“Kelly. That’s not—” I start.
Bran sets the coffee down. He turns to my sister in a way that is decidedly sinister.
“I’ve risked my life for Jessie. What the fuck have you done? You’ve just made a mess of—”
The front door opens and suddenly Damien is standing at the end of the table.
“No,” he says.
Just one word.
That’s all Damien Duval has to say to quiet a room.
Kelly licks her lips and swallows so hard, I can hear it across the table.
“Kelly did what she thought she needed to do,” Damien says. “We’ll not hold it against her. Understood?”
Bran takes in a long, exasperated breath. “Yes, fine, dear brother. As you wish.”
“He didn’t seduce me,” I say.
They all look at me.
“What? I’m a big girl. My sex life is not up for discussion. All right?”
Bran winks at me, causing me to blush.
“Finish your breakfast,” Damien says. “Jessie needs to file her paperwork for her Pledge. Unless you’ve done so already?”
“I haven’t,” I answer. I had thought I’d be long gone by now. “After what happened last night, I didn’t think we’d want to leave the house.”
“The court is powerless against me,” Damien admits. There’s no bravado in his voice. It’s just a fact. “The vasill will be too afraid to speak ill, and the shifter and the witch won’t defend one dead vampire.”
It’s a little disconcerting, the fact that Damien and Bran can just walk into a court and start tearing out hearts with very little consequence.
But I’m grateful for the power, nonetheless. Because I need it. I need them on my side unless I want to be a slave to Julian.
I don’t know who—or what I am—but my mother’s warning keeps ringing in my head.
The things you did, Jessie…you were only a year old and it terrified me.
What did I do?
Why couldn’t she tell me in the letter?
I don’t feel powerful. I don’t feel terrifying.
And yet…
I can’t help but feel like my Pledge is only the beginning of the unraveling of my secrets and the beginning of so many terrifying things to come.
Episode 35
Stay Put, Mouse
In Bran's bedroom in the Anneliese, I find more clothing hanging in the closet from thick wooden hangers. There are several dresses, a few t-shirts, sweaters, jeans, and leggings. Since we're going to the human court to file paperwork for my Pledge, I decide I better act the part of a respectable mortal and go with a deep crimson dress with a pleated skirt and a white Peter Pan collar.
It's as I'm getting dressed that Bran comes into the room and steals the panties I have sitting out on the bed.