Free Black Blood by Melissa Pearl Page B

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exhausted after each trip. He stopped on his way to the car to
study her as she exited the bathroom.
    She rubbed a
finger over her eye and ran her hand over her forehead. Her
ponytail shook back and forth as if she was trying to wake herself
up properly. Her body sagged as she stopped for a second to lean
against the tool bench and re-gather herself.
    Harrison felt a
flash of anger as he watched her try and cope with her return.
Surely her parents knew what a toll this was taking on her. How
could they keep putting their family through this? Wasn’t parenting
all about doing what was best for your children?
    Dropping the
key into his pocket he headed straight towards her and grabbed her
quivering bicep.
    “You need a
break.”
    She didn’t even
put up a fight as he dragged her to his Stingray, hollering over
his shoulder that they were taking an early lunch.
     
     
    Leaning back in
her seat with a sigh, Gemma closed her eyes and took in a slow
breath.
    “ Are
you- ”
    “Just give me a
minute.” She raised her hand to stop him.
    He kept driving
in silence towards their favorite spot at Anastasia National Park.
His eyes darted from the road to her resting body. He wanted to
start spouting off about her parent’s selfishness and about how
Gabe might be able to help her, but he kept his lips sealed,
knowing she was in no frame of mind to take it.
    By the time he
pulled into a parking space and cut the engine, Gemma’s cheeks had
found their color and she sat up with an easy smile. He wasn’t
appeased.
    “You know
you’re getting worse, right?”
    Her eyes
tightened in the corners and she looked away from him.
    “Each trip
you’re coming back more and more exhausted.”
    “I always
recover.”
    “ Yeah,
but for how long? I mean, what if you stop recovering?”
    “My parents
wouldn’t do that to me.” She turned back to face him.
    “They shouldn’t
be doing this to you at all! Do they even know the effect travel
has on your body?”
    “Of course they
do! We all feel tired afterwards!” Her brows creased.
    Are you sure
about that, Gem?
    He kept his
lips from asking, knowing it would just make her bite even more
vicious. Instead he glanced away from her, frustrated that they
were heading down the argument path again.
    The car
simmered with stony silence. He kept his eyes out the window, his
fingers drumming over the steering wheel and his mouth shut.
    Gemma finally
let out a soft sigh.
    “I was just in
France, 1943.” She held out an olive branch. Because of the
building friction between them, she hadn’t been as forth coming
with her trips. Her effort to restore their happy equilibrium was
obvious.
    “We helped a
Jewish family to the coastline. Apparently they had managed to hide
out for most of the war and got caught helping out a fallen
soldier. Dad thought such tenacity should be rewarded. We managed
to get them on a boat to England.”
    Harrison smiled
and made a mental note to look up that story later. It sounded like
a good one.
    “Where’d you go
a couple of weeks ago?”
    “Huh?”
    He glanced over
to see Gemma scrolling through her memory banks. He gave her a
small hand.
    “You’d been at
my place and when you got back you had to leave pretty quick
because you were close to curfew, but you gave me the most stunning
kiss… and then never told me why.”
    Gemma smiled.
“So I have to explain each of my kisses now?”
    “No,” he
chuckled. “I was just wondering.”
    “I remember.”
She settled back in her seat and reached for his hand. “I don’t
know where we were… or even when, but it was the most beautiful
night. The stars were out, the forest was silent and I just wanted
you there beside me.”
    “What were you
doing?”
    “Just
observing.” She shrugged.
    “Observing?”
    “Yeah,
sometimes Dad needs to see where something is or how something
plays out before deciding what to do. Occasionally we head back to
a place for a second time after he’s gone on an observation