Page 5 of This Blood That Breaks Us (This Blood That Binds Us, #3)

Three

Luke

A gray stone castle stood in the distance, highlighted by the night sky.

“Welcome home,” Ezra said next to me. “You both must carry good luck. It’s the first and likely the only snow of the season.”

Tiny snowflakes fell on my face in rapid succession. The trees around us were evergreen, and the white powder fell to the wood and grass around the dock. It was cold enough to stick. Tall, thin trees lined the shores, and an old stone building stood next to the water’s edge.

“Lucky us,” Zach grumbled.

I smiled at my last memory of Zach in the snow. He’d bit it in our high school parking lot.

I’d hoped to see the snow in Blackheart and daydreamed of what it would look like in the redwood trees.

Our boat docked, and we stepped onto creaking wood. The boats at the harbor looked new. A gray stone castle loomed a hill’s length away, and my heart fluttered with the anticipation of seeing Her. Was it nervousness? Worry? Fear?

Zach and I waited while we watched some members pull William and Thane from the hull. William’s smirk was stained with blood.

Ezra grabbed his collar to look him in the face. “Ready for your judgment?”

Will spit black blood in his face, and Zach and I had to try to hide our amusement. Ezra wiped it with a handkerchief from his pocket and motioned toward the castle.

“So, what’s the plan?” Zach whispered next to me.

I had one he wouldn’t like.

There were two roads in my mind. Each was a diverging path of how this was about to go. The dark road filled with peril was one in which we reached Her and She killed Will and Thane right away. It seemed the most obvious, but what would killing them satisfy? Revenge? Akira mentioned revenge as something only The Legion cared about. He wasn’t a trusted source, but from what I remembered about Akira, he told the truth more often than not.

Their history made me think there was more than revenge here.

In a perfect world, the other road would be a place where they would keep them alive with a simple please, but the opposite path wasn’t a sunny, happy one. It was more like a well-kept wooded trail. It would cost something, and I was okay with that because I was open to giving. The one thing I wouldn’t give up was my brother, but they wouldn’t ask to harm him. So, what did we have to lose?

We could navigate it if we played our cards right.

“We keep them alive at all costs.”

“Ah, the Calem special. I like it.”

Being in charge meant I needed to be thinking five steps ahead and have a plan. Even if that plan wasn’t that great. Heavy hangs the crown, I guess.

I had a good feeling about it, and my gut never steered me wrong.

We followed along a cobblestone trail that was intricately placed over mowed grass. As we neared the castle, it broke out into a checkered pattern. The world in my peripheral vision was a wash of gray or green. A set of large hedges sat near the front of the property, and next to them was a pond the size of a hockey rink, fit with a fountain barely trickling. I was sure there was more, but it was all I could see at night. The snow flurries grew larger and larger, covering my coat.

Sirius stood at the end of the path grinning with his hands held politely in front of him. His thick brown hair was pushed away from his face, and his suit was perfectly pressed. On his hand, silver rings with emeralds and one with a small ruby laid across his warm beige skin.

“Well, well. My brothers have come home at last,” he said with a smooth voice.

I hardly thought of him as a brother. Mentor was closer but not quite the nail on the head. Of the three, we’d interacted the least with Sirius. He was always with Her while Ezra and Akira handled most of the day to day.

“I wish I could say it was nice to see you.” Zach smiled.

“I wouldn’t expect such flattery from you, Zach Calem.” Sirius smiled back.

He looked at me, and I wondered what he saw. The boy he once knew or a man who was a shell.

“I’ve been instructed to take you to Her immediately upon your arrival. Then we can make with the pleasantries.”

“We’re ready.” Fire ignited in my veins as I said it. The moment was finally here, and I wouldn’t cower or run away. Fate, here I come.

The cathedral was on the other side of the castle. Its flying buttresses towered into the night sky but didn’t quite make it to the height of the castle. Sirius explained they weren’t connected as he walked us toward the back until we stood in front of a large set of double doors. The stone of the cathedral was gray, but the door was a warm mahogany. Sitting above it, a stained-glass window was illuminated by the light inside. I couldn’t decipher it, but it reminded me of my art history class and looked like a nymph bathing in a pond.

The doors to the cathedral opened. At the back, a tall stained-glass window overlooked the building with high ceilings decorated in the most intricate painted art.

She stood at the foot of a set of stairs near a chair fit for a queen. Her hair was a white blanket at Her shoulders, and She had a sheer ivory fabric draped across Her thin frame. I swore Her eyes darted to me first.

