Page 42 of Bound By Blood

Carly Harris

Carly slept the rest of the flight. Her sleep was dreamless but fitful. Every now and then, she’d been pulled from sleep for no reason at all, other than her body refusing to let her fully rest. When the flight attendant had woken her up by squeezing her arm, she felt like she hadn’t slept at all.

She had looked around the cabin of the plane, only to realize that Landon was already gone. The flight attendant had assured her that he was outside by the rental car with the bags. She hadn’t known how to feel about it, him leaving her behind like that.

She had thanked the flight attendant, handed her back the blanket, slid on her coat, and exited the plane to meet Landon by the car. He hadn’t looked at her, but he did have her door open. She had slid into the seat, and he had started the car, all without a single word exchanged.

The farther they traveled from the airport, the more her heart sank in the silence.

The ride to the cabin was stifling to Carly. It still was, but now she was concentrating on the scene passing outside the car. It was dark and cloudy, and snowflakes fluttered to the ground. They had headed out of the city a long time ago, and nothing but untamed pastures stretched out into the inky darkness.

Carly wanted to roll down the window and feel the sting of the flakes on her palm to distract herself from the ache in her chest, but she knew Landon wouldn’t allow it. The car was toasty, and the outdoors were not.

Another hour passed, maybe two. Carly refused to look at the clock on the dashboard even when they turned onto a rough road full of bumps and holes. Eventually, she got sick of the road condition and asked, “Are we there yet?”

He didn’t answer her, so she turned to look out the front windshield. She squinted in the dark, but nothing was there besides the snowflakes and the sad excuse of a road.

“Landon,” she said. “Are we getting close?”

His jaw flexed once. “It’s right up this road.”

She continued to look out the front until a cabin came into view farther ahead. Smoke billowed from the chimney of the small structure. He pulled up to it, easing the car until it came to a full stop. She studied the cabin. It was made of stone, and not as small as she had anticipated. A beaten pathway in the tall dead grass led up to the house from where they parked, and two windows on either side of the door were illuminated by the lights within.

Carly grabbed the door handle, ready to get out of the car, but Landon placed a hand on her knee. She frowned at the hand then at him. “Let me check the place out before you enter it.”

She rolled her eyes. “Are you expecting trouble?”

He slowly turned his head to look at her. His eyes were intense, even in the darkness of the car. “I always expect trouble.”

When he got out of the car, he headed into the house. He left the front door open, and Carly blew out a breath. Without him in the car, the tension dissipated. She pulled her knife out of her pocket and twisted it around in her hand, remembering the story that she had told him about it. She tried to take Lily’s advice, but she wasn’t sure that it had worked. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so simple. Perhaps what Lily said was true; It might be too late for her and Landon.

She flexed her jaw and swallowed thickly thinking about it.

Landon jogged out of the house, and Carly pocketed her knife once more. He headed to her side of the car and opened the car door for her. “All safe?” she asked as she climbed out into the brisk and chilly air. Snowflakes peppered her cheeks and melted immediately against her warm skin.

He curtly nodded and then shut her door. From the back seat, he grabbed their bags. She murmured her thank you to him, and they quickly walked to the cabin. Once inside, Carly shook the snow from her shoulders and glanced around. Just like the outside, the inside walls and floors were made of stone. A fireplace was positioned in a wall off to the right in a makeshift living room that was adorned by two faded gray chairs and some kind of animal skin rug.

In the middle of the room was a dining table, separating the small kitchen from the living room. The table was a skinny rectangle, worn and beaten by age. It seated four, though, on wooden chairs that had seen better days.

In the kitchen was an old fridge, a two-burner stove, and stone counters squatting on cabinets made of ancient wood. On the counter sat the only modern piece in the entire place: a microwave.

Landon shut the door behind them. “The fridge is fully stocked.” His voice was quiet, sounding like, if he spoke any louder in the quant space, he might break the furniture.

“How?” She glanced at the fridge in question.

He stepped farther into the cabin and turned full circle, getting a view for himself. “Called in a few favors.”

“Thank you,” she murmured. She hadn’t expected him to tend to her needs. She was touched that, even though he wanted their bond to be broken, he still cared enough that she’d be fed.

She took her duffel bag from him and looked at the hallway beyond the dining area. “Where are the bedrooms? Back there?”

Hefting his bag over his shoulder, he turned and strode down the hallway in question. There were three doors. From what she could tell, two were bedrooms, and one was a bathroom. The bathroom separated the two bedrooms from each other.

“Take whichever you want,” he said.

Carly didn’t look at him as she squeezed past him and entered the first bedroom. She felt around on the wall until she found the switch, bathing the small room in dim light. It held one bed that could lay two people, faded curtains draped over the window, and a nightstand with a lamp.

She crossed the room and dropped her bag on the bed’s quilt. The bed jiggled and squeaked a little at the weight of it, telling to how old it was. She hadn’t expected the cabin to be warm before they got here, but she was grateful to whoever lit the fire. Her room was toasty enough that she took off her coat and laid it gently next to her bag.