Page 58 of Blood Ties (City of Blood #1)

Bash

Trailing behind Elina, her hand wrapped around mine, I glance back to see Celeste’s heartbroken face sitting where we left her. Closing the door behind me, I tug on Elina’s arm to stop her progress.

Standing in the moonlight, staring at the sad face of the woman I love more than anything else in existence, I ask her, “Are you okay?” I ask the worst, deliberately, not as a platitude but as a genuine question. I need to know before we go any further.

The answer is important. The revelations that took place inside her grandmother’s house, her mother’s house, are earth shattering.

Knowing that her mother loved her father enough to bond with him was one thing, but having the entire foundation of her life shaken by the knowledge that they were madly in love enough to hold this kingdom together, and for her mother to turn for him, will have a profound impact.

Her face crumbles and her shoulders shake under the weight of my stare and questions. I want to know a lot more than how she is, like how will this affect us. But for now, her safety and comfort are paramount over myself.

“I- I don’t know, Sebastien. What I heard in there, and learned about myself and my parents?

” She tilts her head back and gazes at the moon.

“It changes everything, but also...nothing at the same time. I am a different person than I was a few weeks ago because of choices my parents made for me. My life would have been so different if I had had them in it.” Lowering her head, her gaze finds mine. She releases my hand. There it is.

“But I didnt. Because of your family.” Turning, she walks away.

Everything has come full-circle. A moment I have been dreading since I learned the truth. I worked so hard, I earned her love but there are some things I can’t take back. My family was responsible for the destruction of hers, and my love for her can’t change that.

The more I think of it, the more complicit, or even responsible I feel. I wanted her to give me her heart willingly, and she did. Now, I am terrified of losing her for something I did before I even knew she existed.

She needs to know the whole story about Guerra de Sang.

That I was in the house the night her father was extinguished.

I didn’t deliver the killing blow but I was there—I know far more about it than she will ever find out from any other source.

But how much could she want to know about that night?

I need to find out who killed her mother, too.

If for no reason other than to understand.

Taking off running, I make it back to the chapel and into my mother’s office in minutes. Leaving Elina, wherever she is, hurts but I can’t force myself on her, she needs some space.

And I need some answers.

“Mother?” I call out as I approach her door.

“Come in, Bash.” She smiles up at me from where she lounges on a chaise in the corner, near the window, reading by the light of the moon. “What brings you to visit so soon after your reunion?” Looking around me, she seems surprised to find I am alone.

“I have some questions for you. Do you have a few minutes?”

“Of course.” She sets her book aside, granting me her full attention.

“Guerra de Sang. Tonight, we found out that her mother was a vampire, and they were a family. A king, queen, and a little princess. The night we invaded, Ezekiel was killed. Do you know who snuffed him out?” I watch her, critically, to see what she thinks of this line of questioning. I get nothing.

“I’m actually surprised it took you so long to ask, but I understand, you’ve been distracted.” Leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees, she steeples her fingers, looking thoughtful. “I do know. Are you ready to know? You’ll have to tell her if she asks.”

“I know.” I hang my head.

“Sit, my Stellino. The night Ezekiel died and we sacked the city, Marcus remained behind, sending an army and his generals. They included Darius, Victor, Lucian, you, of course, and me. Only one of us was given the order to kill Ezekiel. Lucian takes his responsibility as executioner for Marcus very seriously.” She lets the hit land.

Of course it was Lucian. It’s always Lucian.

Marcus keeps Lucian at arms length from the family, my cousin, but from a further branch.

He makes him do all the dirty work, like he did with Talia.

I want to pity Lucian for his lot in life, but considering how insufferable he’s been the last twenty odd years, I just can’t find it in me.

Lucian is easily the most monstrous of us all, but I don’t know if Marcus turned him into this, or if he simply recognized the monster inside before the rest of us had a chance.

I am grateful that it wasn’t my mother, or even my close family—seeing Elina grapple with these feelings, while in the presence of the man who killed her father, would be too much for either of us to bear.

