Page 141 of This Blood That Breaks Us

Someone is coming. They’re coming.

Was Thane right? Was someone coming to save us from hell?

It was just me and the bond. Party of one. I’d taken death over the pain of the bond any day. Existing hurt because there was no one left to share the pain. There was no point in getting up or trying.

I didn’t even notice when the sun came up and went again.

I was supposed to teach in the yard and start my official duties and pick my prized fighters and all that shit, but I didn’t go. There was a knock on my door, and I folded my arms over my chest. I wouldn’t open the door. I would sulk. The one thing I was good at. Sulking. Killing. Being a shit brother. Ezra never said how I’d spend my time, and I wanted to spend it staring at nothing. Those fucks could make me stay here, but they couldn’t make me use my legs to get off the bed. I chuckled at the thought of Ezra trying to drag me, but knowing that bastard, he’d probably try to threaten me with something. Too bad all my nightmares had already come true. Everything bad that could happen, had happened.

There was nothing left even if The Legion came.

Luke appeared, and I braced myself for the pain.

“Come on.” He towered over me.

“I don’t wanna.”

“We need you. Now get up.” I let my brother help me up.

“You still mad at me?”

“No.” The new Luke wasn’t a fun conversator.

He headed for the hallway, and I followed.

“I was gonna ditch today.”

That made him pull his shoulder back like he was going to challenge me. “Can’t you do something you’re told for once?”

“Fine, Mr. Terminator. Who shit in your cereal?”

“It will probably go better if you don’t talk.”

“Fine by me.”

Fuck.The pressure in my chest surged. I’d finally reached the part of hell that hurt, and I couldn’t bury it. Thane was right. It was a bad dream, and any minute now, someone would show up on our doorstep. The brigade would come on their white horses to stop this.

I put on a show. All the while, I watched Luke, powering through training. Slinging people like they were ragdolls. Fewgot hits in, but when they did, I felt the echo of it on my skin. Luke didn’t seem to notice when I got hit. Was the bond gone for him?

It worried me, but I paid attention to the sun as it went down over the horizon. Someone would come. Surely.

No one did. The light was almost out of the sky as we packed up and cleaned up the black blood staining the dirt and our clothes. I’d been brought a fresh-pressed suit to change into. They were particular about appearances. I couldn’t walk around in just anything. I put it on without fuss. My heart felt bruised, and my body was good and tired from being drained of blood.

If they weren’t coming, I had to try something else. I grabbed Luke’s shoulder and ushered him away toward the garden. Connell waved, and I shooed him off. If I could get my brother alone, he might snap out of it like Will had done for me.

“What do you want?” His voice was gruff and low.

“I need to show you something.”

“Just tell me.”

“No. I have to show you.”

Luke reluctantly followed me into the maze with his gaze fixed on the ground. The sun was gone, and the moon had risen in the sky like our North Star. I didn’t remember the layout of the maze, but the holes I’d made earlier in the week were still there. Luke flinched as I knocked the latch on the statue and the door appeared.

“What is this?”

“You’ll see.”