Page 149 of This Blood that Bonds Us

“I’ll get it back eventually.”

“You’re so confident.”

“I’m alive, aren’t I?”

“For now. There are still so many variables at play.Can’t you read the stars?”

I lifted my head again to meet Her eyeline. She knew.

“You know about the rituals . . .”

“Presley might not have had all the plans, but he remembered you using the dagger to get to me. I guess you could say we’re linked now. No matter. I’ll be sure to sever that bond.” She grabbed the dagger. “I was hoping you’d bring me this.”

The Legion were coming, I reminded myself again, but it could be a week . . . weeks . . . longer. I would likely be tortured for as long as I was in Her presence. But maybe that was the right future, maybe that’s what would save them.

She handed the dagger to Sirius, and he walked in behind me.

A sharp pain cut through my shoulder. The warmth of my blood slipped down my back.

It’s okay. Do it for them.

“Shall we bleed her now?”

“Patience, Sirius. Let’s see the lovers’ reunion first. Shallow cuts only. I want to hear her sing like a songbird.”

Sixty-Seven

Aaron

Something was wrong. I could feel it in my gut. Everyone dispersed over the castle grounds. Zach barked orders at the other members. The serious kind—telling them to wait by the harbor and kill anyone they see. We went to the basement and told someone named Henderson he was to secure their blood bag supply and move it upstairs so it could be accessed easier. Everyone seemed to have a job. I caught whisperings of mybrothers’ names, but mostly, I heard mumblings of something calledThe Divine Path. When I asked Zach about it, he told me to not ask questions. Especially when I asked about the whereabouts of Will and Thane. It was too early to give up.

Presley sat with me on my bed all night long—poking me in the temple.

“Tell me a story.”

“No.”

“But I’m bored.”

“Okay, well, I can’t help it.”

I’d been given one job. Watch Presley. That was the only way Luke would leave his side, and Zach mine. It was a long night. Presley wouldn’t shut up about the queen.

Someone named Connell guarded our door. We’d been given a room in the castle with two beds on either side of a large window. Yet Presley insisted on sitting on mine with me. I didn’t mind. At least I could see him with my own eyes and know he was safe from harm, but he wasn’t my brother. She’d changed him like She’d changed them all, and every minute we sat together, the fear of the unknown grew. I’d stared at the stars all night trying to absorb the new information, while the northern lights danced across the sky in a bright brilliance display.

The news had said tonight was supposed to be even brighter. It felt like I was stuck in a nightmare.

“Hey, speak when I ask you a question.” Zach tugged on my collar and pulled me back to the present. One unpleasant side effect of that place was that my brother was leaning into his worst traits. In Blackheart, my older brother had softened, but no remnants of that progress remained.

“What?”

He dragged me away from Henderson to a garden.

“You’re sure your memory isn’t feeling a little more jogged today? Nothing you want to tell me about The Legion and their plan.”

“Nope.”

“She’ll get it from you. Sirius and Ezra are hoping you’ll feel more cooperative today, which means they’re going to go rummaging through your head.”