Page 51 of Vampire's Breath

“Only the High Priestess or the High Priestess Heir of the Coven of the Blood can open this grimoire. And I don’t know what will happen if you try to flip the pages. So best for me to hold it and you to look over my shoulder.”

I moved to the couch, with Rory between Cormac and me. She opened the book to the last page.

“This is the spell I used to return the memories to the coven. It allowed us even to remember that the Cure existed and start looking for him.”

I read over the spell calling for my heart’s blood or that of one of my brothers. This was what my brother had allowed his mate to do—to stake him with a piece of ash from our home. I looked up at him. “You really would sacrifice everything for her, wouldn’t you?”

He touched Rory’s hand and nodded. “I absolutely would.” The two looked at each other with a love I’d thought I would only ever see in my parents’ eyes.

I continued to read down the page until I got to the bottom.

Cormac looked at the last statement, where my finger was pointing, and shook his head. “We’ve never really been able to figure that out.”

“When the elements of blood are joined as one…” I murmured. “Is there anything else that talks about the elements?”

Rory’s face twisted. “The only other place that talks about the elements is back here.”

She flipped a few pages back. I looked over the writing and recognized the words. I glanced between Rory and Cormac.

“This is what they did to us.” I forced the words out of my throat, not wanting to think about that night.

“Who?” asked Rory.

I bit the inside of my cheek. “Your coven. This is the spell they used to try…”

“This is the spell the coven wrote to destroy you.” Rory clenched her jaw. “The one that backfired and made the coven completely forget who you were.”

I read over it, my eyes narrowing. A sickness settled in my gut. If the spell had worked, we wouldn’t be here. “I don’t understand. This should have bound our vampire natures and made us mortal.”

Cormac tilted his head. “Well, obviously, it didn’t.”

I reached the end of the spell. “And obviously, you didn’t read this one too closely.” A sly smile played on my lips.

“Why do you say that, brother?”

“Because right here,” I said, pointing. “This explains why it took them years to try. They were studying us. Learning. It talks about needing the blood of all four elements and equates them with a compass.”

Cormac narrowed his eyes. “I don’t see what that has to do with us.”

Rory nodded. “I never could understand—”

I caught Rory’s gaze with my smile widening. “You’ve never questioned your mate about his brothers?”

She shook her head. “Nothing spell-worthy, if that’s what you’re asking.”

I looked at Cormac. “You don’t remember where they stood us?”

“Without hesitation. I was in the north. You were in the east. Aiden was in the south. And Conall was in the west.” Cormac clenched his jaw.

“Yes. North, east, south, and west.” I relished the moment of being the one who knew. Cormac never enjoyed learning from one of his younger brothers, and part of my heart fluttered with happiness to understand something he did not. “Now, Cormac, when were you born?”

He shook his head and scoffed. “On the winter solstice.”

“And what always consumed you? Drove you on?”

He laid a hand on Rory’s shoulder. “My family.”

“And what about me?”

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