the emotion in ther
e getting way over the top, I just had to get out. I went to Julie’s room and walked in without knocking. Addison wasn’t there; she was relaxing on the porch. Julie lay across the bed reading Popular Mechanics.

  “What’s shaking, Dog Soldier?” I said, popping her on the behind. Normally this would have elicited an awesome comeback, but she ignored me and just kept turning the pages of her magazine—which she wasn’t really reading.

  “Julie, what’s up with you? If you have something to say to me, just say it.”

  “Well, Grace, it’s not hard to figure out that something disturbing went down between you and James. My question is what?” Julie finally decided to look at me. “What did he tell you? What could he have said to make you cavort with the enemy? That’s your problem, Grace. You are so trusting. And top that off with selfish. You didn’t even care about my part in all this. My sacrifice.”

  “First off, Julie, you really have no clue what you’re talking about. Second, I am well aware of what you’ve sacrificed to be here. Don’t you dare say I’m not.”

  Julie got off the bed and started toward me. I could see little hairs starting to sprout on her body. “What happened this morning between you and James?” she asked with all sorts of accusation in her tone.

  “I got sick, and he fed me.”

  “Aw, shit. You can’t be serious. You ingested his blood? You are so damn stupid. Do you have any clue what you did? Now you’re bonded to him. Forever!”

  “I could have died, Julie.”

  “If he couldn’t summon Evelyn or me, he should’ve let you.”

  I couldn’t believe she said that. And I could tell from the mystified expression on her face she couldn’t believe it either. I swore, this shit with James. First Aunt Evelyn had to warn me about its impact on the mission, and now Julie was losing her mind over it. James and I must have been the witch equivalent of Romeo and Juliet. All I could do was shake my head and refuse to acknowledge Julie anymore by not looking at her. But she wasn’t having that. She raised my head and started to read my face.

  “Aw man, Grace. Did you fuck him too?”

  “No, I didn’t, but I wanted to. Now what?”

  “Grace, this is getting worse and worse. Please tell me you are not in love with him.”

  I didn’t want to disappoint her, but there was no way I could deny what I felt for James. “Julie, I’m sorry, but I am.”

  She collapsed into a chair. “Why did you let this happen?”

  “Is it so bad? James saved my life not once, but twice. There has always been a connection between us.”

  “You mean like soul mates?” Julie said, mocking me. “Let me tell you something. You aren’t soul mates. How can you be? He’s hundreds of years old. You’re twenty-one. And you weren’t there during the bad times, when those fucking Bolingbrokes decided to be total assholes and set out to destroy the Valoises.” Her eyes glowed yellower the more she talked about James. She was about to turn. I just knew it. Her body shook uncontrollably.

  “Please! Stop!” I yelled. But she phased right there in the middle of the bedroom. She didn’t look like the beautiful wolf she had morphed into before. She was now just a hideous monster. I was scared to death. If we were bound for life and I was going to have to deal with this werewolf bullshit, I needed to stand up to her and make a statement.

  I knew she couldn’t control me as my immortal self. Every last conversation I’d had with her flooded my head, and now my life was about choices. Who had I been? Who was I now? Who would I be? Acceptance was now the rule. I would own it all. And from then on I did. I closed my eyes and let anger take hold of me. It was the quickest way I knew to change. My fangs descended, and the vibration from my snarl nearly knocked me over.

  “You don’t scare me,” I said to Julie. She growled at me, furious that I was challenging her.

  “Now what? Do you want to fight?” I asked. “Whatever. I’m not backing down. But does it need to go that far? I’m fairly certain once my aunt finds out, she’ll be pissed. Less at me, more at you. So I advise you to phase back, or fight your best friend. Either way I’m staying with James.”

  Julie wasn’t backing down. She had an excess of testosterone and pride. Then words slipped out of my mouth that I’d never thought I’d say: “You will stop this nonsense and phase back now! As your ruler I command you.”

  Julie phased back to human form. But she was different, and something had changed between us. I knew the dictatorial posture I’d taken with her was probably not the best course of action. She was my best friend and my faithful shadow. But, if I had a mission, I had to assume my rightful position. A leader, a ruler, or whatever you call it. But to Julie I was simply power tripping and putting her in her place—as a footstool underneath me.

