Page 159 of This Blood that Bonds Us

“He’s bleeding out on the lawn. I noticed you were gone and had to go find you.”

“You have to snap out of this. You have to let them kill Her.”

“No,” Zach snarled. “She’s mine to protect.”

A blood-curdling scream zipped through the air. The scream of a woman.

In seconds, I was on the lawn in front of the cathedral.

Ezra had Halina on her knees, as well as a few other members of The Legion.

“I found them ambushing from the north.”

“Wait. Don’t.” I reached for them, but I was too far.

Ezra didn’t hesitate. He twisted the heads of them one by one. Their skin was already bloody and torn, and they had no fight left. Zach held onto my shoulder, not letting me move.

Halina’s screams sent shivers down my spine, then it stopped. Forever.

I felt . . . nothing. Stumbling back into my brother, I reached for him to steady me.

“No! That’s my sister.”

A bloody and weak Felix flew forward. I went to stop him. A flash of movement blurred in front of me, then Felix’s head rolled from his body and onto the lawn.

I was frozen. Staring at the horror.

There was pressure on my shoulders and the world spun around.

“Look at me,” Zach said. His palms were warm against my face. “It’s okay. It’s going to be all right.”

I’d seen death before, but not like this. Not the death of a friend and the end of his family. The end of all their dreaming. All they wanted was for this to end. That’s all we ever talked about. It was the only thing we talked about because it’s the only thing that mattered.

“This is almost over. Sirius and Ezra will finish off Kilian, and then we’ll all be safe.”

I nodded.

“Talk.”

“Okay . . .” I said, replaying the images of death. “What about Kimberly?”

“We’ll figure something out.”

He was right. Things were moving in The Family’s favor.We were losing.Kilian wasn’t a match for two members of The Guardandmy brothers. Kimberly was still locked away. If we lost, she wouldn’t be safe. They would torture her, then kill her. Everything would crumble. My brothers and I would stay tethered to Her. The fear of that froze me in place.

“Can I . . . have a minute?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

My feet moved on their own. The world slowly came back to me.The sun had set, and the moon was taking hold in the sky. I had two options. Go for the dagger or abandon ship and go find Kimberly and get her out. There was still time. It might be my only opening.

I made my way into the garden, still fighting the disorientation.

My feet hit something hard in the grass, and the dagger stared back at me.

I couldn’t give up on our dream. I had to end this once and for all.

I grabbed the dagger and made my way to the cathedral.