“That was remarkably sociable of Baxter,” Katie comments when Aiden and the Estate Manager are safely out of earshot. I think it may be just the opposite, and my earlier idle musing about Baxter may turn out to be completely on point. I’m getting concern from Aiden, but nothing that suggests he is in imminent danger. I have to trust that he knows what he’s doing.I also need to work out how much I can tell my parents without breaking my promise to Aiden. I wrap my hands around my empty mug, to give them something to do. “We can wait for Tim, but I think you might already have guessed what I’m going to suggest those dogs really were,” I begin.“Werewolves,” Tony says flatly, and he’s not convinced yet, I can tell from his expression and his tone.“I’ve seen enough to know they exist.” I fiddle with my mug, twisting it first one way then the other between my palms. “And I’ve

Everyone at Blackmarsh is expected to work, almost from the moment they can toddle, and the tasks frequently involve horses in some way. I am glad of the physical activity now. It helps to keep me from fretting over Aiden. There is plenty to do, and I am hot, sweaty and stinking of horses by the time I trail back up the drive behind Timothy. The two mares he is leading are behaving perfectly for him. My two are prancing around at the end of their lead ropes like a couple of lunatics. The hooves echo off the arches of the gate tower as we pass through into the yard, sending my two mares into even more bodily contortions and flurries of exaggerated snorting. Timothy ignores the circus show the three of us are putting on behind him and leads the way across the yard to the boxes at the far end. The door to the tack room opens just as he is about to pass it, Tony making his slow way out, leaning heavily on his stick. Aiden steps out behind Tony, having been waiting patien

Aiden and I have not explained our Bond to my parents, and so I am trying not to make it obvious that my mind is very much elsewhere. It should not be so very surprising if I am distracted. My brother and my boyfriend are headed into probable danger, while I am instead riding back to safety. It is more than that, however. I am holding on to Aiden’s presence with everything that I can, following his path within my mind, reaching out to pick up any sign that he is scared, or hurt, or… worse.This is the first time I have consciously tried to use the connection that Aiden and I now share. I have been aware of it since we first made that link, I have known what it was telling me, but now I am focussing on it. It is the difference between the musical soundtrack of a film I am watching, and being in the front row at a music concert. He is getting steadily further away, but it is hard to judge distance, and I, of course, am also moving. Only once the rest of us have rea

“I just about blew my top when he started on about how much money the horses were worth.” Tim illustrates the extent of his reaction with an expansive gesture of his hands, and Katie has to duck. Tony's face is dark with anger, but he's holding his tongue while Timothy tells his story. The kids have all been put to bed, although it wouldn’t surprise me if they’ve crept back downstairs and have their ears pressed to the kitchen door. Given Aiden’s hearing, he’d probably know if they had. “And then when their head guy starts puffing himself up about not paying, he-” Tim waves his mug in Aiden’s direction- “pulls a protection racket stunt. ‘Lovely territory you’ve got here, shame if something happened to it.’ So the head guy says that something already has happened to it, only I can explain that it hasn’t yet, and then the head guy throws out the name of the guy that’s behind the attack. Vampire, like we thought.” “Cavendish?” I ask. Ti

The time at Blackmarsh has flown past. We have only three days here, and this is our second night. It is still night now. The light that edges my curtains is moonlight and not the sun. Checking the time on my phone, I wonder what it is that woke me so early. It will not be dawn for some time yet.I persuade myself out of the cosy nest of my bedclothes into the cool air of my room. Blackmarsh House is seldom warm, even with the modern central heating system. I brush the curtains aside just enough to reach the window, letting them fall back behind my shoulders, and press my hands to the chill glass as I look out over the moonlit grounds.The rooms that Aiden and I have been given are tucked up within the roof space. The ceilings slope sharply beneath the tiles, and the doorways were made for the inhabitants of four hundred years ago, which means that anyone above six feet or so needs to duck. Being in one of the highest rooms in the house means there is an excellent view