Page 172 of This Blood that Bonds Us

Without Her, I was whole again.

Finally free.

Seventy-Six

Zach

Something inside me broke.

I dodged Dom’s advance and stumbled back, clutching my chest. He hadn’t landed a hit, but something burst. I’d wondered for a split second if my heart had exploded.

“What is it?” Dom stopped, his breath heaving. He was looking at something behind me, but I stayed bent over. Not understanding. It was the opposite of being out of breath. Instead, I felt like I was filled with it. Like I’d gained some time of strength. Like my body was mine again.

“What did you do to me?”

“It wasn’t me.”

I couldn’t stop staring at my hand and moving it around in the candlelight. I almost forgot where I was. All that pain. All that weight sitting in my chest was gone. For years, I’d been bonded to Her, and now—

I looked to the altar where the queen stood overlooking the battle and retreating toward the pulpit. The need to protect Her had vanished. All my feelings for Her had disappeared in an instant. She caught my eyeline, and for the first time, I saw Her panic.

I was finally free of that bitch.

I waited for Her voice in my head, but there was only sweet silence.

She was so fucking dead.

“I . . . don’t want to fight you anymore,” I said.

“Good. Because we need to help Kilian.”

“Help Kilian, and then you’ll help me kill that bitch?”

Dom smirked. “Yeah.”

Seventy-Seven

Presley

Holy shit.

That was the first thought that entered my head when I realized where I was. I was in the cathedral, along with knowledge of the building I didn’t remember learning. Weird.

Aaron.

I’d seen the whole thing below. The moment he shoved the dagger into his chest, my world came back into view. My brother just had to be the hero. It took Zach a few minutes to realize it when Luke joined him in the fray. But when he did, all the light left his eyes.

I had felt nothing. The shock of it kept me numb enough to move with no tears or theatrics. I could still help him. I knew where the blood was. Rushing through the secret passageway, I went for the halls to search for our stash.

“Thane?”

“Presley.” His eyes widened when he saw me, and he used his body to guard the remaining stash of blood that was almost depleted. Around him were wounded men I hardly remembered.

“Oh. I’m me again. I’m normal.”

“Is She dead? I still feel the same.”

“No, it’s a long story, but I need that blood for Aaron.”