Blood Bond

by Shannon K. Butcher

  “You could have stayed. You could have brought me back with you.”

  “You know that is untrue. The Solarc would kill you on sight. Even now, holding your spirit here, we are risking great danger to both you and your sisters and cousins.”

  “Then why bring me here at all? You clearly have no trouble justifying your abandonment of me.”

  “You are dying. I brought you here to give you a chance for life, for happiness.” Her beautiful eyes slid shut as if in exhaustion. “There is little strength left in me after all I have given the war, but what I have is yours.”

  “I don’t want anything else from you but to be left alone. If death is the only way to get that, then so be it.”

  Celentia bowed her head in defeat. The glowing gems of the crown nestled in her curls seemed to shift precariously to one side. “I free you. Go. Live your life unbound to me.”

  “It’s too late for that. I’m dead, remember?” It was strange how Justice wasn’t upset by the idea of being dead. There was a kind of fuzzy numbness around her emotions as there had been before she’d met Ronan. No fear or grief could touch her. But neither could joy. She was all logic and little feeling. Hollow.

  Except for one little part—the part touched by Ronan. She missed him. She longed to be near him again. She didn’t mind dying, but the idea of never seeing him again tore through her like sharp claws, ripping at her sanity.

  She ached from his absence.

  “That is how I feel for you,” Celentia said. “Every moment I have missed watching you grow into the woman you are now. Every second of time lost. I will never know the pleasure of rocking you to sleep or telling you a story. I will never feel your small body crawl into my lap to hug me around my neck. I will never see your eyes light with joy from your first kiss or hear you whisper to me of your love for some young man. Your life is lost to me, lost to duty, both yours and mine.”

  “I’m just a tool, then.” Justice said. “A weapon meant to win a war.”

  “You are as powerful as any weapon, but your purpose goes far beyond fighting.”

  “What then? If you so desperately wanted to be my mother, then why give me up? Why did all of the women like you give any of us up?”

  “Did you want for anything as a child? Did you ever once question if you were loved, if you were safe, if you were important?”

  She hadn’t. Being raised in the village had been fun and exciting. Every girl there knew she was both wanted and necessary. Sure, they were taught how to fight and were told that someday they may be called to do so, but it hadn’t been a bad way to grow up. She’d never been cold, hungry or neglected. She was never abused, and she was surrounded by the love of her family. She belonged.

  She thrived.

  Would it have been easier on Celentia to stay there and raise her daughter? Justice couldn’t imagine ever leaving a child behind, but as she stared out over the balcony railing, across the dark countryside, she could see the signs of decay in the distance.

  It reminded her of an old medieval setup with a towering castle surrounded by clogged city streets, ringed by homes growing less elegant and more modest as they stretched out toward the rolling countryside.

  Rustic, earthen huts were vacant and crumbling. Farmland sat empty of crops. There were no sounds of laughter from the homes below, no children singing or crying as they raged against bedtime. There were no dogs barking or night birds singing.

  “This place is dying, isn’t it?” Justice asked.

  Celentia bowed her head. “Yes, and it is taking everyone here with it. My brothers and sisters, my friends. It has already claimed my father in madness. My mother, Brenya, fled to find a way to fight back. You, Justice, are the only hope we have left. Not a weapon. Hope. That is your true purpose.”

  That’s when Justice finally understood what would drive a woman to leave her child on another world by choice. Because having her here would mean her death. Nothing here lived for long. Nothing here thrived. Taking Justice to Temprocia was a gift, not abandonment. Her mother had made the ultimate sacrifice and left her child behind so that her people would have hope for survival, so that Justice would survive.

  Celentia’s regal shoulders sagged in relief. “You understand now.”

  “I do. You wanted a better life for me, for those trapped here.”

  “I would have given anything to watch you grow into the woman you have become.”

  “But doing so would put me at risk.”

  Celentia stroked Justice’s hair. “I could not bear to never have borne you. The world needs you. Perhaps more than one world.”

  Justice considered that for a moment. Yes, her mother had left her behind, but Justice had known every day before her memories were stripped away that it wasn’t because Celentia didn’t love her. It was just the opposite. She loved her enough to give her a chance at survival, a chance to thrive and offer hope to those who had none. She hadn’t been abandoned or forgotten.

  In this moment, Justice remembered the little old lady who’d forgiven her with her last breath. She remembered how little she’d deserved the gift, but how much it had meant.

  Justice wanted to give that same gift to her mother. It was the only way to truly honor the gift the old woman had given her.

  “I forgive you,” Justice said. “For all those years of not knowing who I was, for the headaches and lack of sleep and desperate races across the country to do things I didn’t understand. I know that you never would have put me through that if there had been any other way. I understand why you did it and I forgive you. Please don’t blame yourself.”

  Her mother smiled. Tears slipped from her verdant eyes. “You are as generous as you are strong. Brenya and the others did a fine job in raising you.”

  The unspoken words between them were that they both wished that it could have been different, that they could have been together all those lost years.

  Celentia reached up to her crown and plucked one of the glowing gemstones from it. She closed her fist around it and whispered a few low, strange words. Then she held out the stone to Justice.

