Page 4 of This Blood That Breaks Us (This Blood That Binds Us, #3)

Two

Luke

Sometimes, being optimistic didn’t work out. You could go your whole life being the one everyone looks up to and still turn out a colossal failure with little to nothing to show for it. Sometimes, hoping too much leads you down a dark path to the one place you never wanted to be . . . miles from home. Home.

Brooklyn never felt like home. I was happy to leave the house at eighteen. Home for me was where peace existed. Only once in my life had I felt at peace, then that place burned.

A full moon greeted us as dusk turned into night, and the smell of smoke stuck to my skin and hair. I thought of washing it in the sink at the horse track, but I wanted it to linger a while longer.

Stop. That’s not helping .

It was a curse. My inner voice never stopped trying to find the bright side. I’d spent the better half of my life pulling myself up and pushing on while packaging everything into a perfect life lesson so I could teach my brothers.

That only worked when you weren’t fated to be with a vampire queen.

I’d said it more times than I could count. “Think of what you want to be doing five years from now.”

I had hopes for my little brothers.

One: they’d be close so even if they didn’t have Zach and me, they’d have each other. Two: they’d know how to identify what they wanted and go after it and not be afraid to take chances to get it. Three: they’d use the lessons I taught them and cherish the memories we had and remember me for the person I was.

I’d been planning it all before I realized that’s what I was doing. Giving my life up to The Family and prepping my brothers for my departure. It started in high school. I distanced myself from them and gave up on things I’d wanted in junior high. I’d never have a normal job, and any thoughts I had about joining the military flew out the window. As a kid, I thought of myself as some hero, so going into the service was appealing. Zach would have followed me, though, and I would have loved the company, but I hated that he chose to do things he didn’t want to do because he was worried about me.

I wasn’t a hero.

My five-year plan never mattered, but I was happy I’d given my brothers one. Despite what Akira said about the prophecy, I didn’t believe my brothers were meant to be a part of this. But this place had haunted every corner of my life. Maybe fate was real.

That explained why I stopped being able to answer What do you want to do when you’re older? a long, long time ago.

The cold wind slinked its way under the cloth of my jacket as I stood at the edge of the boat. It was a large-windowed barge with covered seating and space to stand in the front. Ezra mentioned a ferry service going to and from the island for tourism. As the island grew closer, my heart drummed faster and faster. I wasn’t ready to see Her.

“How are you feeling?”

Ezra appeared beside me, the tips of his hair frozen from the freezing rain slowly turning to snow.

Terrible was what I wanted to say.

“Fine,” I said.

I should have been mad at him, but I wasn’t. Especially when he was the only one who might help us. Zach made it more than clear that he didn’t trust Ezra, and I didn’t either, but he had aided our escape once. He didn’t have to do that. Without Ezra, we’d have never made it out of Brooklyn and neither would’ve Mom.

“It’s going to be all right. You’ll be surprised how quickly things change.”

“Where are we going?”

“The castle. We have a couple safe houses around, but this was Her original home. She wanted to come back.”

At the mention of Her, my skin itched. A feral buzzing tore through every inch of me. My bones practically vibrated with the anticipation of seeing Her again. That brought on an eclipse of emotion I wasn’t ready to unpack. There was no use in being afraid. I would soon be near Her. It had been carved in stone many years ago. I was meant to be on this boat closing the distance between us.

I had people I needed to protect. Which meant I couldn’t drown in my own misfortunes yet. Not when they needed me.

I nodded. “I’ve never seen a castle before.”

Always a positive.

Staying on Ezra’s good side was the right move.

“There’s a first time for everything.” Ezra slapped me on the shoulder and retreated into the darkness of the ship.

That brought me back to the beginning.

Sarah and I had sat on the swings on the playground. The memory was hazy, but the smell of fresh rain brought me clarity.

We’d met in kindergarten, and in a matter of days, we were inseparable. Lunch and recess were my favorite because I got to spend all that time with her.

“ We should do all our firsts together ,” she said. Her green eyes sparkled in the sun while her dark hair blew off her shoulders.

“ First water park ,” I said.

I was obsessed with waterparks as a kid, probably because we never got to go to any.

“First dance.”

“Uh, first trip to the snow-cone stand.”

“First roller skating party.” Her eyes lit up.

