Page 118 of This Blood that Bonds Us

“Will it work?”

“What will she give us?”

Another man yelled with exuberance. It sounded like the equivalent of a feral animal. “Behold your queen.”

“Why?” was the only word Cecily said.

“Sister, did you think you were fit to rule? You don’t have the stomach.” He pulled out a silver dagger and sliced her palm before licking a drop and drenching the rest of the dagger in it. The blood oozed into the hilt. “But you’re not useless. You may bring us prosperity yet. Your husband agreed. You’re the perfect sacrifice.”

He motioned to another man with thick, broad shoulders and brown hair, but his features didn’t hold the same carnivorous desires building in Cecily’s brother’s eyes. Instead, he averted his gaze to the water behind her.

She opened her mouth to speak, but someone grabbed her from behind and stuffed a cloth between her lips. The chant started, and there was movement everywhere. The crowd surrounded her and pushed her toward the water.

With her hands tied behind her back, her brother’s hand forced her head underwater. The light from the fire illuminatedthe surface until the trailing air bubbles from her muffled screams stopped.

This was her death.

She’d been betrayed by her brother, and he’d used her fiancé to create a coup. Everyone she’d trusted had betrayed her. I waited for the memory to fade, but then she emerged wet and dripping. Stronger.

The men’s eyes widened in horror.

The one she called brother didn’t move. Her hand reached for him, and he dropped the dagger as she snapped his neck in one easy motion. I expected the others to flee, but they stared at her in awe.

A groaning alerted her to the grass, where a bloody Ezra had dragged himself to the edge of the pond.

“My queen.”

“My Love. I can make you well again,” she said as she bit her wrist, then brought it to his lips to drink.

The memory evaporated, but Cecily and I remained. Her green eyes snapped to me. “Why are you here?”

“I’m sorry . . .” What could I say? It was cruel. I’d never seen something so horrific in my lifetime.

“It tricked me. That’s why you must end this. The Thing will try to scare you, but you have to go to the island. I’m stuck here. Reliving this moment over and over. It’s my punishment from that Thing.”

“I promise. I’m going.”

“Use the dagger to draw Her out.”

Cecily opened her mouth to say more but stopped. Her eyes widened. “She knows you’re here.”

There on the banks of the river stood a convulsing woman. She hadn’t been there before. I had the instinct to run. I felt the danger. The menacing aura.

The head of the figure snapped around to face me. Before I could move, it slithered toward me in jagged movements. I wasn’t prepared for what stared back at me.

It was me . . .

“What do we have here?” A strange voice strangled out of the figure that looked like me. Same dark hair and face but with black eyes and gaunt hollow cheeks.

I turned to find Cecily, and she was gone. The figure followed the motion of my head, standing nose to nose with me.

“The lonely girl has come to play.” It wasn’t my voice but a distorted sort of noise.

“Whatareyou?” I asked.

“Compared to you, I’m a god.” The Thing in front of me was unnatural. Its expression could be described only as something out of a horror film. A grin twisted into a look so sinister it was unnatural. In the real world, I’d have been scared, but here, I could feel no emotion.

It eyed me up and down. Analyzing.