Changer's Blood (Balancer's Soul cycle) (86 page)

Jillian
let out a lilting laugh.
Sarah’s m
other patted
her
should
er and sat her golden eyes on her
. “My dear daughter, you’re
definitely
on the right track.” Her grin widened. “Every
successful
marriage needs a good whi
p
p
ing
now and again.” At her saying
whip
Sarah’s
face flushed.

Connor cleared his throat
,
gaining
her
mother’s attention and saving Sarah’s
embarrassment
. “Is Jack awake yet?”

Jillian
turned her golden
gaze
away. “Of course, he’s in the living room
reading the paper
.
” Connor turned in the hallway and walked past the kitchen which
lay
to his right and strutted into the living room.
Her m
other squeezed
her
shoulder
,
regaining
her
attention. With golden eyes focused on
Sarah she
felt her trying to enter
her mind. Before she
granted access,
Sarah
blocked the parts of
her
mind that had any references to
the
newest development.
“Is Connor feeling alright? He looks somewhat more powerful than usual.”

“He’s fine. As far as I can tell anyway.”
She
shrugged
her m
other’s hand off
her
shoulder.
“He looks like something is on his mind though.”
She
said to give
her mother something to take
suspicions off of
herself
.

It worked because
Jillian
smiled.
S
he wra
p
ped her arm around
Sarah’s and led her
down the hallway
and
into
the living room.

Connor and
her
father were sitting in opposite sofas. Connor sat in the one with the back facing the front door. They were having a casual conversation which
they
caught the tail end of.
Jack
said “The best way I’ve found to
grill
a wild rabbit was to stuff rosemary and apple slices in the ribs. You put the rotisserie stick over the flame with hickory as the firewood
..
.” Jack
took a sip of blac
k coffee as he saw the two of the fairer sex
entering. “Good morning
,
Sarah. You’re looking better than Connor described yesterday.”

Her
gaze immediately shifted over to Connor who didn’t
return the glance. She
noticed that his
expression
didn’t betray any emotion, but his
hidden
fist was clenched and his knuckles were white.
She
immediately entered his mind.
“Connor, calm down. Neither of us knew what was wrong until yesterday. It will be ok. I’ll handle it.”
Sarah
shifted
her
gaze back to
her f
ather as soon as Connor’s fist relaxed. “I’m feeling much better. I used up too much of my energy and it took some time for me to get back up to speed.”

She
patted
her m
other’s arm. When she let go, the two of
them
sat beside
their
immortal lovers.

After a few minutes of idle conversation
Jack
eventually
asked “What brings you two out here this morning?
I’m guessing this isn’t simply a social call, is it?
”

Connor intertwined her
left hand with his right. Connor smiled and initiated his plan. “Sarah told me that the three of you
always
go camping
for her birthday. That is six days away.” Connor spoke in a way that brought
her
parents full attention
t
o himself. “I like that tradition and I wanted to keep it going. There will only be
a single change, I’m joining. If
that
is
alright with the two of you?”

Jillian and
J
ack
tuned their heads to look at each other. They smiled and
Sarah’s
mother spoke for the two of them. “I was afraid that tradition would be forgotten
after the two of you bonded
. We would love to have you
go camping
with us. Do you know of any good spots for camping at this time of year?”

Connor wore a half smile. “In fact I do. There is a secluded place at the reserve that I have found and there isn’t
any
way for a
human
to
get there.”

Jack
grew a menacing and playful smile as he leaned forward
after hearing this new detail
. “Do tell.”

Connor had a tightlipped smile and shook his head. “Sorry, but you’ll see
for yourself
in six days
time
. I’ll go out and prepare everything beforehand so the three of you will have to
wait and
suffer.” Connor smiled again as he squeezed
her
hand.

Sarah
lifted an eyebrow. “So, you are going to keep it from me
too
. Why can’t I know?”

“Because it’s your birthday and I want to give you a
special
gift.” He turned his head enough to wink at
her
and not let
her
parents
notice
.
He was talking about another gift he’ll give
beside what is growing inside her
.

After another hour
,
the two of
them
left
her
parents and walked across the street to his mother’s house. The street was plowed two days ago and looked like it needed another pass.
Jenny’s home looked
about
the same except for the snow.

