Page 6 of This Blood That Breaks Us (This Blood That Binds Us, #3)

Four

Zach

It had to be a joke. God, or whatever, had it out for me. Keeping Luke from being himself in all situations would be tough. With his constant need to be good, it made protecting him way harder than it needed to be. I cared about Will and Thane, sure, but Luke always gave too much. It was a replay of Blackheart and every time he’d done it before that—too many to count. In his worst moments, he’d tell me he didn’t understand the person he was. He gave everyone so much there was nothing left for him. He felt like he had no personality. When the sun came up, he knew it was bullshit, but I hated how the topic kept surfacing. He kept saying it like he believed it.

I’d already forgiven him for his lack of care for himself by the time we reached the door to our room.

“This will be your room.”

After a series of arched entryways and long hallways with floral rugs, we arrived at yet another wooden door. It had cherubs and other decorative shit carved into it. I was more concerned with the vein about to pop out of Ezra’s head.

They cleansed Thane’s blood in the cathedral, then they brought him some blood bags. I guessed they had access to that sort of thing here. We were assured they wouldn’t be hurt while receiving their instruction for what was next. I considered it a win. Alive was better than dead.

“Your friends will join you shortly after they’re done getting cleaned up and fitted. I’d suggest you keep a close eye on them. No one here will be easy on them but you.”

“Thanks . . . ” Luke said as we stepped through the door and entered a dimly lit room.

A stained-glass window was set aglow by the fire. Underneath it sat a velvet bench with fringed pillows. On either side of the room were beds that looked way fancier than anything I’d ever slept on.

“You’re welcome to separate rooms if you’d like, but I know how you two are.”

“This is perfect,” Luke said.

I hid my relief. Locking myself in a room alone with my own thoughts could be very bad for me. Probably Luke too. I’d have to see about getting music in the room as soon as possible. One of my little lackeys was probably dying to fetch me something.

“No phones. At least for the first couple months. Same for going out. We’ll go out to town, and I’ll introduce you to everyone, but we do it together. For now.”

“Until you can trust us not to run away?” Luke said.

“You can’t run from your own fate. It will find you,” Ezra said.

We shared a glance. My brother and I were starting to believe it and were too tired to argue. I couldn’t even get tired, but I felt like I’d run a marathon.

Ezra motioned to a spiral staircase that led to a loft. Along the floral-papered walls were different paintings in various frames. Every color in the room was muted, except for the orange of the flickering fire. I welcomed the smell of burning wood.

“You have your own private bathroom up in the loft.”

Thank god. I was dying to get the stench of ash out of my hair.

“You two can get settled in till the morning. Explore the place. But don’t leave the castle.”

“Got it,” Luke said as he collapsed onto his bed, and I did the same in mine.

Cool sheets and the relief of not standing had me melting into a puddle. Ezra left us in silence.

I lay back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. It was vaulted up to a dome, and inside the dome, a skylight let the light from the moon in. Hundreds of stars painted the dark, and I let my shoulders relax. I wished for sleep, for a break from the torment of the day. I was tempted to think of my brothers. Had they made it to their destination? Luke never told me where it was. The less I knew, the better, and the less I thought of it, the better too. I rubbed the ache in my chest.

“Maybe this is what I was meant for.” Luke’s voice echoed from across the room.

“What?”

“They could be telling the truth. This is fate. I’m meant to be with Her.”

“Luke, don’t say that shit. I’m serious. I’m going to punch you if you say anything like that again.”

I hated the idea of it. If it were true, there wasn’t anything right in the world. Because there was no way Luke would be with someone like Her, and he didn’t deserve to be here. He should have been back on that mountain baking cookies with our brothers and singing songs.

“Then why at every turn do we end up in the same place? Why does it feel truer than anything else?”

“Just because it feels like that doesn’t make it true,” I grumbled.

“You always say that.”

“You should listen to me, then.” I sat up to glare at him. “You’re not the only one allowed to be right. We ended up here again. So what? It doesn’t mean anything. It could be worse.” Not really.

“We can see it as an extended holiday. We’ve never been out of the country. Could be a new opportunity,” I said.

“For?”

“Change,” I said.

I was shit at pep talks. What Luke needed most of the time was to get out of his head.

“Come on. Quit moping around. Let’s do something fun.” I hopped up off my bed.

“Fun? How is anything fun here?”

