Made By Design (Blood Bound Series Book 2) Read Online Free

closed in in this office, with busy book shelves and light-shielding drapes, reminded me of being back at the Armaya and sitting opposite Caius. The thought of him, more than knowing what was to come, twisted my stomach. But I wouldn’t let him or anyone dictate my life, not now, not ever.
    “I know what you’re going to say and it’s not going to change a thing,” I said before she could talk. “I still want to be with Ty and I won’t stay away from him, for you, Caius, or anyone. I’ll be seventeen soon and I am old enough to start making my own decisions.”
    “That is Uncle Caius to you.” Mom crossed her arms over her chest, scowling.
    Huh, what a crock!
My fingernails dug into my thighs. “He’s not our freaking uncle.”
    Mom gasped, hand going to her throat.
    Of course the statement was true, but she didn’t know what fueled my hate-drenched words. She had no idea why I would respond this way, had no idea that Caius had tried to kill me to become immortal. Even before my attempted murder, he’d rendered me into a comatose state nightly through compulsion, so that his fangs could pierce my neck to test my blood. Instead of the pleasure a human feels when bitten, pain I couldn’t consciously respond to had followed, searing through me as he drank my blood. That same pain had flooded my body when Caius had drained me to the point of death, or so he thought.
    “How can you say that, Amelia? After everything he’s done for our family, we owe him our lives.”
    The belief in her face at her own words and clear trusting devotion to Caius shot daggers through my heart.
I don’t owe that creep anything!
I held my tongue and pinned my lips shut. The urge to storm out of my mom’s office was overwhelming, to scream the house down over everything that monster had done to me.
    Amelia, chill,
Kendrick voiced through our bond.
She doesn’t know, remember?
    I know,
I hissed internally.
    I wanted to tell her so bad. Only, doing so would put her life in danger. Caius had made that vividly clear.
    I took a few deep breaths, forcing myself to calm down. “Mom, I know. I didn’t mean anything by it, and I am sorry. But my feelings for Ty stand. I won’t stay away from him. I can’t. And besides, you’re the one who wanted us to live normal lives. Well, I’m sorry to say but this is as normal as it’s going to get. At least you don’t have to worry about me killing him. He’s stronger than me. And he knows what I am. And Mom,” I said, reaching out to take her hand across the desk, “he accepts me, regardless.”
    Mom shook her head, a blond lock falling from her tight bun before she drew her hand free to push it back. “You’ve always been so headstrong, Amelia. So much like your father…”
    The mention of the father I never knew spiked unusual sensations within me: sadness, regret, and most of all, anger. Caius had admitted to murdering my father in cold blood, solely so he could infect us like lab rats for his malicious plans.
    Mom shook away the reminiscent expression from her face and lifted her glassy eyes to me. “So, I guess there is nothing I can say to change your mind about Ty?”
    I shook my head.
    She stacked her hands on the desk. “Well, I still believe you will grow out of this, out of
him
. It is only a matter of time before his life begins to fade while yours surges on. I am sure I don’t need to tell you that you’ll out live him ten times over.”
    I dropped my gaze, frowning at the indents my fingernails had left in my thighs. “Yeah, I know, but I don’t care.”
    “The Council would not tolerate this,” Mom continued. “As long as you’re involved with him they must never know.”
    I already knew what The Council’s punishment was for forbidden love. Even if I wasn’t a Pure Blood, my association to Caius put not only me, but also Ty at risk. “I want nothing to do with The Council or vampire politics.” I was about to tell Mom she was right for trying to keep us human