A wave of emotion anchored my feet to the floor until I was kneeling. My body shook from the weight of it. I wanted to run to Her. To feel Her. To apologize. To hide in Her shadow.

Zach placed a hand on my shoulder and bowed next to me. He met my eyeline. Only, he had desperation in his eyes, like he was hoping to see something in me. Something strong and sure. It was enough for me to straighten my shoulders and face Her head-on.

The emotion surging inside me was a feeling, and feelings weren’t truth. It would pass.

The lace hem of Her dress trailed after Her with a long fabric train, and the ivory fabric fell from Her arms. Her slender fingers brushed a hair out of Her eyes. And Her lips . . .

Why had I been so afraid? Why had I wanted to be anywhere else but here?

Her irises, cloudy and gray, stayed steadily on me, and I waited for beautiful words to come from Her glorious lips.

“Welcome home.”

Could words sever a soul from a body? They cut deep in my marrow and sinews. I tried to fight the pull, but Her words were ink to page.

“How was your journey?” She stopped looking at me to turn to Ezra, and the absence of Her attention left me empty.

“Eventful. Akira did well. He served his purpose with honor.”

“And honored he shall be.”

She stepped toward me, and I froze. How long had I waited for this moment? All that pacing around in my room in agony for this small sliver of time in the universe. I’d thought it had been fear. Disgust. But those words didn’t exist in this place.

Her cool fingers caressed my cheek, and my chest seized.

“That’s enough,” Zach snapped.

“You dare speak out of turn?” Sirius said.

I couldn’t stop looking at Her and feeling the ecstasy of Her skin on mine. I never wanted it to end.

“It’s all right, Sirius. Let them get their bearings. You may all speak as freely as you wish.”

Her thumb moved along the stubble on my jaw. I wasn’t moving. I was Hers. Entirely. Completely.

“I missed you,” She said in a whisper. “You look well.”

My whole body was hot. My only thought was that I wanted Her to never stop touching me.

“I-I missed you too.” I didn’t know if I meant it.

“I mean it. Stop.” Zach moved closer, but Ezra grabbed his shoulder. “Touch me again, and I’ll take your fucking arm off.”

His aggravation broke me from the trance, and I pulled away.

“It’s fine, Ezra. He won’t hurt me. He worries for his brother.”

When She moved away, all the air got sucked out of the room, but I was grounded again. She reached toward my brother, and he flinched with gritted teeth.

“Don’t.”

“You didn’t miss me?” Her lips curled into a curious smile.

“No. And I’d appreciate it if you kept your hands off me and my brother. We’re here like you wanted. It’s not a fucking petting zoo.”

Sirius growled. “Careful how you speak to Her.”

She retreated to the chair carved out of gray and white marble. The cathedral appeared bigger on the inside with pillars that arched up to the ceiling. All the windows were colored glass, and there were dark wood pews near the back.

“I suspect you’re both exhausted from the journey and the changes. You’ll want to settle in and get your feet set. No need to worry about being separated. You may go wherever you like and stay with each other whenever you please. I want to make this a pleasant experience for all involved.”

“That’s comical.” Zach scoffed.

“I wish to start anew. We’re to build our family. I’ve waited years for this moment. What can I offer that will earn me your trust?”

“A fucking time machine maybe.”

“Our brothers . . . What happens to them?” I asked.

In the forest, they’d tried to grab us all, which meant they had a plan for them. My little brothers believed Akira’s words about the prophecy, but I hadn’t accepted it. I wouldn’t.

“I see you wish to keep them hidden. I’m not concerned with bringing them here if it makes you unhappy,” She said.

“That’s not good enough. We need answers,” Zach said. “We know about the prophecy.”

“When the dark sun descends, a new era begins. The celestial dance may spell doom for your throne. Twins of Gemini will usher in the new Guard. To four, every knee shall bend. In shadow’s haze, power ascends. Those who dream of your demise shall kneel in gloom’s embrace. And chaos descends in all fates.”

She recited the words like a well-rehearsed play.

“I wasn’t expecting to dream of you two, but not soon after we lost Eros—a treasured member of The Guard, I closed my eyes and felt you. So many years away, calling to me. The Divine spoke and gave me word of your arrival. I was told you’d arrive under the light of a full moon. You were sent to me to complete the bond that was broken. So we can be a family again. And when I met your brothers, I felt that bond running through their blood. You are mine. And they are yours. They belong to all of us. However, if it is your wish to let them be separate from us, I will respect it.”

