Made By Design (Blood Bound Series Book 2) (7 page)

A little squeal escaped my throat and Caius’s silver-gray eyes shot up. Fear rocketed through me and I sprang, flattening Dorian against the bed.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Dorian demanded in a boy’s voice. He pushed himself free and sat up.

I scrambled to the window and peered out. “Didn’t you see?” My own childlike voice surprised me.

Caius forced the man up the steps and through the front door. Then the heavy steps stalled.

“Oh dear, what happened?” Mom’s startled voice drifted through the floorboards.

There were more steps then Caius spoke. “You saw nothing, and you will hear nothing. Go to bed, Lamayli.”

As my mom’s shuffled steps moved away, I heard something shift, sliding. More footsteps sounded as the shifting repeated. The noise I heard next lasted a second, before being cut off with a thud. Hair rose across the back of my neck and my small forearms prickled. It was the sound of cries and chains being rattled, of snarls and the threats of desperation.

“What’s going on, sis?” Dorian peered out the window and down at the disturbed snow that was swiftly being covered by a thicker fall of snowflakes.

“Unky Caius had a man,” I said, voice so young and terrified. “He had chains on him.”

“It’s not Halloween,” Dorian said.

Before I could speak, I heard the sliding again, followed by the distinct tone of booted steps climbing the wooden stairs.

The door to Dorian’s room swung open and Caius strode in. He took hold of Dorian who cried out at how tight Caius gripped his shoulders. Caius stared into my brother’s eyes. “You saw and heard nothing.”

Protectiveness surged through me, and my small child’s body lunged at Caius. I landed on his arm and tugged with all my might. “Stop, Unky Caius. You’re hurting him!”

Uncle Caius dropped Dorian and threw me off. I flew, hitting the toy box across the room with a cry of pain. I stumbled to get up, terrified eyes wide. But I was too slow. Caius was already before me, strong hands curled around my upper arms and lifting me from the ground.

Dorian stood still as a statue behind him, his face an empty mask.

I struggled, knowing I needed to get us away, then whimpered. Caius squeezed harder, shaking me until my eyes met his. “Amelia, stop moving. I do not want to hurt you.”

Out of my own volition, my child-sized body ceased struggling.

Uncle Caius lowered my bare feet to the ground and touched my cheek. It stung for a moment and his hand came away with a smear of scarlet. He frowned. “I am so very sorry, my dear. I never meant to…” He broke off and shook his head before staring into my wide eyes. “You have been up here all night playing with your brother. You even tripped while running up the stairs and cut your cheek. But it is only a small cut. There is no pain. You will forget ever seeing me and that other man outside, and any noises you may have heard. Amelia, I wish it did not have to be this way. But it does. Please know that I love you.”

“Get the fuck off me!” I gasped, shocked by my suddenly normal and un-childlike voice and language. My eyelids fluttered, the cabin room warping into moving white-laced plains behind a red lens.

“Whoa, what’s going on?” Ty stared at me curiously from the driver’s seat. “What’s wrong?”

Kendrick sat forward to see me through the center console. “She had a vision, genius.”

Ty ignored Kendrick and went to grab my hand. My knees shot up and I shrank back against the car door. There was way too little space in this car. Blood dominated the air. Ty’s and Kendrick’s. The thrumming of both their pulses pounded in my ears. “Don’t.” I batted Ty’s hand away as my fangs shot free. “Stop the car.”

“Why?” Ty saw my fangs but didn’t even flinch. “Amelia, what’s going on?”

“She’s starving.” Kendrick scooted back to untie the knot on his backpack. “It’s a vision thing. The reactions are getting worse.”

Ty glanced away from the straightening road and held out his hand, wrist up. “Take my blood.”

Kendrick snorted and I cringed, blurry vision darting to see that Ty’s driving had slowed. Jumping out of the car wouldn’t cause much damage at this speed.

I groped for the door handle, but before I could escape, the smell of peppery blood invaded my nose. Unable to think, I snatched the source and pressed my lips to its cool round edge. About half way through I realized I was draining a bottle. Right in front of Ty. I hunched away, increasingly aware of Kendrick’s and Ty’s voices.

“She still could have drunk from me.” Ty yanked on the steering wheel, rounding a bend sharper than necessary.

Kendrick snorted a laugh. “Yeah, if you’re into beating down your own girlfriend.”

