Blood Bond (Anna Strong Chronicles #9) by Jeanne C. Stein

understand, so I whisper, “I don’t want to lose you.”
    “You won’t. Not ever. I’ll always be with you and Trish and now John-John. Family is a bond that transcends life and death.”
    She doesn’t say it, but with her last words I know she’s thinking of my brother. The son she lost so many years ago. She believes they’ll be reunited. It’s a hallmark of her faith. It’s what’s giving her grace and courage now.
    Is it what’s keeping her from seeking treatment?
    Immediately, I feel a pang of guilt. I know my mother well enough to know she wouldn’t forsake Trish or me. She wouldn’t choose the dead over the living. Still, I plan to question my father, make sure they’ve exhausted every possible remedy, procedure or technique that might improve her condition.
    I catch Mom peering at me, eyes narrowed. “Don’t go badgering your father about this,” she says.
    “What? You’re psychic now?”
    “Not psychic. I just know how you think. Believe me, your father has Googled, called about and written to anyone he thought might be of help. Trust me, Anna. Please. Let’s enjoy the time we have left. I want to get to know John-John and catch up with Daniel. It’s been a while since I heard anything about my school.”
    She gestures again toward the window. Frey and my father are just coming into sight, strolling across the vineyard, skirting the rows of grapes, heading for the house. Dad’s face is animated as he makes a sweeping wave of his arm, no doubt explaining some vagary of wine making to Frey. Frey listens intently, hands in pockets, head bent. Seeing him unexpectedly like this makes my heart pound. When did I fall so in love?
    I don’t realize Mom is watching me until she chuckles and says, “This is a side of you I’ve never seen.”
    I take mental inventory. What’s giving it away? Do I have a silly love-struck expression on my face? I frown, raise an eyebrow, feign ignorance. “What side?” But it’s said with a lilt in my voice I can’t disguise.
    “See?” Mom laughs again. “It’s even in your voice. When you look at Daniel, your face lights up. Ironic, isn’t it? Considering how you two met?”
    It is ironic. Frey and I met when I was searching for Trish. He was a teacher at her school and for a brief time, I thought he might be involved in a child pornography ring. Nothing could have been further from the truth. But Trish had run away and I was desperate to find her. In a fit of reckless abandon, I attacked and bit Frey, thinking I’d ravage the truth out of him.
    I got the truth out of him, all right. But in the process of learning his innocence, broke the psychic link between vampire and shape-shifter that allows us to communicate mind to mind. So now we can no longer read each other.
    Again, I decide it’s a good thing. This time, though, it’s not because of any negative thoughts I might let slip. As I watch Frey approach, I’m flashing back to the sensation of our bodies intertwined on the bed upstairs and I’m filled with such a heady rush of desire that heat sears my blood.
    “You’re smiling again,” Mom says, with a smile brightening her own voice.
    Color floods my cheeks. I pull myself from the bedroom back to the present, reach over and give her a hug. “It seems so strange. I’m happy—really happy—for the first time in such a long time. And I want to share it with you. I want you to be a part of our lives. But we need time—”
    “I told you,” she interrupts gently. “I’ll always be with you. Don’t feel guilty for being happy. Coming here, sharing your happiness, has been the best medicine I could have hoped for. In fact—”
    Mom breaks off. She grasps my hands. There’s a definite twinkle in her eyes that makes me go,
Uh-oh. What are you thinking?
    “I just had the most wonderful idea.” She clasps her hands together. “It’s the one thing you could do for me. You and Daniel.”
    “Go on . . .”
    “Get married here. Right away.