Read Online The Bonds of Blood by Travis Simmons - Free Book Online

but just as he was thinking that, the
creature turned its head in his direction, and Jovian had a strange
feeling that the owl was looking straight into him. His skin
crawled and a tingle ran up his spine, causing goose bumps to dance
over his skin.
    He broke his gaze from the owl to the
other creature beside Grace. Its back was to Jovian, much like the
owl’s had been, but the shape and color of the beast was what
shocked him most. Jovian had to look closer to make sure he was
seeing it right.
    “Dear Goddess,” Jovian said, leaning
heavily against the wine table. The other creature was large and
black like death. For a brief moment Jovian remembered the noxious
green glowing of the eyes of the creature Angelica insisted on
calling a Black Shuck. He shook his head a little and closed his
eyes tightly, but when he opened them again the large dog was still
there beside Grace.
    Jovian felt a pain in his leg, the same
one that had been broken, and he gasped, reaching down and grabbing
his calf. He turned quickly to rejoin Angelica, but when he tried
to put pressure on his leg, he started to fall. It felt like his
leg was broken all over again. Before he reached the ground, strong
hands grasped him by the shoulders, helping him to stand
again.
    “You must be Jovian Neferis,” a deep
voice said behind him, and Jovian turned to see the tall
dark-haired man that had been standing with Rosalee.
    “Yes … huh?” Jovian said extremely
confused. His leg didn’t hurt any longer, and when he looked back
to where Grace had been with the two creatures, he saw only Grace’s
squat form and the tall, slender figure of Rosalee approaching
her.
    Jovian turned back to the tall man, and
a strange look came over his face. “Who are you?” Jovian said, a
little more offensively than he had meant to.
    “I am Maeven Beggets,” he said, bowing
slightly. Jovian felt small compared to this man. Maeven’s frame
was only slightly larger than Jovian’s, but he was a good head
taller. When Maeven straightened, his dark brown eyes chilled
Jovian, drawing a shudder from him.
    “I am sorry; this whole night has been
strange,” Jovian explained, backing away from the man. “It is
nothing against you, but recent events and recent strangers have
really put me on edge.” Jovian stepped away from Maeven again, and
the taller man only nodded.
    “I understand; my aunt can be very hard
to get used to.” Maeven smiled apologetically, and Jovian offered a
tight grin in answer.
    “Yes, her desire to caress my sister
really started off the whole night on the wrong foot.”
    “She is a bit absentminded … eccentric,
if you will.”
    “Yes, I could tell.” Jovian’s gaze
followed that of the older boy, watching as the two ladies engaged
conversation, punctuated by Rosalee’s erratic gesturing.
    There was an awkward silence, and when
Maeven peered back at him, Jovian took it as a cue to cut the
conversation short.
    “I am going to head back and rejoin my
sisters if you don’t mind,” Jovian said, pointing over his shoulder
with his thumb.
    “By all means, and have a great
birthday.” As Jovian turned to head back to his sisters, Maeven
walked off in the direction of the two old ladies.

    The voice returned, waking Joya in the
middle of the night. For a moment she lay in bed staring up at the
ceiling, thinking that the voice must have been left over from a
drink-induced sleep.
    Sighing, Joya watched the violent wind,
which blew in during their party, toss shadowed limbs on the
ceiling in Chaotic fashion that completely entranced
her.
    As Joya reflected on the voice that had
plagued her nightly visions, she tried to remember what it had
said, but her memory of the voice failed her; she could only
remember what it sounded like.
    The tone of the voice was caring, yet
severe, as if scolding. It was gentle, yet wicked. Wicked was
really the only way that Joya could describe the sound of the
voice. While some people had musical voices or rough