Blood Twist (The Erris Coven Series) - By Bonnie Wheeler Page 0,2

far, only Braden had a lead and he wasn’t the most forthcoming about it. She needed to convince the damphyr that he could use her help finding the cure. After all, it was Lexie’s mom that brought Liz to the store to buy her first bra and to the mall for a prom gown. Only Ruby made a birthday cake for Liz each March and placed gifts for her under the Christmas tree in December. Liz’s Aunt Bev never did.

Ruby can’t die. She’s the closest thing to a mother I’ve ever had.

As the stovetop pot came to a rumbling boil, Liz resolved herself to chase down Braden with a bat if necessary. She couldn’t allow him to go find the antidote without her. He could get sidetracked once he was overseas. Maybe even forget how perilous the infection was. Ruby’s life depended on that medicine.

If there was one thing Liz learned in her eighteen years, guys couldn’t be trusted to follow through with anything. Especially when a female depended on them.

2

BRADEN

Braden sat alone on his bed. His solitary existence was never easy, but lately, being lonesome was almost insufferable. As much as he craved the comfort of companionship, it would only make what he had to do even more difficult.

As he looked around his organized room, he questioned what it said about his life. He had possessions, but it was just “stuff.” He never truly created anything or made an impact on the world. His identity had been so preoccupied in preparing his cousins to protect the coven, that he missed out on going to college, rebuilding his family’s old place, or falling in love. Now it was too late to do any of those things.

Dedicating his life to his coven wasn’t a mistake. As the oldest of his four cousins, it was only natural for him to step-up and guide them as they became loyal protectors of the family. They couldn’t let outsiders know of their existence. It required a balance of fitting in with the townspeople, without drawing attention to themselves or their abilities.

Torin just completed the final phase of the change. Because he resisted the temptation to drink human blood, his closest friend had become a formidable damphyr. If either of them had failed, they would have become full vampires like the draugar that inflicted their damage on his lineage centuries ago. Both would have found themselves cursed to an existence without the purification of sunlight.

I would rather die.

Torin never did embrace what they were. From the time he was a child, he wanted to escape his fate, until he found Lexie. Like their ancestors before him, he dreamed of the petite brunette first.

Braden was happy for his cousin. Lexie was gentle and patient – two elements Torin needed in his life. He didn’t begrudge him his happiness; his cousin’s devotion to Lexie made him a stronger man. Nothing demonstrated that clearer when he battled his blood thirst in order to save Lexie’s life.

Braden’s shoulders slumped with regret. He had hoped he could stay long enough to see Cian and Teagan through their final phase of the change, but his time was borrowed and it was running out. They were both so close to evolving. He could see their increase in speed and agility daily.

Cian was going to make a fierce opponent to anyone that threatened him or the ones he loved. Just wrestling on the lawn last weekend, his dark haired cousin surprised him. Although a good twenty pounds leaner, Cian could almost hold his own, despite Braden’s advantage. He regretted being so hard on him over the last year. The last thing he wanted was for his cousin to live an eternity, only to remember Braden as being a jerk.

Teagan, on the other hand, was probably the one he should have been toughest on. The redhead was the baby of the family and had the luxury of using his natural charm to get his way. Braden shook his head in disbelief. Teagan built himself quite a reputation over the years. Chicks were helpless to resist him.

The youngest damphyr would need to take the change seriously. When the stationary vampire heart awakens, blood thirst is all you can feel. It requires determination and discipline to fight it off and gain control. Teagan had always been impulsive – Braden only hoped he wouldn’t be when it was his time to turn.

With his heightened senses he could smell an abundance of food being set up on the patio.