Page 151 of Their Blood Rite

My side is riddled with bruising, and I can’t get a full breath without doubling over in agony. He bites his wrist and offers me his blood. I seal my lips closed and lean back.

‘Drink. Heal.’ He offers it again.

‘It makes me high.’ I shake my head. ‘I need my head clear.’

With a sigh, he steps away, clearing my view to Shaw.

‘Please let me out, Shaw.’

‘You’ll try to run again.’

‘I won’t.’

‘They can’t know, Pixie. My people can’t know what you are or what we’ve done. If I take you upstairs, you’ll tell them. You’ll try to run.’ I shake my head, but he smiles sadly. ‘I know you pretty well, and I know you will try to run away from us again. And we will catch you. You’ll get hurt.’ He glances at my side and shifts to the edge of his seat. ‘Again.’ He rests his elbows on his knees, watching me closely. ‘You’re going to listen to me.’

‘Why do you have my snake?’

‘Because it realised we were a danger to you. When this is over, and it no longer sees us as a threat, we will return her. I promise. Now, will you listen to what we have to say?’

I nod. What other choice do I have? I’m so fucking angry. So trapped and scared. I’m unable to think straight. But worse is this strange sense of betrayal, which is a foolish feeling. They kidnapped me. How can I be surprised I’ve ended up down here?

‘I’m listening.’

He places a book in my lap.

‘What… what is that?’ I ask.

‘I think you already know.’

I stare at the thick, leather-bound book. Power hums from it. Dark power. A thick and heavy vibration of menacing magic. I feel a pull. A call. A promise.

Strength. Power. Magic.

It’s a song. One sung from the pages straight to the darkest part of my soul, luring me in. It’s made of human skin. Written in the blood of the innocent. Of children.

‘The blood coven Grimoire,’ I whisper, almost too afraid to acknowledge it aloud.

It wasn’t the earth grimoire they were worried about losing. It was this monstrosity. And the items… my father, Kieran and Thalia.

‘Yes,’ Shaw confirms, looking at it. ‘It belonged to Neve Hella. The Blood Queen.’

I buck it away, staring at it with terror. Its pages fall open. The dark words shimmer. Words written in the blood of witch children.

‘It’s evil. Complete evil.’ I search his eyes, desperate to see some understanding. ‘I don’t understand. Why do you have this?’

He reaches over and picks it back up, holding it between us.

‘One spell, Ashe. That’s all I need you to do. One spell, and we’re free.’

‘Free?’

‘Dorian, Archie and me. You will free us, and in doing so, you will free yourself, too. Look.’ He opens the grimoire, showing me a double spread of images, symbols and words. ‘This spell will free us from the curse Neve and her coven placed on us. With it removed, we will no longer need your blood to access our powers. You can be free, Ashe.’ He smiles as if this is the most fantastic news ever.

‘That’s all the spell will do?’ I ask.

He doesn’t answer but looks uneasy.

‘Taking a beating heart from another is not a simple spell, Shaw. I don’t believe you.’

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