Bound in Blood by Jessica Marting

Author:Jessica Marting [Marting, Jessica]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Shadow Press

Chapter 9

Thank God the largest steamer trunk in Thorn House had wheels. Whoever thought to add that feature was a genius.

The wheels provided less reassurance than Elora expected as she pulled the trunk behind her. She was gripped with terror that something would go wrong. That the old hinges would snap apart, the wheels falling off, someone trying to steal it. As it was, when she bought her train ticket from Wand’s Hollow’s murdered postmaster’s son, all she could do was wait inside the station with the trunk at her feet, hands folded into each other to keep them from quivering.

The very last thing she wanted to do was look suspicious.

It was the warmest day Elora had experienced since spring took hold, and she hated it. Her clothing was too heavy in the stuffy station, but she didn’t dare go outside for some fresh air and leave her precious cargo behind. Nor did she want to drag the trunk outside to wait for the train, for fear something would go wrong and Ben would fall into the sunshine, only to burn to a crisp in front of her. That was all from her imagination. She wasn’t sure how sunlight worked on vampires, if its effects were gradual or immediate, and asking Ben about it felt rather crass.

We trust each other.

She couldn’t believe she gambled on her life and won last night. She was correct about Ben’s lying to Louis about her, about what happened to Denis. What would have happened if she had been able to sleep and hadn’t gone looking for Ben for some company? Even though he pushed her away after he bit her? The memory of his bite made her feel flushed all over, and she instinctively reached for her throat. The marks left by Ben’s fangs were hidden behind a scarf wound around her neck. It was too warm to wear it, but she didn’t want to draw any curious looks or questions.

It was half-past noon when the London-bound train arrived, and Elora had never been so glad to see Wand’s Hollow behind her when she boarded it. A porter helped her lift the trunk aboard the train, but she shooed off his attempts to haul it to her private compartment.

“It’s a short distance, considering,” the porter said when he opened the door to the compartment. “Quite the style to travel in when it’s just a couple of hours.”

Elora tried not to let her irritation and worry for Ben show. “Sometimes, it’s nice to treat oneself,” she said.

“Of course, madam,” the porter replied without missing a beat. “Shall I bring you anything for your journey?”

Ben had plied Elora with all the notes he had on his person, far more than she ever needed for the ticket. Would he be cross if she spent some of it on herself? He said he had no use for it anymore. “A bottle of sherry and whatever sandwiches are available right now. Two of them.” She would save the sherry for later.

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