Page 66 of Bonded By Blood
Joe kept her moving, using the approach of a young couple as cover. “Come on,” he said quietly.
She stumbled once, as if she’d thought they would just stop a couple feet past the doorway. “Okay, okay,” she muttered, getting her feet under her.
“Where are you parked?” He’d come with Jasen, so they’d need to take her car to leave. Which would be a small problem if she became resistant again.
“Follow me,” she said. She pulled from his grip as they put the driveway behind them and angled herself toward the nearest lot. The same lot Jasen had parked in. “I had to park in the back.”
Joe let her stay a foot ahead, since he didn’t have the first clue what kind of vehicle she drove, and kept his gaze rotating. Just in case. He felt a twinge of relief when they reached her car—an expensive, but fairly practical Volvo SUV—and she beeped it unlocked without incident.
Kendall let out a loud, weighted breath after he’d settled into the passenger seat.
Joe arched a brow at her. “Something you’d like to say?”
“I’m mad.” She was not one to beat around the bush, either. She glanced sideways at him and pursed her lips for a moment. “Not necessarily at you, though, which is making me feel bad about it.”
“Well,” Joe said, offering her a small smile, “we have a little time to talk. Anything you’d like to get off your chest?”
“I—” She looked at him, but quickly glanced away. Instead of maintaining eye-contact, she focused her energy on fastening her seatbelt. “I don’t know where to start. I guess I get why you had to tell Brianna. But why was I taken out of it like that? How can I ever show them that I can contribute if they don’t let me?”
Joe clicked his own belt into place with a small frown. “I don’t think that was the point this time, Kendall,” he said.
“Yeah, I’m sure,” she replied. “It was for my protection, right? It’s always something like that.”
He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say to that. “You haven’t been forbidden from talking to him,” Joe said, although he imagined he actually shouldn’t have. He imagined Brianna, and Trista, would very much like to forbid such a thing if they thought they could. But even he knew Kendall well enough by now to know better. “And it’s not that Jasen will be openly taking credit for the call. Just that Jasen will be … in charge of him.”
Kendall put the car in motion. “That’s a fine line.”
“Jasen will also get the blame.”
She was silent at that, for at least two minutes, long enough for them to make it out of the garage. “Is it true that you’re like some weird supernatural fanboy?”
The question caught Joe off-guard and he half-choked. “What?”
“I’ve heard rumors,” she said. “That you have some obsession with learning stuff about the dark and magical side of the world. I don’t know if there’s an official word for that kind of thing, so, ‘fanboy’.”
Right. “I … guess you could say that’s true,” Joe replied, slowly. “Why do you ask?”
Kendall shrugged without removing her hands from the wheel. “I was just curious about how someone else got pulled into this world. I mean, I assume my story is weird, but it’s not like I’ve ever been able to compare notes. You know?”
Joe reflected on what Brianna had told him of how she’d met, and come to adopt, Kendall. Kendall’s family had died in a horrible car accident one night, and Brianna herself had happened to be out and was the one who’d pulled Kendall from the wreckage before the fire engulfing her family car could claim her as well. It was the kind of story Hollywood loved. He glanced at Kendall, noting the firm grip she had on the steering wheel and the set in her jaw. She was just making conversation to distract herself, but he wanted her to know he respected her enough to meet her effort. “How old were you?”
She blinked, flexed her fingers. “Eleven. I was eleven.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. He waited several seconds, to let her know he was sincere, before giving her the answer she’d sort of asked for in return. “I got lost in the woods and rescued by a werewolf. I was ten.”
Kendall laughed under her breath. “So, a wolf for you and a vampire for me. Now you’re a vampire and you’re, what, thirty? Does that mean I’m going to end up mated to a werewolf in the next three or four years?”
Joe cringed, but laughed simultaneously. “I think we both know the likelihood of that.” If there was one thing Brianna would absolutely never allow, that might be it.
But the atmosphere in the car was a little lighter now as they laughed together. That was good.
“Is it scary, being Turned against your will?” Kendall’s question was so quiet he almost missed it as he watched the signs pass through the window.
“Terrifying,” Joe said. It was the second most terrifying thing he’d ever experienced, but he wouldn’t tell her that. That was his burden. He glanced sidelong at her again, unsurprised at her frown. “Is it something you want … to become a vampire?” He was pretty sure Brianna was against it, but that didn’t mean Kendall felt the same.
“No,” Kendall said. Her response was immediate. Honest. She drew in a breath through her nose and exhaled through her mouth. “Don’t get me wrong. I love Bri, and even Trista, but I don’t want to be a vampire. Or a werewolf. I don’t want to live for hundreds, or thousands, of years.”
Joe smiled. “You probably already know this, but for what it’s worth, I don’t think Brianna wants you to, either. I think she wants you to live the life you were born for.” Granted, most wolves believed in destined mates and therefore would argue the meaning behind ‘born for’ versus ‘mortality,’ but that wasn’t the present issue.