Page 126 of Hexbound
"A vessel... strong enough to hold you," Drake murmured, and Bishop's gut dropped.
Drake wouldn't. Bishop surged forward, hand outstretched. He caught his father's sleeve. "No!"
Their eyes met and Drake's resolve firmed. "We cannot fight it, not like this. And I will not sacrifice one son for another. Not again."
"Don't do this!" he begged. "Please. I need you." He looked around, desperate for help. "Lucien and Ianthe need you! And the Order."
Drake cupped his palm over Bishop's hand, his voice raw with pain. "Look after Eleanor for me. And if you cannot bring me back, then find the Blade of Altarrh and drive it through my heart. It will kill both of us."
"No! I cannot. You're my father." A flash of his mother's face sprang to mind, pale and listless, etched with pain."Please, Adrian. Let me go."Bishop swallowed. "I cannot do this again."
"You're the only one that I think can." Drake cupped his cheek. "I've made mistakes, Adrian, but you were never one of them. And perhaps because I felt that I had you, I never feared for you as much as I did the other two. I didn't see what was happening to you right beneath my nose until Agatha pointed it out to me. You're strong and you've fought so hard, and I am proud to call myself your father." He pressed their foreheads together. "But you need to stop being afraid of what you are and stop pushing away the one person who could love you. You'll need Verity for what's to come."
"Damn it." There was a lump in his throat. "Damn it,please—"
"I walked away from him, Adrian. I walked away last time and left him to die, because there was no other choice. This time I don't have to do that and he needs someone to make that sacrifice for him, to prove that he is worthy of a parent's love. Without it he can never be saved." Drake squeezed his hand hard. "And you are not to kill him. He's your brother. You and Lucien...." Drake looked past Bishop's shoulder. "I need you to put aside your differences with Sebastian. I was wrong to keep you apart. I was afraid that the prophecy would take you both if you came into my life, but I should have known better. One cannot hide from prophecy. Everything I've done, every choice I've made has only served its purpose, to bring the three of you together here, now. This was always the moment it decreed. Well, maybe I can change the prophecy a little? Maybe by taking Sebastian's place, I can alter the course of what is to come?Trust me."
No.Bitterness welled within his chest.
"You cannot stop me, Adrian," Drake told him firmly. "My decision is made. Just... bring me back or kill me, please. I'm sorry."
Before he could refute his father, Drake turned. "You want a vessel? Then I offer you my body and I offer it freely. But you will not take my sons."
The demon's face lit up. "So be it."
"The terms are these," Drake shouted, pausing in the center of the maelstrom. "I grant you my body and my power to use as you desire, but you may not use it to hurt Eleanor, my sons, or their wives and children. You may not use me to cause direct harm to the Order, or harm to any innocents. The second you do, the terms are forfeit and control of my body returns to me."
"Done." The demon's leer spread wider as it stepped forward and clasped Drake's hand.
A scream of pain overtook Drake and he fell to his knees, his body arching backwards and light streaming from his mouth. Runes of darkness crawled over his skin as the demon's magic latched on to him, creeping up Drake's throat and then prying apart his mouth and vanishing inside. Wind lashed Sebastian's hair and then his expression of rapture faded. Became slack and shocked.
"No!" Bishop came back to himself, screaming the denial at the edge of the circle. Someone held him back.Verity?"No!"
Drake slumped to his hands and knees as Sebastian simply dropped to the slate tiles like a puppet with its strings cut.
His father was gone.
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Chapter 30
THE FIGHT WAS not over, even if the main player was lost. Bishop crawled after his father as the demon turned and walked away, a tide of imps parting to let him through.
"No," he whispered as Drake vanished. Of all the outcomes he'd expected today, his mind had not even come close to the disastrous possibilities of this choice.
Rage fuelled him. He sank onto his haunches, screaming his loss to the ceiling. Power flooded through him. For a second he was no longer in control as his magic lashed out, whip-cracks of lightning detonating around them.
Expression.
Dangerous, whispered the part of him that knew what it felt like to hold a lifeless body in his hands because he'd lost control. But he crushed down the thought as he turned his hooded gaze upon Sebastian.
His brother had collapsed. Bishop didn't care. All he could see was his father screaming as the demon took him over. Lurching to his feet, he staggered closer. All Sebastian had ever been was dangerous. This needed to end now.
Then Verity stepped between them, her skirts shredded and her hair in loose knots that were barely pinned up.
Bishop froze.
"No," she said, tilting her chin up to look him firmly in the eyes. "I won't let you do this."
