Blood Ties (Book 3 of The Blood Bond Series)

15. Redeemed

After checking out UCLA's campus and visiting the registrar the next day, they came back to Adam's home and decided on a late lunch. They'd spent a good part of the morning at the college and were just arriving back in Beverly Hills about 1 PM. Adam had cooked breakfast for Quinn while he drank blood, and she hadn't even flinched when they both brushed their teeth in his en suite together afterwards. When he spat out his toothpaste, it was tinged pink, even though the Crest he used was obviously a pale mint color.

"Did you want to watch the second movie in the trilogy we watched the other night?" Adam asked after they'd placed the dirty dishes inside the dishwasher. Quinn had liked the first movie Cassie had ever written the script for and was curious about the second installment of the trilogy, Redemption. There was also a third movie and a 2-hour cable TV special, but he wanted her to see them all in order.

"Yeah, absolutely." She gazed around the empty living room looking puzzled. "Where did everyone go?"

Adam shrugged his shoulders. "Dad's probably with Mom downtown. He said they're going to stay at a condo they own to give us some privacy, but I think he wants to speak to the HOA in charge. No one's been there in ages, and it needs to be cleaned. The HOA has very strict policies about who can come in and out of the building because of who lives there, and they want to see if they can get them to hurry up the cleaning process so they can move in soonest. They hate crowding me here, and my mom prefers a solitary setting when she writes. Before she met Dad, she used to write alone in her bedroom in NorCal, or when only Dad was around after they met. She gets distracted easily, so when Charlie and I were babies, Dad used to play with us when she was working, since he no longer went into the office. He had his assistant, Jones, to keep in touch with all the time, and the guy was more than adequate for the job. If we were irritable enough, he'd take us to the playground or park and let us get all our pent-up energy out. Always passed out on the way home, to hear him tell it.

"Anyway, my mom prefers her 'happy place' when she's creating, and I guess that's in an office, on the couch, in bed, or wherever else it is, so long as she can concentrate. Dad could be near or far, for all that it matters. Their bond doesn't cause any distraction for her, so he could float on by or disappear entirely and she'd still be able to work. I guess it makes sense. The bond relaxes as much as it can arouse in intimate settings. It's the perfect leavener for nearly every situation. Stressed out? Unhappy? Anxious? Stick with your mate and they'll see you through. It's not difficult. Hell, you don't even have to try at all. All you gotta do it be. Recenter yourself with their proximity. It's better than any mood-altering drug out there."

The whole time he spoke, he was rooting through discs to find Redemption. He had copies of all his mother's movies, even some of the uncut versions that had scenes that didn't make it to the big screen. Adam eventually pulled out the correct disc, thought for a split-second, and then grabbed the third movie in the trilogy, Provocation, just in case she wanted to binge the rest of the series. It was still early, and he didn't expect his parents to be back for a while since they said they were going to visit Michael and Delia after they were done downtown at the condo.

"What about Charlie?" Quinn sat down on the couch and put her feet on the cushiony ottoman in front of her.

"At a friend's house, I think," Adam responded. "I texted her from the university, so I think she's probably going to be with her friend Damon. Surprisingly enough, he's a shifter. The two species don't always mix."

Quinn blinked before speaking. "Shifter?"

"Yup. Wolf shifter, to be exact." He popped the disc into the Blu-ray player and stepped back before picking up the remote. "There are different kinds of shifters, though wolves are the most common. Cougar, horse, pinniped, woodpecker. Granted most animals have a shifter variety to their name, you rarely hear of smaller rodents like moles and rats. I don't think I'd want to go from human to guinea pig unless I was trying to escape."