Bloodbound: The Alliance

I walk down the hallway of my home with a plate in my hand. No remnants of what I ate beside minor sauce smears. My mind, still reeling after what Simon and I discovered, distraught but not enough to ruin my appetite. Yet still I had to come home and act like nothing had happened, which isn’t so difficult when my sole response these days is silence.

I slow to a stop near the archway, catching hushed tones of the conversation between Luciano and our father.

"I went over as a gesture of goodwill and that bastard blames me," dad whispers furiously. "Their deaths mean nothing to me. I had no reason to see Vance or Landen dead."

"Did he threaten you?" Luciano asks.

Dad snorts, his indifference almost insulting. "He tried. But still I pity the man. He’s gone out of his mind and it’s understandable. I would be inconsolable if I ever lost my sons."

"I’m more concerned about your daughter," Luciano confesses, with a voice on the verge of a cry. "She’s slipping."

"I know... all we can do is not let go."

I reverse and I return to my room with the plate still in my hand. I place it on the dresser. Looking for a distraction, I pick up the pouch with the small, tech gadgets inside, bugs and something I deem to be a tracker. I put it down so I can call Kelsey, but a violent vibration swerves me onto an alternate course. I pull out the burner phone and I answer it.

"Simmy?"

"Don’t you dare," he warns playfully.

"What?" I say with a little laugh. "You’ll follow me out of the country, but I can’t give you a nickname?"

"Tell you what, when we get settled somewhere abroad. You can call me all the pet names you want."