Ty punched the clutch and shifted gears. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“That she wouldn’t have been able to stop.” There was a clank from the backseat as the red left my vision and my voice started to return. “And I sure as shit wouldn’t have stepped in to save your pretty-boy ass.”

“Stop it,” I croaked, blinking away the last of the red. “Please don’t fight. Not about this.”

Ty smiled at me but kept his hands to himself. “You’re alright now?”

I nodded, wondering if he was worried about my still extended fangs or if he was trying to keep the peace.

My brain tingled and Kendrick eased back into his seat. “Wanna tell him what you saw?”

After reliving my vision through the bond, Kendrick knew what I’d seen. I sighed, glancing away from the thickening fog and snowfall through the windshield to look at Ty. “Caius imprisoned vampires at the cabin.” I shuddered, hearing even now their cries and the rattling chains. “He was experimenting on them too.”

“Shit!” Ty slammed on the brakes and flung his arm across my chest as the car screeched to a skidding halt. Snow fell even harder than a minute ago, the wipers flinging back and forth at full speed.

I squinted through the shield of white. Something was blocking the car. It was wide enough and long enough to cut off the entire one-lane road. “Is that a tree?”

I lifted my hood as we all exited the car. The air was chilling, the thick forestry bordering the narrow winding road showing no evidence of its lush foliage. Instead it was a frosted white expanse that was deathly quiet.

Kendrick made his way to the roadside and jumped onto the base end of the fallen mammoth-sized tree. Then he faced us with a look I couldn’t quite read. Still the reason behind the look wasn’t a mystery.

“The tree was cut?” I strode forward to see for myself.

Ty was right behind me, head poking over my shoulder to catch a glimpse. “That was done with an electric chain saw.”

“Loggers?” Kendrick questioned, surprisingly without an ounce of condescension as he looked to Ty.

Ty frowned past the fallen tree, running a hand over its rough bark. “Loggers would never leave a road blocked like this. And don’t they usually mark the trees they take down?”

“Trees?” I followed Ty’s line of sight past the fallen log Kendrick stood on to the road ahead. Through the thick fall of white was an obstacle course of fallen tree after fallen tree, disappearing only with the bend in the road. “That’s not loggers.”

Dread pooled in my stomach, making my ears open while my eyes darted. The road we were on was familiar enough for me to know that it was the last stretch before the cabin. No other properties came off this road and hadn’t done so for the last twenty or so miles. This road never saw unexpected traffic.

My fingers curled, toying with the amethyst pendant at my wrist. It was cool to the touch without even a hint of warmth to indicate encroaching danger. “Whoever did this is gone now. But they did it on purpose.”

“To keep us from the cabin,” Kendrick finished for me, jumping off the log.

“But no one knew we were coming,” Ty said. “Only us three knew, and Dorian.”

Except that wasn’t exactly true, and Kendrick knew it now too. While he and Ty were picking up the rental car back at the airport, I’d called Marcus and mentioned our location when checking on Caius’s whereabouts.

“You told Marcus,” Kendrick said, a hint of accusation in his tone.

“So what?” I zipped up my hoodie, feeling a chill that had nothing to do with how freezing it was. Had someone intercepted our arrival? Were they still there somewhere, watching, waiting? “You know Caius can’t compel Marcus…” I broke off, feeling Kendrick’s speculation. “You have gotta be kidding.”

“What’s going on?” Ty questioned.

Kendrick leaned back against the fallen log, face hardening. “I’m not kidding, Amelia. And you shouldn’t be so trusting. He knew Caius planned to kill you, and instead of stopping him, he let it happen. Let that sorry excuse for an uncle drain your blood until you died.”

“Hold on,” Ty said, eyes shifting to me. “You said Marcus had no choice, that he did what he needed to do to save you.”

“He did,” I said. “Marcus’s plan to resurrect me could only work if Caius’s attempt on my life stayed on track. He needed to know when Caius would come for me.”

“That doesn’t make sense.” Ty ran a hand over his face. His irises had become gold and intense, no longer set on me but staring at the car’s snow-dotted headlights. “If you’d been warned and had fled that place, resurrecting you wouldn’t have been necessary. And I’m sorry, Kendrick,” he said glancing up at him, “but if not for her death, Amelia wouldn’t be connected to you, or anyone.”

Except you,
I thought, guessing the words he didn’t say. Because if I hadn’t been bound to Kendrick, the new conflict of our love triangle wouldn’t exist in such an imposing and unavoidable state.

