Free The Blood Between Us by Zac Brewer Page A

around.”
    “Sure thing. See you tomorrow.”
    Julian and I made our way down the stairs and out into the parking lot. We climbed into his car and started our journey back home.
    “Julian, when can we get Maggie registered? I need to get her insured and grab a parking pass.”
    “Maggie?” Much like Viktor, Julian didn’t look at me as he drove.
    “You know what I’m talking about. Maggie. I want to get her back on the road.” Granted, the view from the passenger side of a Lexus was very nice, but it was nothing compared to the freedom of being in the driver’s seat. Especially being in the driver’s seat of a muscle car.
    “Why would you want that old, beat-up relic?” He dareda glance at me as he turned right out of campus. “I’m sure Viktor and I could help you find a newer car that’s in better shape.”
    “There’s more to it than that, Julian.” It wasn’t a matter of want, really. That car was the last real connection I had to my father. “Dad always said that if anything ever happened to him, I got Maggie. Viktor gave her to me, and all she needs now are new tires, a tune-up, and a good handwash. Besides, you can’t say you really want to chauffeur me around all year, can you?”
    Julian pulled his car into the garage and put it in park. “That car rolled off the assembly line seven years before I was born. It might not survive the school year.”
    “Let me worry about that.” I grabbed Maggie’s key from the box in the hall and headed out the door. I could barely hear Julian as I rounded the end of the house.
    “Please be careful, Adrien. Don’t get tetanus or anything.” His voice continued to trail off as I made my way across the grounds toward the barn. Toward my Maggie. “Dinner is at six.”
    I pulled the hook from the latch and slid the barn door open. At one time, this barn had been used to house horses. But now it was storage for all sorts of items that Viktor didn’t want to throw away, but wanted never to see. Boxes were piled atop pallets along either side, next to several pieces offurniture and old lamps that were covered by tarps. At the far end sat a large item, covered with a cloth tarp. Maggie. It had to be.
    My feet moved soundlessly over the floor—slowly, even reverently, like I was in a place of worship. When I reached her, I placed my hand on the tarp that covered her and closed my eyes. A breath entered my lungs, deep and slow. With a longing that only a car guy could truly understand, I gripped a section of the tarp in my fist and pulled. The cloth moved over her back end, revealing that curvy black body I knew so well. Like a slinky dress unzipping and dropping to the floor, the tarp came free, revealing my sweet Maggie in all her glory.
    “Well, don’t you look pretty, you sweet thang, you.” My lips lifted in a smile at the sight of her. She was the woman of my dreams, and we were together at last.
    Despite the tarp, a thin layer of dust covered her, a few spots of it wiped away from where I’d removed the cloth. I wondered what she’d been up to in the past four years, my dirty girl, but the answer was obvious. Nothing. Nothing but waiting. Waiting for me.
    As I stepped around to her driver’s side door, I could see that Viktor had been right about her tires. But when I slid the key into the lock and opened up her door, I found nothing but perfection inside. Black leather, clean gauges. Shelooked ready to rock and roll. Pulling the hood lever, I got out and moved around to her front end. Her engine was just fine by the looks of it. She’d need a tune-up, of course. But she was in great shape, considering her long nap, and probably more than a little ready to get out of the barn. Girls like Maggie couldn’t be satisfied by quiet nights at home. She needed to go out and tear hell through the world, leaving nothing but a dust cloud and gaping mouths in her wake.
    Slipping off my hoodie, I dropped it on her roof and headed to the front of the barn. In the