“We’ll make it fun.”

“We’ll make being in a cult fun?”

“Fuck yeah.”

I walked up to his bed and held out my hand to pull him up.

Luke groaned. “I really wanted to rot away in here all night.”

“I know. That’s why we need to get out. Where’s all that team spirit?”

I used to make fun of Luke for the football thing. He’d been good at it, like he was good at everything he did. It was all in good fun. I’d enjoyed watching him play while I slunk around behind the stands and smoked.

“I don’t have any little brothers to encourage anymore.”

“Technically, I’m younger than you.”

“Shut up.”

We walked into the hallway. A man, who I’d hardly call a man, stood outside our door. He blushed before he bowed.

“H-hi, I’m Connell. I’m so honored to meet you both.” He looked at the ground. “I’ve heard so much about you from the others who knew you before you were . . . Well, I can’t tell you how excited I am to finally see you in person. If you need anything, please tell me. I’ll get it done.”

Luke and I shared the same wide-eyed confusion, but I knew what Luke was thinking. This kid was young. He had to be newly turned and no older than eighteen. It didn’t help he had short curly blond hair and was the same height as Presley. At least he had blue eyes and a thick Irish accent. It didn’t matter either way. Luke had that savior look in his eye like he wanted to wrap the kid in a hug and tell him to make better choices.

He couldn’t help himself, and it wasn’t just anyone who was younger but anyone weaker who needed help. It’s like he could sense it in people. The only woman in the store who had a hard day and needed her groceries taken to her car. Or the old man taking longer at the bench because he was waiting for someone to help him get up because his knees were shot. He had a radar for it, and I was always there, right next to him, holding those groceries or grabbing the other hand. They’d thank me too, and I’d smile back. It made Luke radiantly happy, but for me . . . nothing.

That goodness would hurt. He would try to get this kid’s story and get too attached. I needed to be the buffer.

“You new?” I asked.

“Yeah. I got inducted last week. It was exhilarating,” Connell said while he scratched his freckled arm. His face was covered in them too.

“Where are your parents?”

“They’re gone, sir. My mum died young, and my dad was reaped.”

“Reaped?” Luke asked.

“Oh yeah, sent to Her Gloriousness, of course.”

Luke’s face went white.

“It doesn’t happen to many. A lot of the guys here never had any family. It’s an honor, really, to have someone I could sacrifice to Her Magnificence.”

Luke said nothing, but I saw it all over his face. He wanted to grab this kid and run out of the castle, as if we weren’t also fucked and Ezra wouldn’t pop up like the boogeyman the moment we set foot outside.

“Don’t look so concerned, sir. He had a bad drinking habit. I kinda hope he isn’t with Her eternally like She said. I secretly hope he’s rotting in hell somewhere.” His shrill laugh echoed in the hallway.

I cleared my throat to stop the little fucker from talking another minute. “Connell, what’s a guy gotta do to get a drink around here?”

Drinking was about the only thing Luke and I did for fun anymore. We’d never had a lot of hobbies in common, but back in Brooklyn, we could watch movies or take the girls out. None of which could ever be done again after Sarah died. Luke and I couldn’t even sit still long enough to watch a thirty-minute TV show, let alone a whole movie. Unless Presley strapped us down to watch his Twilight marathon.

“Oh, we could go to The Underground! That’s where a lot of the guys hang out at this hour. It’s downstairs. I’ll show you.”

We followed. Luke watched the back of Connell’s head, quietly creating another plan.

“Don’t do it,” I said.

“I’m not.”

Connell walked ahead of us talking, and neither of us listened.

“You can’t save him, Luke. We can barely save ourselves right now.”

“But . . . he reminds me of Presley.”

That did it. My whole body ached with a sharp pain that made my stomach turn. I stopped walking.

“Okay, rule. No talking about them. No saying their names. No bringing up old memories.”

“But—”

“Please,” I said to the only person I’d ever whisper that word to.

He nodded and we walked on.

Connell knew it all. Where and why they selected every painting on the walls. The type of wallpaper. How old the stonework on the fountain was. Luke agreed when Connell offered to give us a tour tomorrow afternoon, and I had to act like it wasn’t the worst idea I’d ever heard.

He led us through the garden. There were rows and rows of budded flowers being suffocated by the falling snow. We passed a stone gondola, and next to the castle was a wooden cellar door.

