Unbound Read Free

helped the girl into the ER and left.”
    Now Adele paused, measuring Griffin, she continued while handing him a stack of papers.  “I acquired documentation from a source at the human hospital.  Apparently, the girl was hemorrhaging.  The delivery had taken the ultimate toll on her body. She succumbed to the injuries she received during birth and died in the ER.”
    Adele handed Griffin a death cer tificate for Tessa Lynn Taylor. Tears began to stream down his angry face and he did not attempt to wipe them away.  Adele began again.  “The child lived two more days be fore she also lost her battle. The cause of death is listed as failure to thr ive.”  She then handed Griffin the birth and death certificates for Soleil Taylor. The documents both listed the father as unknown.
    “It’s really too bad we didn’t find the child sooner.  The idiots at the human hospital had no idea she needed blood to survive.  The girl’s parents died years ago and she had no other family besides an older stepsister.  By the time the authorities were able to locate the stepsister, the bodies had been cremated as per hospital policy in cases of unclaimed persons.  The sister collected the ashes and had them buried in her father’s family plot.”
    Lloyd stepped up coolly patting Griffin on the back and said, “Well, now that you know the truth you can stop all this foolishness.”
    Griffin’s body shook with sobs as his mother went to the window looking bored with it all and his father continued.  “We have done all we could to keep this mistake quiet so your name wouldn’t be damaged but people are starting to ask questions about your behavior.  It’s time for you to move on, son.  We have had a binding arranged for you since you were small.  Richard Ashburn wants to know if we are going to back out of our agreement.  His daughter Sarah has waited patiently for too long now.  Will you finally do your duty and stop shaming our family name?”
    Griffin got up on wobbly legs, still sobbing , and quietly left the room clutching the papers to his chest as if they were all he had in the world.  He didn’t make a sound as he retreated to the bedroom of his childhood and collapsed onto the too small bed.  His feet hung way over the footboard.  He wept all night, trying to understand how he could not know his family was dead.  Why did he still feel a connection to Tessa?  The only conclusion he could come to was the fact their bond had not been as strong as he had expected.  The emotional bond could not have been stronger but her humanity had impeded the blood bond.  When morning came he emerged red eyed and defeated.  He found his parents in the kitchen trading sections of the newspaper.
    “Mother, Father, I am ready to do my duties as your son and carry on the Vaughn family name with pride.  I will disappoint you no longer.  Please tell Mr. Ashburn I’ll be coming to ask for Sarah’s hand today.”  Then Griffin left them in the kitchen not waiting for an answer and set about the business of moving on with his shattered life.

ONE~
    This was the day Danielle had been dreading since she received her college acceptance letter last spring.  How was she supposed to leave him here?  How do you say goodbye to the person you have spent almost every day with for four years?  Lucas had been her boyfriend and one of her best friends since the first day of their freshman year at Perry Hall High.  Her mom had moved them into the area over the summer.  As if the first day of high school wasn’t scary enough she was starting in a new town.  The other kids would have friends from middle school to welcome them with familiar faces and long standing cliques to file themselves into but she would be a total outsider.  Dani could tell the freshmen from everyone else because they were all wandered around staring at maps of the school with anxious expressions similar to her own.  After finally locating her assigned locker,