Page 33 of A Bloodline Redeemed

“All done,” he said smugly.“Our new friend is currently trying to work his way out of his restraints… somewhere in the far reaches of the Magean jungle, on the eastern side of the globe, as far away from the heart as possible.

I chuckled.If the guy was currently there, he was about as far away from the heart—the center of the Magean city of Hearthfire, where the Lovell mansion had once stood, and the main hub of magical government—as he could possibly be.Even if he managed to get himself untied before something ate him, he wouldn’t be rejoining his cult friends until it was far too late for him to be of any help.

But my amusement was short lived.He had spilled everything he knew.And Bella was right.The cult had amassed enough power and knocked down or infiltrated enough of the SA.They planned to attack the heart and take over the government and the Alliance’s police force.Soon.

Wars in the magical world were different than those in the human world; they weren’t won with numbers, they were won with power.And the cult had enough magical tricks up their sleeves now to win this war.The moment the Alliance was eliminated or completely taken over from the inside, the cult would be the ones with all the power, and there would be no organized force strong enough to stop them.It would snowball from there, with the strong magic users who chose to fight back lacking the organization—and the ruthlessness—it would take to be effective.

As Bella led the group back inside to discuss what the hell we were supposed to do with this knowledge, I reached down and ran my hand over River’s soft black jaguar head.He nudged me gently and I took his cue, moving to a bench off the side of the main path.

“Shift back,” I demanded.

He gave me a little rumbly noise somewhere between a purr and a whine, but I just gave him an impatient stare.Now wasn’t the time to enjoy playing with the overgrown cat.And I was pretty sure he was just hiding in this form to avoid having to interact with Bella anyway.

He sighed and transformed back into a human shape.I raked my eyes up the length of his beautiful, lithe, copper-skinned form, and forced myself to focus on more important things than licking him.“What happened?”I bit out, crossing my arms over my chest to avoid the temptation to touch.“Earlier.When she first got here.I know you used your magic.”

He gave me a wry little smile that told me he knew what I was thinking about his looks.But he did me the favor of retrieving his pants from under a bush and tugging them on, so we could focus on my question.

He didn’t pretend not to know what I was talking about or try to shield my feelings.He simply told me the truth.“She made her demands and her threat.You, in your infinite and usually adorable, stubborn way, refused to be told what to do.She ripped down the wards using your blood connection and essentially killed us all.”

I stared at him in silence for a few seconds, processing.I had suspected something like that, of course.Otherwise, why would River have had to alter time?But still, the confirmation hurt.

“We can’t trust her,” I said flatly.

I had held onto my suspicions, told myself not to trust too easily just because she was my sister.But damn it, I had really hoped I was wrong.I had really hoped that being a Lovell didn’t automatically make us all evil bitches.

He sighed and ran a hand over his face.“Should you trust her blindly?No.”He lifted his citrine gaze to mine.“I’ve known Belladonna longer than you have.As an adult, at least.I’ve worked with her and the rebels for quite a long time, while you’ve hardly had any time to get to know her.”He shrugged.“It’s not a matter of whether or not you can trust her.As with most people, it’s more a matter ofwhatyou can trust her for and to what degree.”

I frowned at him in confusion, and he took my hand, willing me to understand.“Bella is serious and driven.She’s very passionate about what she believes in.Very much like you in some respects.You also get really fired up when you think something isn’t right.She isn’t some terrible, evil person.But she learned at a young age that it is acceptable to make sacrifices to achieve your goals.She’s ruthless, when she has to be.And… I think Junaid tempered that side of her, balanced her out a little bit.He was the softer side of the duo.Now that he’s gone, I think maybe her moral compass has shifted a little off center.”

I shook my head.“I lost someone too, but it didn’t make me into a raving, heartless psychopath!Don’t make excuses for her.”

He just gave me a sad look.“No.You’re right.Losing Hasumi didn’t send you into a murderous rage.But as much as you loved them, it is different.For starters, you only had a short time to get attached.Bella has been with Junaid since she was a teenager.He has been theonesense of security and love in her life.Losing him, she lost everything, Andy.I know it’s not fair to make comparisons like that, but you are still surrounded by people who love you, while she is essentially alone.Oh, she has her rebels and her acquaintances in her cause.But she’s a very closed off person.From what I’ve seen, she has no actual close connections the way you do.”He shrugged.“You and the others had each other to lean on to get you through your grief—remember the ceremony we did?All the time we’ve spent comforting each other and just being there together through it.I’m sure she had nothing like that to help her survive the day her world fell apart.All she has now is this cause.”

He gave me a wry look.“And… you and Bella have different personalities.Different ways of coping.Her way is to rage and fight on.Your way….”

I sighed.“My way is to hide in a pocket world where the chances of anything bad happening to the people I love ever again is much, much less than if I were to run off into a magical war and drag them along with me.”

His chiseled lips curved up into a sad smile.“It doesn’t make you weak, you know.You love them.And you are more of a protector than an avenger.It’s your big heart that makes you who you are.Not everyone is so lucky.”

I huffed.“Us,” I said evenly.

He tilted his head.“I don’t follow?”

I squeezed his hand.“You said I want to protect ‘them’ because I love them.You didn’t include yourself in that statement.”

He widened his eyes at me as that sank in.“Should I?”

I chuckled and leaned in to brush a kiss across his lips, which he eagerly returned.“It’s early days for us still, maybe, but yes… I think you should.”

He smiled against my lips, then pulled back a bit to press a kiss to my forehead.“Us, then.You reacted the way you have because you want to protect us.Because you love us.Andwelove you too.”

I probably had the goofiest look on my face.Luckily, there was no one there to witness it but River.

But the levity faded as my thoughts returned to what he was saying about my sister.“So, she’s lonely, bitter, and hurt.And she learned from my parents—and from living on her own once she escaped them—that sometimes you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet.While I’m just a big softie with morals who doesn’t understand being a jerk.”

He quirked a brow at me.“Essentially, yes.”

“And the answer to my question about whether or not we can trust her is ‘that depends.’”

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