“Lucian. I should have guessed, really. And her mother? Nora was queen, and a vampire. There is no way she wasn’t recognized so who extinguished her? She was killed days after Ezekiel.”

She thinks, an introspective look on her face.

“I do not think it was us. After the raid, and Ezekiel’s death, everyone else in the compound was also extinguished.

We all assumed the queen was amongst the dead.

No one had escaped, only those loyal to us remained after a few days.

There were no reports.” She stands up suddenly and goes behind her desk, switching her computer on.

“Where did you say it happened? Vampires who were killed in the days and weeks following the raid had to be recorded so we knew the true toll.”

“It was, I think, three days later.” I watch her type away. “It happened right in the area of the Vampyre Boutique, somewhere between Bourbon and Chartres most likely. She worked there and was killed on her way home.” More typing. She studies the screen and looks up at me.

“I do not see anything. No reported vampire executions within a block or 2 of there. I don’t think we executed her for her part.”

“Then who–?” I sink back into the armchair I’ve occupied. Laying my head on the backrest, I rack my brain trying to figure this out. More of a mystery. “If we are sure it wasn’t any of us, then I don’t have any ideas.”

Fuck. More frustration to the point of exhaustion. I want to be able to answer the questions Elina has. If I don’t know who extinguished her mother, I can’t tell her, but knowing that it wasn’t a Malvani vampire makes it an easier pill to swallow I guess.

We may have to work on this mystery together if she lets me.

“Thank you, Mother.” I give her a kiss on both cheeks and go back out the way I came, determined to find Elina.

Heading out into the night, I try and think of where Elina might hide if she was trying to escape. A few places immediately come to mind; the riverbank, a rooftop, the Velvet Tomb, and the cemetery.

Deciding to begin at The City of the Dead, I take off in that direction. She may want to visit the mother in question for some solace.

Approaching her quietly from behind, I see her kneeling in front of a small brass plaque stamped to the tomb door;

Nora Girard

Devoted Mother

That's all it says. No other information; no indication of her role, how old she was, or anything else. It only highlights her most important contribution—Elina. Watching her shoulders shake in grief, she looks weighed down by tonight’s revelation.

“Maman, I finally know everything. Grand-mere finally told me. Tonight, I allow myself to be swallowed by the grief of knowing you were so happy. You had everything; a family, a man who worshipped you, a baby who adored you. And it was stolen away.”

I feel grief claw at my chest as she drowns in hers. What have we done?

“What do I do, mommy?” A sob tears from her chest as she pounds a single fist onto the ground.

“I love him more than life itself, so much that I was willing to give life up for him. Like you.” Her voice breaks.

“What if he’s the reason you’re in this tomb?

What if he killed Papa? How would I ever get over it?

I need him like I need air, like I need blood.

” Laying on the ground then, she curls into a tight ball and cries, huge wracking sobs, her body trembling with the force of her emotions.

I move backwards, away from her, giving her a moment to breathe.

To calm down. I don’t deserve her attention, not yet, but I will get her to understand.

I want to cry as well, at the consequences of these long forgotten decisions.

Decisions that set in motion a thousand small events and altered entire families, entire cities.

Finally, she stands and brushes off her knees. I move a little further away so she understands I was watchful but not intrusive. I want her to feel my presence before she sees me, I am here to support her, not smother her.

“Come out, Sebastien. I can smell you on the wind,” she says, her voice low but steady. Completely different than when she was kneeling in front of her mother.

“Hello, Tesoro. Can we talk?” I reach out to see if she will take my hand, gauging where we stand

She answers by grasping my fingers, allowing me to envelope her hand in mine. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I just came from Mother and I was hoping we could talk about what happened tonight. Maybe I can help fill in some blanks.”

Squeezing my hand, she simply answers, “Ok,” before sitting gently on the concrete pad a nearby tomb is resting on.