Blood Stain: Book Three of the Blood Type Series (complete)

Epilogue

"I don't understand why you have to leave," my mother said, not for the first time. "Who in her right mind turns down Cornell? And after working so hard to get yourself back on track. It seems like such a waste."

I slid my suitcase into the trunk of the car before slamming the hatch, an exasperated sigh exploding unintentionally from my mouth. Squinting against the glare of the late afternoon sun glinting off the shiny metal, I gathered my dwindling supply of patience and turned to face my mother. "I've told you. I need—"

"I know, I know," she said, waving her hand to dismiss what I was about to say. "You need to get away from your father and me."

"That's not it, and you know it," I said. "You're just fishing now."

Her shoulders slumped, the fight going out of her. "What do you expect? I'm your mother."

With a half-strangled cry, she threw her arms around me and pulled me close, crushing me against her petite frame with more strength than I thought possible for a human. She finally released her death grip, though she still held on to my hands. Blinking away the tears in her eyes she said, "At least you won't be alone."

I glanced over my shoulder to where she was looking. "No, I won't be alone. I'll be fine, Mom."

A few feet away, Olivia was saying her own goodbyes to her parents, her brother Henry attached to her back like a monkey and Eleanor clinging to her leg. Marcus stood stoically beside her, their fingers entwined, desolation written all over his face. My heart ached for them, but there was nothing I could do about it. At some point, Marcus and Olivia would have to go their separate ways. Perhaps Olivia leaving now was for the best. As far as our human friends and family were concerned, Olivia and I were bound for the same university.

Best Friends Forever.

Literally.

"Are you sure you don't want us to drive you to the airport?" my mom asked hopefully, pulling my attention away from the scene. "We don't mind."

"I'm sure. John and Ian are flying out today, too. It makes sense for us to go together."

"We could have driven you to school," she said. "Taken a family road trip. It would have been fun."

I laughed. "We don't do road trips, Mom."

She shrugged, searching my face as though trying to memorize it, not realizing it would never change as long as I lived. "It was worth a try," she said. "This is much harder than I expected, you know." Without warning, she crushed me to her chest again, squeezing the breath from my lungs.

"Good grief!" I wheezed. "You're acting like we'll never see each other again. I'll be home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. You're always so busy anyway, you won't even know I'm gone."

"That's not true. The house will be much too quiet without you. You'll mind your curfew?" she said, making us both laugh at how absurd it sounded now.

"I will."

My father approached then, wearing a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, and placed a hand on my mother's shoulder. "She's a big girl, Rachel," he said, his voice sounding huskier than usual. "You've got to let her go."

"I love you," my mother whispered in my ear. "I know I wasn't the perfect mom and I was probably a bit obnoxious and overbearing. I'm sure there were times you thought I was certifiably insane," she added with a self-deprecatory laugh. She pushed me away a little so that we could see each other and briefly touched a hand to my cheek, unconsciously twining a dark curl around her index finger. "But you are, and always will be, my greatest joy."