  “So today you finally decide to embrace your destiny. And to think I couldn’t help you do it, nor could Aunt Evelyn or anyone else. This is all for James. And you willingly put down our friendship over this man. So typical,” Julie said, her words full of venom.

  “Julie, this has something to do with him, but only a small part. I’ve been asked to embrace my destiny for a while now. So why question what day, month, or year I do it?”

  “It’s his blood, Grace. That’s what you’re embracing. Can’t you see what it’s doing already? It’s turning you away from me.” Julie held back her tears.

  “Never ever, Julie. I will always be your best friend. You will also always protect me—when I need it of course. Do we have an understanding?”

  “The only understanding we have is that I have a mission too. That is to protect you when need be, and to train you. Otherwise we don’t have anything else to talk about.”

  James fell onto the bed. He was relieved the strange ruckus in the woods had interrupted an extremely volatile situation. He regretted how he had almost allowed himself to become vulnerable to Grace.

  Addison bounded in. “How’d training go? Is she getting the hang of telekinesis yet?”

  “Yes.”

  Addison was suspicious of James’s curt response. She squinted her eyes and looked at him sideways. “Spill it. What really happened?”

  James realized there was no need to hide it anymore. “I’m in love with Grace.” He could tell she was disappointed, but not surprised.

  “Like I couldn’t see that coming.” Addison let go of a chuckle—one of those laughs to keep from crying.

  James’s demeanor became more somber. “There’s more.”

  “You sound like I need to sit down.”

  James pointed to a chair.

  “Just give me a chance to brace myself,” Addison said. She took her time walking to the chair, purposefully prolonging the wait before she heard the news. She sat down in a very businesslike manner. “Okay, let me have it.”

  “It’s becoming obvious that Grace may have a dormant Ancient spirit in her. Now that she’s awakening, it is too. And it wants to be fed. She almost died because it’s starving and trying to force her to feed. She is unaware of what’s going on, and I don’t know how she’ll take it. So today I had to give her some of my blood.”

  Addison shot up like she was a Jack-in-the-box. “James, no! You know you’ve been forbidden to do that. That’s the first step in establishing blood ties with someone and permanently marking them. First it’s the blood exchange, then sexual consummation. You’ll be sealed forever. I’m not saying I like Grace or anything, but I have grown to admire her somewhat. And I don’t think it’s fair to put such a burden on her.”

  “You think I don’t know that?”

  “James, did you go too far with this girl?”

  “No, I didn’t. The last thing I want to do is bring harm to her.”

  He could feel the air leaving his lungs as Addison’s body tensed up. The more upset she became, the more a vortex of energy formed around her. The air wasn’t being sucked out of the room so much as being drawn into her vacuum.

  “There’s nothing we can do about the blood now. Go ahead and ha
ve your flirtation with Grace. Boys will be boys. But I suggest preparing for the inevitable. We are going back home after this ordeal, and you two can’t be together there. That’s just the way it is.”

  “Don’t worry, Addison. I know my duty, my role. I won’t jeopardize it.”

  Addison looked at James and knew he loved Grace too much to keep that promise. Between duty and love, she knew which one would ultimately win.

  Chapter Nineteen

  When written in Chinese, the word “crisis” is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.

  —John F. Kennedy

  A new civil war was brewing in America. Not between north and south. Not between conservatives and liberals. Not even between Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj.

  The unwitting opponents of this contention were Julie and me. Avoidance was our main line of defense, as if the other had just eaten a three-course meal of Ebola, herpes, and anthrax and washed it down with a leprosy cocktail.

  Though surrounded by the smoke of our detonated emotional bombs, Julie and I somehow managed to keep our spat between us. Our strained cordial front left the others totally unaware of the angst simmering barely beneath the surface. To Julie’s credit she kept her word and gave me help when I needed it, albeit grudgingly and in deathly silence. However, if I dared enter a room and she was alone in it, she would promptly gather her things and leave.

  I wasn’t about to tell James anything about the tiff. I didn’t want him to feel guilty or, worse yet, have resentment toward Julie. As a result he continued to carry on with copious but respectable amounts of PDA. But every hand hold or hug he and I shared in front of Julie was a Judas kiss to her.

  As much as I loved James, I desperately missed my friend. But I could see no way to reconcile the damage I had done, except by breaking up with James. And I wasn’t about to do that.

  Hell, I couldn’t wait for all the training to begin. It would be a welcomed relief from the tear-jerker drama.