Page 60 of Their Blood Rite

‘You think it a joke?’ Dorian growls. ‘You think that you can lie to us… to me… About what you are? About what you can do?’

‘I’m not lying.’

‘I know what it is to be hounded by the shadows. To be haunted by the dead.’ He storms towards me, anger brimming in the dark recesses of his endless eyes. ‘You would be mad by now if you had not known how to protect yourself from them.’ He fiddles with the many talismans and charms around his wrist. ‘You would be insane. You must know what you are and how to control it. Necromancer.’

I manage to summon the strength to sit on my own.

‘I have nothing to say to you, shadow master.’

‘Oh. But you do.’ He pulls a doll from his pocket and grips it tightly. ‘You will tell me.’ He squeezes. My chest feels as if his arms are around me, not the doll. ‘Tell the truth, Poppet. Or I will break you into pieces.’

I fall to the floor, my bones creaking deep inside me.

‘Tell me why you ran.’

‘F-f-fuck you!’ I double over.

He leans down.

‘Tell me why you ran on the day of the Rite. It was because you knew what the fire would declare you. You knew-’

‘Cole threatened to have all his friends hunt me down on the Rite if I refused to be his wife,’ I reply with a painful groan. ‘And my father was determined to sell me off to the highest bidder, no matter what.’ I look up at him. ‘HAPPY?!’ He eases his grip on the Poppet.

‘Why did you steal their Grimoire? If what you say is true and you’re just a simple witch, you’re not powerful enough to use it. It’s useless to you.’

‘Because fuck them. That’s why. They turn on me, I take their fucking Grimoire. If they want it back, they can come and beg you for it. Or you can burn it and send them the ashes. Whatever hurts them most.’

‘Are you not worried that you left your father behind? The Coven will kill him.’

‘Let them,’ I reply quietly, avoiding meeting their gaze. ‘My father’s just as bad as the rest of them.’

I blink and feel a few warm tears slide down my cheek. My fucking father, who traded me for wealth and position, then abandoned me to a long and painful death at the hand of my coven. Who took off and left me to these monsters.

The image of him running away as they tied me to that tree will never leave me.

‘Did you know about the Dark Mirror Kindred?’ Dorian asks, his fingers flexing on my doll.

I shake my head and feel him start to squeeze.

‘You can crush me all you like, Shadow Master,’ I warn. ‘But unless you want me to lie to you, that’s my only answer.’ I force myself up. The room spins as I face them, but I’ll be damned if I’m on my knees at their mercy. Shaw is on his feet, too, and all three watch me closely. ‘Use your claim to order me to speak. Break my bones. I am not lying!’

‘The claim marks control actions,’ Shaw tells me. ‘Not words. And it also protects us from your blood magic.’

I shrug and throw my arms up in defeat.

‘Then you will have to take my word for it.’

Shaw looks at the two others, his brow raised. They both nod.

‘Then you leave us little choice.’

There’s a loud thud. Then another. Shaw has slammed his foot on the floor in a very familiar rhythm.

‘No…’ I whisper. ‘Don’t.’

‘Furatus aer,’ he says.

I react on instinct, going to Shaw and kneeling before him. I look up, the obedient slave. His possession.

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