Page 133 of A Bond with the Dark

He pulls down his collar, and there’s the same mark on his neck that’s on Dom’s arm.

“What?” Scarlet says, arising from the chair and looking more closely at the mark. “How are you both marked by the same warlock when living separate lives in different states?”

“There’s always a deeper line drawn between things than we realize,” remarks Adaline, a pensive expression washing over her face.

“But how were you marked, Bash?” Hattie asks, her dark and pierced brows knitting together in confusion.

“It appeared the other day. And when it did, she came to me in a vision right when it happened, saying that I’ve always been hers; it took a bloodline getting marked for me to.”

“So, because Dom was marked, that is why Bash is too?” Hattie inquires of Adaline. “So, are we next?”

Adaline shakes her head. “No. It’s because Bash has always been promised to her. It was a deal I made with her to have children.”

There’s a palpable wave of shock that reverberates throughout the room.

“What?” Bash questions, leaning forward on his knees and glaring at her again, his face wholly unguarded.

“I couldn’t have children,” she begins, the truth pouring out of her in a devastating sieve. “So I went to see a Shaman. I was desperate. I saw a few of them. One gave me the spell to keep my babies safe in the womb, which turned into your vampire curse. And the other—” She stops and takes a deep breath as if summoning the strength to say the following words. “The other I had summoned a demon to give me a child.

“The demon was both male and female. The male part offered to give me a seed that would pave the way for other children, but when that child turned twenty-one, I would have to give him over to the female part for a lifetime of servitude. See, me being part witch and him being a hybrid, part witch and part demon, would give them the power they needed for their grimspawn spells. I agreed, knowing I’d do whatever I could to change that.

“Your father didn’t know I’d made a deal with the demon, so I didn’t tell him at first. But when Bash was born, it was clear he was not a mix of Everett and I. Before we lost Ollie, the first vampire, I did more spells to keep Bash from being marked, and it seemed to be working. I thought I had it beat. He turned twenty-one, and nothing happened all the way until he was thirty-nine, when he died and became a vampire.

“Worried that I was dealing with something beyond my comprehension, I consulted the Shaman again; she told me that the vampire curse, which started as a protection spell, kept him safe from the warlock’s magic. She couldn’t touch him because he was a tribrid. But she did warn me that vampires are their deepest desires because being linked with a vampire makes them immortal, too, and that one day she will come for Bash. She will find a way, which will come as unexpected as it did. Through a human witch.”

Every single pair of predatory eyes falls on me.

What do I have to do with this?

“Even though the warlock didn’t have her eyes on Dom or any trackers on him, she used events to bring him to her, mark him, and get to Bash. And now she has them both.”

“So, Bash is a witch, a vampire, and a demon?” Hattie examines.

“A tribrid,” Adaline explains.

“And that is why Dad hates me and why I don’t look like any of you,” Bash snarls.

“Or act like any of us,” Dom replies curtly.

“Yeah, I’m a monster. Everyone knows.”

“He doesn’t hate you,” Adaline pacifies.

“Why did you want our blood?” Hattie interjects before Bash can argue with Adaline. “What would that do?”

“I thought if I drank your blood under the full moon and chanted some witchy-woo, it would put the protection spell back on me. I didn’t have any idea that Dom here had been marked too. When she said bloodline, I assumed it was about you all. Hence why I figured your blood would work to break it.”

“Well, that was a nice idea,” comments Adaline, her motherly tone breaking through the surface of her guilt. “But this should work for you both. We can get the mark off both of you.”

“Who does she want you to kill?” Dom asks, and Bash glares at him, his eyes narrowing.

“Talora,” he says.

“Why does she want you to kill Talora?” Dom questions.

“Well, she wants you to kill Sayah,” offers Scarlet. “It would seem that she wants them to kill the closest person to them. To get rid of their earthly connections.”

“She wants you to kill Sayah?” Bash asks, and his eyes graze mine for a moment.

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