“Ty, you don’t get it. Believe me, I can see your point of view, but it’s wrong. What Marcus did brought me back to life. If everything had gone according to his rescue plan I would have been…” My words died and I clenched my fists to stop my hands from flying to my mouth.

“You would have been what?” Ty moved forward to tilt my face up, forcing me to look at him. “Amelia, what haven’t you told me?”

I bit my lip, dreading what I was about to say. Kendrick spoke before I could muster the nerve to blurt out the words. “Amelia would have been bound to Marcus, forever.”

Ty’s irises flared and he jumped over the log to stalk up the beaten road.

“Ty, please.” I caught up and tried to catch his wrist, but he crossed his arms and picked up the pace.

Kendrick collected his backpack from the rental car and followed at a distance.

I cleared another fallen tree, hand levering against the rough bark to keep pace with Ty. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t think it mattered. I mean, it didn’t happen. I’m not bound to Marcus.”

Ty’s stalking steps stalled and he spun, his breath fuming. “You think that’s what I’m mad about?” His expression was incredulous. “Whether it’s Kendrick or some other guy, it doesn’t matter. That fact that you’re so…” his jaw clenched, “
trusting
, is what scares me. You knew this guy for a few weeks. That’s it. And you believe every word he says. What if he’s in league with Caius?” He strode forward, catching my wrist with tight fingers. “What if everything you’ve been relaying to him has been passed straight on?”

I snatched my wrist free. It felt like my insides were being tugged in opposite directions and were beginning to tear. “Marcus wouldn’t do that.”

Overhead, the sky darkened as the sun dipped behind treetops. The snow began to pelt down like heavy rain while a gusty wind built. The swift weather change was unnatural, as if it were a sudden extension of my torment. I gritted my teeth and a flash of light struck overhead. I wanted to scream that I knew Marcus would never betray me. Because of the connection I felt to him and him for me, I knew that he would never endanger my life.

I wouldn’t do that,
Kendrick’s voice warned through the bond. Now that we weren’t walking he was gaining on us.
He already feels like he’s sharing you. And it sucks. Believe me, I know. Learning that you feel connected to another guy is only going to make him feel even more like shit.

Ty caught my hand, drawing it up to the wild flutter of his heart. “Amelia, this is your life we’re talking about here. And I can’t lose you.” He glanced to Kendrick, almost nodding approval. “We know who we can trust in our group, and Marcus isn’t part of our group.” His mouth opened but nothing came out, his nostrils flaring, testing the air. “Do you smell that?”

I could smell it now too, the dense smell of a raging fire that had recently been doused. “Smoke.” Above the tree line I could make out a spiraling column rising into a thickening cloud of menace. “It’s coming from the cabin!”

Kendrick shot past us, feet pounding up the beaten road, and Ty and I took after him. With our supernatural speed we blazed over the remaining miles toward the cabin, clearing each dropped tree while minding the snow-hidden potholes. The smoke intensified as we neared, growing dense and adding to the fog as the snowfall eased.

After painfully long minutes the narrowing road ended, opening onto a small area bordered by a thick circle of pine trees. Delicate gray confetti flittered down around us, looking like dirty snow. I sucked in a breath and spluttered. Smoke joined the ash here, making it impossible to breathe or see clearly.

I pushed forward, arms waving to clear some air…and froze.

Centering the circle of pines was an uneven patch of charred and still smoking remains. A corner beam to the front and back left were still standing, along with a crumbled fireplace in the center. For a long moment I just stared, not wanting to believe what I could see. But the evidence was as clear as the lifting smoke. The skeletal remains before me were all that was left of the cabin. Someone had burned it to the ground.

Kendrick met my side and touched the cool amethyst pendant at my wrist. “Whoever did this is long gone.”

“I’m not taking any chances,” Ty said, then took off past the barricading pines.

Not really listening or taking notice, I fell to my knees. “It’s all gone.”

Everything was charred black, nothing surviving the inferno. There was no second level. No window to see down to the wooden porch from Dorian’s childhood room. No stairs that Caius’s booted feet had climbed to erase his actions. There were no standing walls, just stone remnants leading up to the remaining corner posts. Bar the fireplace, which only resembled its former cavernous glory because of the small boulders that made up its structure, there was nothing else. Nothing that even closely resembled the home I’d been born in and had trouble remembering from our first six years of life.