The Blood Bracelets #1: Blood Bound

Chapter Twenty-Eight

‘Stop making that face, kid.’

Taryn looked up, only then realising she had been staring at the table with nothing on it. Zed was leaning back against the kitchen bench, watching her.

‘They’ve been gone awhile,’ she said softly. ‘Do you think—?’

‘They’re fine,’ Zed told her. ‘Kael will be fine.’

She dropped her gaze again to where her hand sat in her lap, the blood bracelet peering up at her from underneath her sleeve. Her eyes snapped away from it though and she stood up, refusing to dwell on Kael’s safety.

‘I’m going to sleep,’ she said, walking out of the kitchen.

‘Try not to angrily break anything please,’ Zed called after her.

Eden and Coranna were sitting on the couches, hardly having spoken a word to each other. Coranna looked up from her magazine as Taryn passed.

‘Are you going upstairs to sulk again?’ Cora asked.

Taryn ignored her.

She made it all the way upstairs and to her bedroom door before someone followed her, and Taryn wasn’t thrilled to find that it was Eden.

‘Are you all right?’ Eden asked, sounding genuinely concerned. Taryn almost felt guilty for giving her the cold shoulder all evening.

Taryn pushed down some of her resentment and said, ‘I’m just worried, that’s all.’

‘Of course you are,’ Eden said, stopping half-way down the hallway. ‘Kael worries about you too, you know.’

Taryn almost rolled her eyes. Instead, she walked into her bedroom, unsurprised to hear Eden follow her in. ‘He has an interesting way of showing it, then.’ She looked at her nightstand where her broken phone sat and questioned why she hadn’t just thrown it out. Every time she tried, she couldn’t bring herself to go through with it; there was nothing valuable about the phone, especially not now, and nothing that have it any importance.

Except… a part of her felt as though it was the last thing tying her to her old life, to the normalcy of her life before everything was uprooted.

Eden laughed, reminding Taryn that she was there. Was it petty that Taryn was even jealous of the way Eden laughed? She oozed confidence and mystery, elegance and ease that Taryn knew she didn’t have herself. She was always envious of people like her, and she supposed it was just her horrible luck that it was a person like Eden to come into her life and, directly or indirectly, cause a rift between her and Kael.

Taryn ignored the voice in her head that reminded her it wasn’t Eden’s fault at all.

Sometimes it was just easier to blame someone else. 

‘He’s a puzzling boy, I’ll admit to that,’ said Eden, leaning against Taryn’s bedroom door. ‘Did you say goodbye to him?’

Taryn glanced at Eden over her shoulder. ‘No, why?’

‘Oh,’ said Eden, looking mildly surprised, ‘I thought you might’ve. You never know, after all.’

She frowned. ‘You think he’s not coming back?’

‘Oh, I didn't mean that,’ said Eden, laughing once more, ‘I’m just saying that you never know what might be around the corner for you.’

‘I—’ There was a sudden crash downstairs, cutting Taryn off. ‘What was that?’

‘Sorry?’ said Eden, seeming oblivious.

Another crash.

Taryn’s heart skipped a beat and she went to the doorway, but Eden didn’t move. ‘Get out of my way, something’s happening downstairs!’

‘Oh,’ said Eden and she stepped back, ‘sorry.’

Shoving past her, Taryn ran back to the stairs, almost tripping over her feet but catching herself on the banister. She leapt down to the reception lounge – and saw Coranna go up in flames.

Taryn screamed, instantly turning away as Coranna’s wail filled her ears, but her instinct pulled her back around. She saw Queen Asina standing there, a Doorway opened near the front door, and four Alchemists at her side, their elements alive in their hands. Fire, water, electricity, wind, and all of them were pointed at Zed.

‘Taryn, get out of here!’ Zed growled, his wolf-eyes glowing. He had a burn down the front of his shirt, the material blackened and his skin red underneath.

‘Taryn, nice to see you again,’ said Asina in greeting, a smile on her ruby lips.

‘What are you doing?’ Taryn exclaimed. ‘I thought you were helping us!’

‘I was,’ Asina agreed. ‘Right up until this point.’

‘Taryn,’ Zed said again, ‘shut up and get out of here.’

‘Quiet!’ Asina thundered, throwing out her hand. A spear of rock materialised in the air and shot toward Zed, too quick for him to dodge it. It pierced his shoulder, dragging him right back and pinning him to the wall.

‘Zed!’ Taryn cried.

She went running to him but someone grabbed her from behind and she felt an electric shock course up her arms, making her muscles lock and seize. She dropped to her knees in pain and glanced back over her shoulder, finding Eden tying up her arms with a rope weaved by electricity.

‘What...’ she gasped, a spasm ricocheting through her body with another shock.

Asina walked toward her, leaning down to gently grasp Taryn’s chin. ‘You didn’t think I was oblivious to what you really are, did you? Because that would’ve been foolish.’

 Taryn was about to say something, but Asina sent another jolt of electricity through her body and she fell sideways, darkness rising up to claim her.