Page 13 of Bound By Blood

Loxton nodded. “Yes. None of us had heard of this happening before. Kata ended up going to a seer in order to find out why it happened. But she was banished by your father before we were able to find out what she discovered. The seer also conveniently disappeared around the same time. We tried to get Kata to tell us about it, in case it ever happened again, but she refused. We believe she’s still bitter about her banishment.”

“Why was she banished?”

“We don’t know,” Oakley responded calmly. “Your father never gave a reason, not that he needs to.”

Landon’s brows furrowed as he lost himself in thought. He had never heard of his father banishing someone without a reason before. However, he knew there had to be one. Banishment was the worst thing that could happen to one of their kind. Forcing an immortal into a life away from the rest of their kind and forcing them to watch as their only form of companionship grew old and died right before their eyes. It was torture. It got very lonely and eventually drove them crazy.

Landon was torn about what to do now. It was against the rules to speak to someone that had been banished, but he still needed to figure out why Carly had suddenly become so important to him. Despite his reluctance to accept it, that was exactly what she had become. He could feel the truth in Loxton’s words the moment he said them. However, he was going to have to give this a little more thought before he made his decision either way.

“What was her full name?” he asked. “The vampire that was banished. And where can I find her?”

Loxton flipped open the leather binder he had in front of him and quickly scribbled down a name and general location. “Blackwood,” he stated, sliding the piece of paper toward him. “Kata Blackwood. She lives in a cabin somewhere in the Scottish Highlands.”

Landon picked up the paper and studied it. Though he didn’t know what he was going to do, at least, with her information, he had the option to speak to her if he chose to go that route. Again, it would be breaking the rules, but he would cross that bridge if it ever came to that.

“You know that speaking to her is against the rules, Landon,” Oakley chimed in unnecessarily.

Landon shot him a glare. If looks could kill, the guy would be dead ten times over by now. If he wasn’t so knowledgeable about things, Landon would have no problems killing the guy. “I am aware, Oakley,” he sneered, tucking the paper into the pocket of his jacket.

Before he made his decision on whether or not he was going to go against his father and seek out Kata, Landon wanted to see how bad this so-called obsession with Carly got first. He needed to know, without a doubt, that it was the same thing that happened to Kata before he risked everything to speak with her. Though, there was a voice deep down that told him that it most definitely was. If that were true, he was in for a whole lot of trouble.

Chapter 6

Carly Harris

Carly knew she was dreaming. In this dream, she was an innocent bystander, a watcher on the side. She recognized the place, even though the edges of her dream were clogged with an inky, foggy darkness.

She could see here, tucked under a bridge with nothing but a blanket and a backpack, that she was trying to keep warm on a cold night. The girl before her was smudged with dirt and filth, her hair untamed and the ends stuck inside her coat.

Under the bridge, there was nothing but patches of dirt and a walkway that divided the two dirt sections. She had found this place first before the other homeless people had moved close by in the city’s patch of tamed forest that stretched a short distance in the heart of the city. And even though the others were close by, she still remained. This was her place, her home to tuck into at night. That hadn’t meant that she slept well at night, though. No. Every night, she stayed up until her eyes could no longer remain open. Even then, her sleep wasn’t relaxing. She could never relax if she wanted to stay alive, if she wanted to keep her possessions and not have them stolen while she slumbered.

Her possessions were nothing but a knife she had traded a sandwich for, a blanket she had had in college, a change of clothes, and a bottle of water she constantly reused and refilled up in gas station bathrooms. She did have some cash from standing by busy roads with a pleading cardboard sign, but other than that, she made sure she traveled light.

Carly snuggled deeper into her blanket, making sure her legs were covered from the slight but chilling breeze that carried under the bridge and curled around her calves.

At this time of night, the homeless were most active. Unlike Carly, they slept mostly during the day, afraid to fall asleep at night. They traveled on the path. Those in pairs, chatting to each other, didn’t pay her any mind, but those who traveled by themselves always grinned wickedly at the girl who was alone and vulnerable. That was why Carly always kept her knife out, ready and resting on her thigh.

Her eyes had begun to get heavy, but she had taken note that a guy, scraggily and usually drunk, had passed by for the third time. That time, he hadn’t continued walking. He stopped on the path and turned to her, his hands stuffed into his pockets.

Carly became more alert as he simply stared at her. She gripped her knife tightly, waiting for his next move. “Can I help you?” Her voice was stern.

He walked closer to her, and Carly’s body tensed. “You shouldn’t be out here alone.”

She raised an eyebrow as he came and sat beside her. “And why is that?”

“You’re easy pickings,” he said, slurring his words.

“I can take care of myself,” she said, calming a little when he propped his elbows on his bent knees.

Even though he was wearing a holey coat, she could tell that he was overweight. His beard reached his zipper, matted through and through. He hadn’t had a haircut in who knew how long, and he reeked of stale cigarettes and booze. But that was common among the homeless. She had grown used to the smell and hadn’t recoiled.

He shifted slightly and held out his hand. “Jim.”

She took it. “Carly.”

Their conversation turned and whirled, talking about the best dumpsters to scavenge for food and the best corner to work for extra cash. He warned her away from a few places where some of the deranged folk dwelled. She had already known those places, but she hadn’t said it aloud, letting him talk and soothe her worries now that she had someone who seemed to be on her side.

He had lulled her into a sense of comfort, but when he leaned and tucked a hair behind her ear, a gesture she wasn’t comfortable with, she had stiffened.