Page 14 of This Blood that Bonds Us

They were hurting. We all were.

“We should probably stop here if you need to feed again, Aaron. According to this map, it’s the last town around for miles,” Presley said.

A few buildings passed in my peripheral, and faint music from his MP3 drifted from the back seat. I had to teach Presley how to use the paper map. He insisted on taking over navigation because it gave him something to do.

“I’m okay, actually. I feel good.” Aaron smiled at me. His light was back. When he was thirsty, he was fidgety and quiet, andAaron Calem was anything but quiet. He’d chatted the entire drive, and I’d been able to let my mind rest while he filled the silence with every thought that popped into his head. I loved it.

“You’re not just trying to be agreeable and then go fly off the handle and kill a bunch of people by accident, are you?”

“No.” Aaron sighed.

I’d been bitten by Aaron before, but each time had been so chaotic and painful I hadn’t thought of them as much else. As I grazed over the already healed skin on my neck, my heart beat faster. Something about it made me replay it in my head over and over again. His hands pulled the hair at the nape of my neck tighter to gain better access to my pulse. His heartbeat blended into mine as I fulfilled a deep need for him. We were closer than we’d ever been before, and I wondered if he felt it too.

Our drive dragged into the night. As we got farther from the main highway, streetlights revealed a sleeping town. Dim lamplights shone over a few shops strung together. It was smaller than the college town of Blackheart. We kept driving till we pulled onto a barely drivable road.

My heartbeat surged against my ribs as a little cabin appeared in the twilight.

Presley leaned between our headrests, and we took in the scene together.

“This is the place?”

“Yeah, the coordinates lead here,” Aaron said.

“A cabin in the woods? Creepy.”

It wasn’t just one cabin; there were many hidden in the trees. Some with lights still on, but most of them dark. We were surrounded by wilderness and snow.

“It doesn’t say what house?”

“Uh, no. It’s not a full address, Pres,” Aaron said.

“What are we supposed to do?”

“I don’t know.”

“You’re supposed to know.”

“I thought you said you didn’t want me to try to act like Luke.”

“Yeah, but it would be nice if you knew what the heck was going on.”

“Boys. Let’s sit here for a minute.”

“What happens if we sit?” Presley said.

I leaned back. “Sometimes that’s all we need. A little silence.”

Presley sighed and we waited. When I said wait, I’d meant wait until we saw a light or some indication of where we were. It wasn’t five minutes before the porch light in the cabin in front of us flickered on.

“Probably shouldn’t have kept the headlights on,” Aaron said as he twisted the key, and the engine turned off.

The cabin door opened, and a woman emerged. Short. Salt-and-pepper hair.

“Oh my god,” Presley said with his mouth agape. “It’s Mom.”

I looked at Aaron as Presley bolted out the door. A weird sense of fear fell over me. I hadn’t expected it. A large logical error on my part. It made perfect sense Luke would send us there. Back to the beginning. He was the only one who knew her location. He’d memorized it for this moment.

My mind swirled with the need to please someone I’d never met. How could I let her know how much her sons truly meant to me? What if she hated me? Did it matter if she did?