Page 142 of This Blood that Bonds Us

The steeple of the cathedral grew nearer and nearer. I’d tried to get a feel for the castle, but there wasn’t any use because they’d dragged me down the hall and through a door that led outside. The men we passed bowed and averted their gaze at the sight of my brothers. The air smelled of ash and ocean water. I thought I’d spotted a huge pile of ash off in the distance, but I’d had no time to gawk at the landscape in my predicament.

The doors of the cathedral opened, and I stumbled inside. Underneath my feet was a cracked marble floor. Something about it seemed oddly familiar.

My brothers pushed me farther inside until I saw Her. The other two Guard members were at Her side, waiting for me.

“You’re late” was the first thing She said with Her eyes on me.

I’d dreaded that moment and secretly wondered if when I set eyes on Her I’d crumble into dust at Her feet, but the woman in front of me wasn’t ethereal and otherworldly beautiful. She was a woman whose skin was gaunt and dry from the cold. The closer they brought me, the more of Her flaws I could see: the crepe skin on Her hands and the lines by Her eyes. Like that place, She was a master illusion, a mirage, and now that Her blood didn’t affect me at all, I saw Her for what She was. A shell of a woman possessed by something draining the life out of Her barely living body.

“Hi.” It was the only word I could recall.

Luke forced my head down to bow.

She spoke. “Our family is finally complete. A momentous occasion.”

Neither of the other Guard members smiled. Ezra—I remembered with his piercing eyes—stared me up and down like I might bolt. The person next to him, I guessed, was Sirius.

“What do you mean I’m late?”

“We expected you on another moon.” She smiled, and Her arm beckoned me.

My stomach was in my throat. All I had to do was keep everything under wraps. Easy, in theory.

“I already told Her everything,” Presley said, with his voice echoing.

“Boy,” Sirius cautioned Presley, “what did we discuss about talking out of turn?”

Some deep grumbling came from Zach’s chest, and he put himself between the two. “Watch the way you talk to my brother.”

She smiled. “Families sometimes take time to understand each other.”

“You told Her?”

“He showed me everything. Your childhood. Your time in Blackheart . . . and your secret hideaway with your lover.”

I was suddenly thankful Kilian had the caution to keep our heads free of the plan. We didn’t know their exact arrival time or their plans to infiltrate, but one thing Kilian hadn’t taken . . .

I opened my mouth to speak, and She stopped me.

“Not to worry.” She moved Her fingers through my hair, and chills ran up my spine.

“Stop.”

Her face fell.

“Luke, please . . . you have to help me. Don’t make me do this,” I said.

“It’s not bad if you don’t fight!” Presley said.

Sirius grumbled.

I backed away from Her before I was stopped by Luke’s shoulder.

“Is there any way he can have a few days to adjust?” Luke asked.

“We need the information of Kilian’s plan,” Sirius said.

“But he won’t give it up easily,” Luke stated.