We’d had that party for her birthday that year.

She had all the good ideas.

I had opened my mouth to say something else, and without warning, Sarah leaned in and kissed me square on the lips.

“First kiss.” She smiled, not even the littlest bit embarrassed.

I remembered the warmth in my cheeks, and my swinging came to a halt as butterflies fluttered in my stomach. I wanted all her firsts, even back then when I got embarrassed and wiped my lips in fear of “cooties.”

“Luke.” Zach shook me from the memory.

“Sorry.”

I didn’t like to mention Sarah. Mentioning her did nothing but make us both miserable. I looked out on the island as it grew closer, knowing my fate was awaiting me. We were almost to the queen, and I felt it in every cell of my body. The buzz from Her proximity sped up, making me impossibly restless. I tried to think of something else, but the nagging need was stronger than anything else I wanted.

That wasn’t true. I had to focus and be on guard if I wanted to keep Thane and Will alive. There wasn’t time for anything else.

“How are we doing this?” Zach asked.

We were stationed at the back of the barge, right by the roaring water and propeller where Ezra wouldn’t be able to hear me.

“I haven’t been able to talk to Will yet.”

“She’s going to want them dead,” Zach said.

“I know. But we won’t let that happen. We need to regain Ezra’s trust.”

“Fuck that.”

“Ezra is Her right hand. Having him be a buffer and helper is our best route. Try not to piss him off too much?”

“Fine.”

“We have to show him we can be trusted. Let’s ask him to talk to Will. If we sneak around and do it, he’s going to catch us.”

“And say what? Sorry asshole. Guess you got caught by the cult you’ve sworn to demolish. Now I’ll get to watch as they probably pluck your eyeballs from your body ?”

“I was thinking a simple ‘Hang in there. We’re in this together’ would be a start.”

“Right. So, what if we do get them out. What about us? Are we staying?”

“I don’t know. I think we need to focus on getting Thane and William out first. Making them disappear is a lot easier than us.”

Zach nodded.

“Follow my lead.” I tapped his shoulder, and we moved toward the front of the ship.

The other members bowed as we passed. I tried not to think about the foreign world I’d stepped into. One foot in front of the other, and one task at a time.

We found Ezra at the front of the ship texting.

“We want to see Will and Thane.”

“Why would I let you do that?”

“Because what will it hurt? Who knows what will happen when we get there. Maybe She’ll change Her mind,” I said.

“I’d rather you not get your hopes up.”

“Too late. Already up. Come on. I need to talk to Will. Please.”

Ezra always softened when I said please. He may be a master manipulator, but he’d been there for us growing up, and even if it was naive, I still felt that bond with him.

He stared at my brother. “Anything to say?”

Zach pretended to zip his mouth shut.

“Fine. You get five minutes.”

He walked us through a door that led to a small cargo hold under the ship.

“Say your goodbyes, all right?”

He left us and walked into a dimly lit room, and the swaying of the surging ocean caused me to grip the wall. It smelled of rust and fish.

“We’re there!” Thane exclaimed when we appeared.

“No, we’re not,” William groaned.

They were bound to the wall by chains. Shredded pieces of clothing littered the floor, and what was left on their bodies was soaked with black blood. Multiple bite marks on their arms and necks glistened in the dim, flickering lights of the ship.

“Come to take another hit at me?” William smiled through bloody teeth, and it disappeared when he saw us. “What are you two doing?”

“We came to tell you we’ve got your back and shit.” Zach sighed, with his hands in his pockets.

“We’re fucked, then.” Will smiled.

“Are we there? Or are we almost there? It can’t be much longer now.” Thane shook in his chains excitedly. “You two met Her. What’s She like?”

My heart sank. Whether it was Thane’s innocent expression or the fact he was attached to the hip with Presley and Aaron while in Blackheart, I didn’t know, but he reminded me of them. The fate we’d saved them from but not everyone.

“He’s been like that this whole time. I’m . . . I’m afraid they gave him too much blood to keep him from complaining. I’ve heard the stories and—”

“No. We can fix this,” I said.

“You don’t know that.”

“Come on, Will. I’m fine. You’ll see,” Thane whined.

“I do.” I crouched down in front of Will. “I promise. We’ll fix him.”

I had to keep going until they were all safe.