The Blood Between Us Read Online Free Page B

didn’t really agree. “If that’s what you think you need for the moment, I’ll make thenecessary arrangements. But I do hope this arrangement is a temporary one.”
    “Don’t count on it.”
    As Viktor stood and moved back out the door, I pulled the plug on the tub and watched the water swirl into a vortex and down the drain.
    That was four years ago. I haven’t forgotten a thing.

CHAPTER 2
ACTIVATED COMPLEX:
    A transitional structure that forms between the reactants of a chemical reaction and breaks down to form the products
    I stepped out of the locker room shower and toweled off before dressing in my street clothes and heading back to my dorm room. It was the Thursday before classes started, and I figured I was safe not wearing my uniform around campus, at least until Monday. Four years later, and some things hadn’t changed.
    Some of the guys from the lacrosse team were meeting down at Sheggy’s for burgers before catching the latest sequel in our favorite horror movie franchise, Psycho Slasher Chainsaw Guy from Hell: Redemption .
    Stacy smiled and said hi as I passed through the commonroom. She was nice. A little too nice sometimes, like we were good friends instead of casual acquaintances. But that’s just how girls were, I guess. I smiled back.
    It was amazing what four years away from my old life had done. True to his word, Viktor had arranged for me to enroll at a boarding school in southern California, just outside of San Diego. From my first week here, I’d felt lighter, happier, more at ease with myself. The move had been good for me. Hell, even my grades had improved.
    Kind of.
    For four years, I’d spent summers with friends, occasionally enjoyed a visit from Viktor and Julian. But never, not once, had I returned home or had to look Grace in the eye again. Viktor had kept that promise to me.
    As of two days ago, I’d returned to start my senior year, which meant that college, life, and the world lay before me. It was a good feeling—one of many I’d come to know here that I never could have experienced back east.
    My dorm room might not feel like home, exactly, but I didn’t have a home anymore. This campus was as good as anyplace else.
    The door to my room opened, and Connor poked his head in. “Dane. You’ve got mail.”
    Pushing my chair back from my desk, I raised an eyebrow at my roommate. Mail? Already? I had a feeling I knewwhat it was, but I was surprised it had arrived so early. I hadn’t even been in town a week, after a long, happy summer at Lake Tahoe with friends. “Anything good?”
    “Well, my mom didn’t send you any brownies, so I guess not.” Connor tossed the envelope at me ninja-star-style, clutching the small box of aforementioned brownies in his other hand.
    I caught the envelope effortlessly and smirked. “Yeah, but those pics she texted me last night sure made up for it.”
    “You’re a funny guy, Dane. Sleep with one eye open tonight.” We both laughed as Connor disappeared back out the door.
    I called after him, “Seriously, dude, you’re not gonna give me one?”
    My phone pinged with a text alert, and I set the letter on my desk. When I pulled my phone from my pocket, I thought it was strange that the sender was listed simply as Unknown. As I read the message, the beginnings of a headache tapped at the base of my skull, in perfect concert with every syllable of the words on the screen.
    Grace is stealing your father’s work. And you’re not even here to stop her.
    I considered not responding, or even just deleting the text. But curiosity got the better of me. I typed in a short reply with my thumbs and hit send. Who is this?
    A friend. A pause, followed by a second text. I’m at the Wills Institute.
    Heat crawled up the sides of my neck, hinting at touching my face. What’s your name?
    The response was immediate. Not important. But what is important is that your sister is finishing your father’s work and plans to take all the credit for it.
    I