Page 109 of This Blood that Bonds Us

“Yes.”

“I need details. I need something. We were going to go on the day of the eclipse.”

“No! They’re expecting you.”

“But it’s a new moon . . . the day She’s the weakest.”

“It does not matter. With the eclipse, the power is stronger. If you go on the day of Ascension, you will lose. They will not let anything stop Ascension.”

“Wait, what is Ascension?”

“The day the Gemini twins are inducted into The Guard.”

Zach and Luke would be inducted into The Guard . . .

“But we have to stop that from happening.”

“No. Listen to me, if you try to stop it, you will lose. Wait for the lights.”

“Lights?”

“Yes, you must go to the island. But wait for the lights. That’s all I can tell you.”

“What about Zach and Luke? Tell me how they are. Tell me they’re okay.”

The sides of her mouth twitched. “This is the last moon before they start to deteriorate. It happens to all who sit upon The Guard. But I-I have been trying to keep them at peace when I can.”

I hardly knew what that meant, but there was worry building in her eyes at the mention of them.

“Deteriorate.” I wanted to ask the meaning of that word, as, even in this place, it struck me with fear.

“How long will it take for the lights? How will I know what you’re talking about?”

“I can’t tell you. But you will know. Please rememberyouhave to go. Fate will not change if you don’t. I want to this to be over, the same as you.”

“But—”

“No. You’ve been here too long.”

“I just got here.”

“Leave.” Without looking, she put her hands through the glass, grabbed my shoulders, and shoved me.

Forty-Eight

Aaron

“There’s something I need to tell you.” Kimberly sat on the edge of our bed.

I already knew what she would say. The entire drive home she’d been quieter than usual. She was torturing herself in her head. Thinking of ways, A to Z, on how to fix something that the power in the dagger had shown her.

It was something she was too afraid to tell Kilian, which meant it was another warning.

Chaos broke loose when she came to after the ritual. The whole room roared with talk after hearing the changing date for the battle and the unknowns that came with Cecily’s vague description. I’d called Presley on our way home to tell him the news that we weren’t leaving as soon as we’d hoped, and well, I was giving him the night to cool off before I talked to him again.

I didn’t agree with it either. I wanted to stop Ascension too, and I struggled to process the fact that Ascension was happening soon and Cecily mentioned that my brothers weren’t safe, but Presley and Kimberly were drowning, and I had to be there for them first. I’d work through it with Kilian all day and night if I had to.

“What did she say to you?”