Page 154 of This Blood that Bonds Us

William sat in the corner of a dusty, damp cell, and I ran up to see him. The room was bone-chillingly cold.

He stood up at my words. “Why are you here?”

I hesitated. His eyes, though he’d always had darker irises, were pitch black.

“You’ve come for Her, haven’t you!? You can’t have Her!”

I recoiled from the hatred in his voice and fell back into Luke.

“I’m sorry. Can you let me out of here please? I need to get to Her, and they won’t let me.”

“Will . . .”

“Don’t call me that. You don’t know me.” He slammed his fist into the bars. “If you won’t help me, then you can die for all I care.”

No.She’d changed him too. Only, he was worse than Presley. This was the consequence of too much of Her blood. I had to fight the lump in my throat at the thought of The Legion and the horror they’d feel seeing him this way. If that’s what happened to Will, I was afraid to think about what had happened to Thane.

“I’m sorry you had to see him like this,” Luke said. He watched Will, who was now screaming and grabbing the bars to pry his way out. “I . . . I wasn’t paying enough attention. This is what happens when you come here. This is likely what will happen to you.”

He pointed to the cell beside William’s, and I followed.

Luke turned to leave, and I stopped him to wrap my arms around him in a hug. I remembered his hugs. Always reassuring me. Pushing us on and making me believe in something that wasn’t there. If I squeezed him hard enough, maybe he’d remember. Maybe he’d cling to himself a little longer. I braced myself for him to push me away, but after a few seconds, he let out a breath, then a few more. His hand moved to my shoulder, and he squeezed me back, soft at first, then hard and comforting.

“Why are you here?” He said it through clenched teeth, but it was a plea.

I stayed clinging to his large frame.

“I’m sorry we didn’t come sooner. Everything took so long.”

He held me by the shoulders. “I want to tell you that I can save you . . . but I can’t. I can’t save anybody.”

“You don’t have to save me. We came to save you.”

He shook his head with a furrowed brow. “It’s not going to work.”

“Did you think no one was coming to help you?”

“I didn’t want help . . . not from any of you. I wish you hadn’t come.” Amid the darkness and the grit, there was still something incredibly soft about Luke. He was in there. Clinging. Holding on. I couldn’t see every scar or infliction, but it was written on his face and lived in the dark circles under his eyes.

“I don’t know how to help you.” His voice wavered from only stoicism to something more. Care.

“You don’t need to. We’re going to save you this time.”

“I’ve got to go. We’ll come get you when this is over.”

As he left, I clung to the bars of my cell. Only partly thankful I had a moment to rest. Fear tore into me from every side; Aaron still had a job to do. His brothers needed more convincing, and our time was running out.

Sixty-Nine

Aaron

“Move your ass.” Zach was fresh on my heels. Presley, Zach, and I followed Ezra to move the queen from the atrium to the cathedral. The loud noise had ended, but there was another explosion somewhere that shook the building. Their plan to disorient everyone had worked, at least on me. I had to focus on the facts. Kimberly was safe for now. Great. Presley was also safe. Perfect. My most important jobs were tended to, so I reallyneeded to find the dagger and drive it through the queen’s heart. Problem was, I couldn’t do that while hiding.

After a series of hallways and one moved bookcase, we progressed down a stone passageway that smelled of mold and old rotting wood. The warm air of the castle wafted in, and the door shut us into another cold hallway.

“I thought the cathedral and the castle weren’t connected,” Zach asked.

“We lied,” Ezra said.