Blood Ties (Book 3 of The Blood Bond Series)

1. NYU

"Okay, ladies and gentlemen, until next time. Please be safe. This is the city, so I hope you all brought your preferred form of protection for your commute home."

Quinn fondled the pepper spray in her thick winter coat and thanked the Lord God above for the new slip-free boots she'd gotten for Christmas. The old ones were still serviceable enough, but they'd lost some of the tread over the past three years. It had been time to get new ones. New York in the winter was icy and cold, and even the slush had a tendency to freeze up overnight.

It had been a late night rehearsing for the Spring weekend festival at NYU, and they'd been trying to get a dance routine down, which Quinn had a hand in choreographing. She'd taken years of ballet and tap, along with vocal coaching and acting lessons. She wanted to be cast as a lead on Broadway someday, and she was damned if she wasn't going to give it her all to get there.

Checking her cell phone before putting it away in her crossbody purse and slinging it over her neck, she zipped up her coat to her chin, adding on a faux fur-lined hood and ear muffs. She'd originally been raised in the South, though she didn't have much of an accent to speak of. Only when she got loud or very agitated did her Virginia drawl come out, and she had a tendency to remain calm in tense situations. Her mama hadn't raised a wuss, and the farm she'd lived on had kept her in shape, even if the constant dance lessons hadn't.

Living in New York after being raised in the country was as different as night and day. Even after three years going to school there, she still had a hard time getting to sleep the first month back at school. A few months in the peaceful quiet of the country could do that to you, and going from getting up when the cock crowed after a night of silence to sticking in earplugs so you didn't have the constant shouting or car horns keeping you up was something she had get used to. Since she was three and a half years into her university experience and wanted to stay in New York after she graduated to look for a job, she was just going to have to start finding a place that would sell her an MP3 or CD called "Sounds of The City" so she could fall asleep to it all summer long. After this upcoming break in June, she might not head back to the farm for some time, and she'd already had a few offers from other women her age about getting a place together so they could afford rent.

If she had to share a room with one of the other girls to try to make a name for herself on Broadway one day, it would be a small price to pay.

"Hey, Quinn! Wait up!"

Fuck, she thought. I'll bet Ella wants to share a cab or Uber with me home.

Ella Kasagian had an annoying name to go along with her irritating personality. She was constantly chipper and high-energy, but suffered from the assumption that everyone wanted to be around a person like that 24/7. Quinn was better off by herself, and she hated the fact that Ella had somehow become attached to her. Like a limpet.

"Hey, Ells. I was actually going to walk home tonight. It's only fifteen blocks, and I wanted to stop off at Marcus' place on the way," she lied easily. "I may stay over there, but I think Nina needs a lift." Nina also needed all the goodwill she could garner. Out of all the women that went to many of her classes with her, she was by far the poorest—but also the nicest. Nina had grown up with very little, winning a full scholarship to NYU after years of struggling. She was a year older and had taken a year off after high school so she could get a full-time job to pay for her books and room and board.

If I can't make it big in this town. I hope Nina will.

It was very possible that she would, too. She was one of the more talented dancers and singers, and there was always a need for choreographers and extras behind the scenes. For the Spring Festival, each class had to direct their own short play, musical, or revue. Theirs was going to be a remake of an old Stephen Sondheim musical, Into the Woods, but made contemporary. They had picked that since there were a lot of parts to play, and Quinn was happy to have the role of The Baker's Wife. It had been her favorite part when reading through the script the first time she got it. It had a few solos, some funny bits, and she generally felt for the character and her plight. It was something that she could understand and hold dear to her, not being able to have a child.