Connor knocked twice
on the front door
and kicked off some snow from the entryway just before Jenny opened the door. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a single golden braid. She had o
n a red scrub top and red pants,
it looked like she was getting ready for work. Around her should
ers
sat
a thick black blanket. Sarah
ha
s
rarely seen a middle aged woman with her level of sophistication and beauty. She smiled and said “Come on inside kids. It’s warmer.”

“Thanks, Jenny.” Sarah
said
,
walking in before Connor.
They
took
their
snow covered boots off and walked inside the toasty living room. The fireplace on the far wall radiated the perfect temperature
in the room
.

Connor walked over and gave Jenny a hug. “Good morning, Mom. What time do you have to leave for work
today
?”
Ha, I was right.
She does have to go to work.
Connor smiled at his lovely mother
, but he was actually smiling h
is wife’s
thought. Sarah
was so distracted
that she
didn’t notice h
is intrusion.

“I’ll have to leave in about an hour.” She smiled after checking her wristwatch. “Oh, and thanks for putting those snow chains on my tires. They really helped
me out last week
.” Jenny turned
. “So how are you feeling Sarah?
You look off.
” She cocked her head and str
olled
closer
. She put the back
of her hand over
Sarah’s
forehead. She said to herself “No temperature
, but your clammy
.” Jenny
then grabbed
her
left wrist with her right hand. As she placed her index and middle finger
on
the
wrist
,
she
then
twisted her left wrist to
look at he
r
watch. As she star
ed into her watch Sarah
noticed that
she’s
never knew this side of Jenny. This wasn’t
her
mot
her-in-law, but the head
nurse
at the hospital
. Her chocolate brown eyes looked
down
into
her green
as she let go
. “Your pulse is a little high
er than usual
, Sweetie.”

Sarah
hate
s
all endearments except from Connor, but
she
struggled to remain polite
in
her
tone
.
“Jenny, I’m fine. I’m just getting over a
little
cold.”

She smiled softly
, but then it became a scowl
. “I’m glad you’re feeling better.” Jenny turned to Connor and requested “Why didn’t you tell me she was sick?
I would have come over and checked on her.
”

Connor brushed back his sandy blonde hair with his fingers
as he sighed
.
He grew his hair back out, but instead of it being
wild and shaggy, it’s now brushed
back. “Because Sarah didn’t want anyone worried about her. I always respect her wishe
s
unless they are ludicrous.” He smiled at the two of
them
.

Jenny turn
ed her head enough to peer at Sarah
with one
critical
eye. “Is that true?”
She
nodded and
Jenny
sighed. Talking back to Connor she asked “To what do I owe this
unexpected
visit?”

“What? Don’t you like seeing your
only
son anymore?” He said playfully and had a complimentary smile. “I just wanted to stop by and tell
you that Sarah’s birthday is around the corner. We are going to go out of town to celebrate her twenty third birthday party
this weekend
.”

“Thanks for the heads up. What are you going to do?” Jenny said crossing her arms under her breasts.

“Were going camping.”

“Figures.” Jenny shook her head slowly.

Sarah
spoke up for him. “Jenny,” She turned to look at
her
. “it’s a tradition in my family to go camping on our birthdays. Father always encouraged me and my sister to stay somewhat close to nature.” She lifted her
delicate
eyebrow, but said nothing
to discourage this trip
.

She finally melted her eyebrow back down as she changed the subject. “I’m cold. How about
we go to the kitchen and
put
something warm in our bellies.”

Sarah
didn’t protest in the least.

Jenny told Connor and
Sarah
to sit at the dining table
;
that
he built
in the kitchen
some time ago
.
They
sat side by side a
nd
he
sat
next
her
left shoulder.
Jenny opened a can of chicken broth with vegetables and small chunks of chicken and poured the can into the boiling water. When it was ready
and steaming, she poured the contents of
the pot into three
soup
bowls. She handed them
each one and
they
ate in silence. When
Sarah
took
the
first bite though, it felt good to have something warm go down your throat.

As
she
picked up the bowl and
drank the last of
the chicken broth Jenny asked
“How’s school going so far?”