“All of this so we can be together?”

“Bonds are the most important thing in this world. Only people with real power have them. To navigate this world, we must forge together the broken souls into something greater. A family where we can all be together for eternity. We do not grow old. We do not die.”

Sirius and Ezra walked to stand beside Her. I wondered about that bond. The other two Guard members were absent.

“What’s the point in forming a Guard and creating a family here?”

“Why does anyone form a family? For connection. For protection. For love. The Divine flows through me, and with that connection, I bring in those who were lost. And they need leaders, people like you.”

Zach pinched the bridge of his nose but didn’t protest. I didn’t either. What could I say to that? How could I argue with fate? And as long as my little brothers were kept out of it, I might be able to accept it.

“Now, as for The Legion—”

“I’ll take accountability for them.” I interrupted.

The room stirred, and the candles next to Her marble chair flickered.

“You can’t kill them.”

“You want me to spare them?” Her eyes were soft, but Her perfect lips turned to a frown.

“Yes.”

“Their fate was already decided by The Guard. We bleed them out on the lawn at dawn. For Eros.” Sirius scowled at me.

I couldn’t blame him. If the Legion killed his brother, I could understand that pain. I didn’t believe in revenge, but for my brothers, I might.

“Sirius is right. The Legion knows too much already. Holding on to them will do nothing but cause more trouble for us all. Someone must pay for Eros’s death.”

“I’ll do whatever you want. Name your price,” I said.

“Luke,” Zach said.

There was a stirring next to me, and Will wiggled to try to get his mouth free. His dark eyes met mine, but his words were muffled. I’d almost forgotten they were in the room because I’d been so focused on Her. Thane was kneeling on the floor, staring at the queen with veneration.

“You must care about them a great deal.”

When it came to myself, I wasn’t sure what I wanted, but I knew for certain what I wanted for others and what I’d do to make sure it happened.

“I do. I can’t sit by and watch you kill them. I don’t want to try to fight, but I will.”

“We can’t allow them to live. It’s not right,” Sirius said.

I stepped forward, and Zach followed with his shoulders pulled back and his chest out. We couldn’t take them, but it didn’t matter. Sirius dropped down to the bottom step and unbuttoned his cuff.

“Let’s keep a level head.” Ezra stopped Sirius with a hand on the shoulder. “This isn’t how we want to start things.”

“Is that all it takes for your compliance? Sparing these two. That’s all you want?”

Want. When did it ever matter what I wanted?

“Yes. Well . . . one other thing.”

She tilted Her head to the side and waited for me to speak again while pulling Her hands through the ends of Her hair.

“Fix Thane. Cleanse his blood and make him normal again.”

“He’s more at peace now than his friend. He’s rightfully whole and fulfilled. But if it’s to make you happy, it is done. What will you offer in exchange for my generosity?”

Ezra pulled at Sirius whose body was shaking.

What could I offer that wouldn’t feel like an insult?

“I offer my unfailing loyalty as I have offered to my brothers. I promise to do my best here. To try to live here and train to be in The Guard to protect you. I won’t fight.”

“And I trust your brother feels the same?”

I turned to Zach with a sheepish grin. He was used to me doing this by now, and this was what he’d asked for on the plane. He wanted me to try, and this was me trying.

“Yes, Your Greatness. I agree to be at your beck and call.”

Ezra shook his head at the sarcasm oozing from Zach’s voice, and Will mumbled again.

“It’s a start. I’ll require you to see me every morning at dawn.”

Butterflies filled my stomach at the attention I’d receive from Her.

“You’re welcome to come.” She beamed at Zach, and his teeth grit together. “This one will be yours to watch.”

She moved the hair from Will’s forehead, and he flinched.

“And the other will be for you to watch, My Love. They must always be under observation, and they will serve you and The Family for two hundred years at minimum. After that time, we can reevaluate that sentence. What do you think, Love?”

She looked at me again, and I felt the pull, the need to sit at Her feet and collapse in Her arms. To beg Her to make this yearning end. I should have focused on what She was saying and the importance of it, but I was caught in Her affection for me and the softness in Her features as She spoke.

“Love?” I cleared my throat.

“Yes, Love. Will that make you happy?”

Happy wasn’t the right word, but I felt at peace with it. I turned to Will, and he nodded. It wasn’t freedom, but it was better than death. Two hundred years was a long time to figure out an escape plan.

“For now.”