Page 138 of House of Crimson Kisses
I nod. “Without exception.”
“Good, then I will return the rest of your memories after the trial. I suspect you’ll be needing these…” she says and uses the hem of her gown to pull out and drop a pair of silver cuffs and some rope on the ground.
And then she’s gone, racing through the forest and into the night.
Chapter40
OCTAVIA
Something is wrong. Not an ‘I made an oopsie,’ wrong. But fundamentally about-to-tear-everything-apart wrong. It starts in my chest, a needle-like pain that it blooms out, coursing through my system until I am buckled over and about to puke.
I glance up, scanning the Blood Woods for any sign of Red. She is my first thought. Now, yesterday and always.
I have to make sure she’s okay. This lancing pain is deep, it has an almost detached quality to it. That’s when I panic. It’s not me feeling this, but her. I wondered how the bond would affect us, what would grow or fall away, and I’ve been sensing more and more of her as time has gone on. And this… It’s not me. She’s in trouble.
I don’t spare a second look at the strength ring. I’m racing through the woods hunting for her. The bond between us is like a cord. An eternal thread connecting her to me and me to her. I will always be able to find her, always be able to help and support, and I hope stave off her hurts, her pain.
And that’s what’s happening right now. She’s in pain. Not the sort of physical pain that would end her life. But until I see her, until I can hold her in my arms and see that she’s okay, I won’t be satisfied.
I skid to a halt; she’s moving. I change course and bolt through the forest in a new direction. There I find her in a small clearing. I can see the strengths ring from here if I strain. I must have done a full circle in my haste.
I speed up to her, and then I stagger to a standstill.
Oh, fuck.
Her expression is like fire and stone and steel and death.
“What—” I start.
But she cuts me off. “You lied. Our entire relationship, all you have been doing is lying. You said you’d told me everything about the night Amelia was turned, and you hadn’t. Once again, you’ve only given me part of a truth.”
“It’s not like?—”
“Don’t try to fucking twist it. You’ve been lying. Did you or did you not compel Amelia that night too?”
I’m silent. Fuck. What the hell? How did this happen?
She shakes her head at me. “You fucking did. I knew it. Sadie is the only one who even bothered to tell me the truth. The only one who bothered to give me back what was rightfully mine.”
I frown. “If she gave you back your memories, then why?—”
“Gods, Octavia. Stop. There’s nothing you can say right now to make any of this better. Once again, you were controlling me. Controlling the narrative and removing what little fucking autonomy I had. And you thought by not giving back my memories you’d what? Keep screwing me? As if you can’t get a thousand other vampires to shag. I’m just a fucking plaything to you, aren’t I? A novelty.”
I don’t understand what’s going on. Why doesn’t she understand the truth of what happened? If Sadie gave her all her memories back, then she should appreciate why I did it.
“Verity, please.”
“Don’t fucking call me that. In fact, don’t even say my name again. Mother of Blood, Octavia. Even Elysium. Oh yes, I know about that, too. All this fucking time and you never told me the real reason I picked that safe word. Who are you?”
She flings her hands at me; her eyes wild, dark, full of a thick potency that screams like nightmares.
I grit my teeth, my jaw threatening to crack against the pressure. What the fuck, Sadie? I thought she was on my team. That we shared some kind of bond that our other siblings didn’t.
Red steps up to me, into my personal space. The scent of leather, warm skin and fresh forests drifts in the air between us. It’s clear now that she’s crying, that her rage is actually pain, and that realisation carves out a piece of my heart.
I want to fix this. I need to understand exactly what’s happened so that I can make it better. Make her mine again.
“Verity, please…”