  “You have done your duty well, child. But you are not finished. Take it. Swallow it.”

  “Why?”

  “For hope. For happiness. For Ronan.”

  The mention of his name sent a stab of pain shooting through her—stark inside her foggy numbness. She missed him. Wanted to be near him. The idea of him suffering made her want to weep.

  “What about him?” she asked, her tone stark and desperate.

  “He believes he killed you. If you die, he will as well. If he dies, then all will be lost.”

  “He can’t die,” Justice said, her tone fierce, almost angry. “I tricked him into taking my blood. He should know that.”

  “He does know. It changes nothing. His guilt will consume him. Now. Tonight.”

  “Fix it!” Justice demanded. The woman standing in front of her was powerful and resolute. Chances were she could squish Justice like a bug and not even leave enough behind to bother scraping from her elegant shoe.

  “I cannot reach him. You must. Save Ronan. Save Sargon. Both must live.”

  “Sargon? The mad Sanguinar?”

  Celentia smiled. “Mad? Is that what they think he is?” She lifted the gemstone higher. On her hand was a ring exactly like the one Justice had been compelled to find. The surface was etched with the same strange marks.

  “Go now,” Celentia said. “My powers can only reach earth for a few more moments. You cannot be trapped here with the Solarc.”

  Justice picked up the stone. It was warm with secrets and pulsing with life.

  “It will not hurt you. Now go and know that I will always love you. I will always be with you, even if you cannot hear me.”

  Justice hugged the regal woman who’d given her life. As she did, a feeling of love so deep and consuming it was almost impossible to bear sank into her. A mother’s love. Her mother’s love.

  “Will we see each other
again?” she asked.

  Celentia shrugged one smooth shoulder. “If your people turn the tide of war, perhaps.”

  “And if not?”

  She ignored the question. “There is no more time. Do your duty once more and save your people. Save yourself and be happy in your newfound freedom.”

  Justice did as her mother told her and swallowed the stone. As soon as it cleared her throat, the world—whichever one this was—went away.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Madoc held his daughter in his arms, certain this couldn’t be real. He couldn’t be a father. He wasn’t a good enough man to deserve the happiness he felt holding this little life in hands meant for killing.

  He swallowed down the lump clogging his throat and gently handed his daughter to Nika.

  She was crying openly, tears catching in the corners of her wide smile.

  It didn’t matter that the birth hadn’t gone as planned, or that there were demons clawing at the door, fighting to get inside. It didn’t matter that they’d suffered the pain of labor or the fear of what might happen. All that mattered was that they had shared this experience together. The two of them were now three. A family.

  His daughter screamed in outrage at her new surroundings. Nika cradled her against her bare chest and cooed soft words of reassurance. “You’re okay now. Everything is okay. Daddy’s going to kill those nasty monsters and we’re all going to be just fine.”

  The baby quieted and stared up at her mother with somber eyes, listening.

  Madoc tied and cut the cord. Nika delivered the afterbirth without trouble. Her bleeding was minimal. Everything was normal, textbook. Even with the growling, howling demons at the door, inside this little delivery room, all was peaceful and perfect.

  Nika looked up at him with eyes so full of love, he nearly wept at the sight. He could feel her pouring herself into him through their link, bringing with her a sliver of their daughter’s innocent mind for him to see.

  “She’s amazing,” he breathed. “She already knows me.”

  “Of course, she does. She’s heard you talk and I’ve been telling her about you for months.” She put her finger inside their baby’s tiny grip. “She needed to know she was safe, that Daddy was strong and brave and deadly.”

  He laughed at that. “You’ve really built me up. Guess I’m going to have to prove you right and go kill some fuc—flipping demons so we can get out of here.”

  ***

  Justice crashed back into her body as if she’d been shot there by a cannon. Landing inside flesh and bone hurt, not only because of the sudden jarring sensation, but also because every ache and pain she’d endured before she’d died was right there, waiting for her to return.

  She groaned and tried to focus her dry eyes. She had to blink a few times to get the fog to clear, but as soon as she did, she knew she was too late.

  She was on the floor in one of the hallways of Dabyr. The lights overhead had gone out, but there was a faint blue glow surrounding her and the gurneys stacked with sleeping Sanguinar. On the outside of that glow were demons. Dozens of them, all staring at her with eerie green eyes lit from within.

  They clawed and bit at the film of blue light, and every time they did, it flickered and faded slightly.

  Ronan was dead. He had to be. He was too shriveled and used up to be anything else.

  She screamed in denial, and the sound only managed to rile the hungry Synestryn more. They doubled their efforts to reach her.

  Ronan opened his eyes. They were milky and shrunken in his head. There was no light within them. No life.

  “Jus…tice.” His voice was a weak thread of sound, barely audible over the snarls of demons.

  He was alive! She wasn’t too late, though she felt like she could lose him at any second.

  “I’m here. Hang on.”

  She felt herself fill, swell. Whatever weakness she’d had dissipated. The aches and pains evaporated.