“Did you bring us here to kill us, Connell?”

He snorted. “Good one, sir!”

“Someone finally thinks I’m funny.” I smiled at my brother as he rolled his eyes and pushed me through the door.

It was an old wine cellar bathed in red lights and cigar smoke, and there was music. Perfect. Only, the room went silent as we entered. Everyone fell on one knee before I could blink. Even the ones who looked too drunk to say their own name.

“This way to the bar. What’ll you have? We have nothin’ but top-shelf liquor.”

“Whiskey. Neat.”

“Beer. Any kind,” Luke said.

“Plus, two shots. Surprise me,” I said

Luke nodded. He needed to loosen up, and one of the only perks of being a vampire was there was no hangover. Can’t poison a body that’s basically dead.

A few of the guys were recognizable, but I had never really paid attention before. We went along with whatever Ezra wanted us to do. I blamed it on my brain not being fully developed yet.

Luke and I were in a different class now. It was easy to tell because we’d been members of each at one point or another. The first rung was the humans. Which we used to be. It was easy work. We’d had little jobs like collecting money for Ezra or running pickpocket schemes in the city. We were high schoolers and made games out of it. I don’t think either of us took it that seriously. It wasn’t until senior year that we started to realize we were in deep. We wanted to move up even though we didn’t fully understand what that meant. Because while Ashley and Sarah were applying to colleges, we were too busy playing the role of criminals in the city.

Once we turned, we were above all who we used to consider peers. And we trained. That’s where I learned what my new body could do. Getting turned and not understanding was scary at first, but that wasn’t the part of The Family I hated. It was the best part. A new body that could move in new deadly ways. Plus, immortality didn’t suck.

I’d always known things were different for Luke and me. No one ever let us forget it, with their long scowls and their whispering. Now I understood why. We were set apart for Her.

“We’ve awaited your return, sir.” A familiar voice made me turn.

“Henderson.” I threw back my shot.

Henderson leaned against the bar with a drink in his hand. His head hit the low-hanging light as he nodded to us. He was bigger than Luke in height and rivaled him in build.

“Good to see you.” Luke smiled and held out his hand to shake.

Henderson licked his unusually sharp canines. “Sorry. Can’t, sir. There are rules about that sort of thing now.”

“Right.” Luke swished his beer.

“It’s nice to have you here finally. What took you two so long?”

Henderson didn’t like us. It had to do with the fact that he was at least eighty years old and jealous as fuck he wasn’t a “chosen one.” He looked young with no wrinkles on his smooth tan skin. He’d told me his age back before I realized he only liked to keep tabs on us.

“We like to annoy you.”

I downed my other drink and motioned for Luke to take his shot. The pain in my chest was finally subsiding, and I could function normally again.

“Did you see Connery?”

I saw Connery back in Blackheart when he plunged a knife into his chest. They had been attached at the hip like Luke and me. Not related, from what I remembered, but great friends. Luke was in no condition to break bad news to him, and I didn’t give a fuck if he knew Connery was dead or not.

I took the lead. “Yeah. He seemed . . . happy.”

I mean, he did look happy with his decision to plunge that knife into his chest.

“He told me he was handpicked by Akira to go. A huge honor. When he didn’t come back with you, I figured it might have been something that kept him in America.”

“Yeah, something like that.”

“How are you?” Luke’s voice was softer. “In this place?”

He was being genuine. The fucking teddy bear.

“Ireland is amazing. The countryside. The people. I prefer it to America. I hope to never go back. You’ll both come to love it, I’m sure.”

I raised my glass to my lips and let the comfort of the alcohol burn my throat. A guy could hope.

“You can’t help yourself, can you?” I smiled as Henderson left.

“I really can’t.”

We watched the others play pool and readied ourselves to join. Most were friendly, but I felt their eyes on me when I wasn’t looking. This would be different from before. Being part of The Guard was different.

I should have cared more about being forced to be in The Guard, but all I could think about was that there wasn’t anything they could force me to do that I wouldn’t do for my brother. If we were trapped, he needed me to make this easier for him. I wasn’t sure what that would look like, but I knew I could.

I’d never imagined more for myself than here. Hell, drinking and hanging around with a bunch of assholes sounded fun to me.

After a few drinks, Luke finally smiled, and my work was done for the night.

“You were right. This is fun.”