  Whatever was in that crystal her mother had given her was potent medicine. In the space of a few seconds, she went from dead to feeling fine.

  She belly-crawled under the gurneys to reach him. His hand was outstretched toward her, the fingers as thin as pencils. His skin was wrinkled and chalk white, just like the Sanguinar on the beds above them.

  He was too weak to move. She wondered how he was still holding that protective light around them when he clearly had nothing left of himself to give.

  Justice bit her tongue as she reached him, then covered his mouth with hers. His lips were dry and cold, but she didn’t care. The man she loved was dying, and she refused to let that happen.

  Her blood trickled into his mouth as she kissed him. Tears streamed down her face soaked into his cheeks. He didn’t move. She couldn’t even tell if he was breathing.

  Something in her stomach began to heat. She felt that warmth travel up her throat and into Ronan’s mouth. Light spilled from between their lips and splashed against the confines of the glowing blue shield. Every time the barrier flickered, some of that golden light spilled through the cracks where demon claws and teeth entered.

  Synestryn screamed in pain and reared back away from the light. Their fur burned away and the skin began to sizzle everywhere the light had touched. They rolled on the ground and flailed against each other as if trying to wipe away the pain.

  Several of them began to run, howling and yipping as they went, as if the devil himself were on their heels. Justice didn’t lift her head to watch them go. Her sole focus was on Ronan and feeding him the blood he needed.

  The hallway cleared of Synestryn. Only the stench of burning fur and the echo of pained cries was left behind.

  Drops of her blood and golden light spilled from her lips to fill him. Soon, his body began to swell and his skin plumped. He moved a little—just enough to wrap his arms around her and kiss her back.

  Their tongues danced. The sweet music of pleasure rose between them. His body warmed, as did hers, and soon he was strong enough to pull them up and drag her into his lap.

  The light welling from her dimmed, then dissipated, but the power of it remained. It was in every one of her cells. In every one of his as well. Whatever magic her mother had gifted her with, it had been enough to save both her and the man she loved.

  A door crashed open in the distance. Voices filled the stairwell, coming from above. A moment later, the hallway filled with men wielding swords, fresh from battle.

  Ronan lifted his head and looked into her eyes, rather than at their visitors. “Before another second passes, you need to know how much I love you. I don’t want to ever again face death without you knowing just how I feel.”

  Justice’s whole world shifted and warmed around her, hugging her close. Happy tears stung her eyes, but she didn’t care. Love didn’t make her weak. It made her strong—strong enough to travel to another world and come back to save the man she loved.

  She stared into his eyes and said, “I love you, too.”

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Theronai and Slayers roamed the halls of Dabyr, checking inside every room, in every closet, and under every bed for Synestryn. Humans moved the fragile, sleeping Sanguinar into the trailer of the semi Justice had driven. The shelving she’d installed in the back was the perfect size for the bodies, and the soft yoga mats served as cushions to protect the fragile bodies. Elastic bands were used to secure them in place so they could be transported to a safe location.

  Wherever that was.

  Ronan and his fellow Sanguinar healed the injured while humans lined up to feed them so they had the strength to do so.

  Broken windows were boarded up, and the damage was assessed by Joseph and a small group of his trusted warriors.

  Forty-nine people had died in the attack, most of them Theronai and Slayers. Only two human lives had been lost. Amazingly, one new life had been safely added to the ranks—Madoc and Nika’s daughter.

  The infant was still too new to have a name, but old enough to bring hope
to everyone who saw her.

  The next generation of Theronai had finally been born after two hundred years of waiting.

  Ronan worked long past the time his brothers faded. Even Logan was exhausted now. Hope would return to him and replenish him soon, but she needed time in the sun before she was able to do so.

  It wasn’t until noon that the work was finally done. The worst of the injuries had been treated, though some of the minor ones would wait until nightfall, when the work was far easier on his kind.

  Outside, both humans and Theronai were working frantically to repair damage to the outside wall around the compound.

  Ronan slumped onto a stool in the now-empty examination room and let out a heavy breath.

  Justice slipped inside and closed the door. “I got the final report from Joseph.”

  “How bad?” he asked.

  “Pretty bad. The Sentinel stones and the Hall of the Fallen are safe, but the wall is completely compromised. Even with the work that’s being done there’s no way we’ll keep the demons out tonight.”

  “I assume Joseph has a plan.”

  “He does. We’re moving all valuable artifacts and anyone who can’t fight out to your gerai houses—safe houses. Most of them have already been warded. Each one will be assigned at least one warrior for protection. I also offered up my warehouses, since they’re stocked with enough food, water and beds to support dozens of people for months. They’re set up with decent security too. It won’t stop demons, but at least we’ll know they’re coming.”

  Ronan shook his head in wonder. Without her preparations, the coming night would have cost them so many lives. But now there were safe places for all to go, including his sleeping kin.

  “He’s going to rebuild, isn’t he?” Ronan asked.

  “His exact words were, ‘this is our home, and they’ll take it over our fucking corpses.’ I think he’s planning to take the fight to them by going down through the tunnel they dug into the sleeping chamber.”