Page 130 of Fated In Blood

I slid back into my seat and sipped my coffee, watching him over the rim of my cup. His hair was still wet, curling at the ends so the tips brushed his shoulders. Neither of us took a sip of coffee, neither of us moved a muscle, lost in the moment that stretched between us.

“I want to tell you a story. I want to tell you about my sister.” Blake’s voice was quiet.Serious. The kind of serious that set every nerve on edge.

“Cassmira died nine years ago on a beautiful spring morning. Today is the anniversary of her death.” He shrugged as he reached up, touching the tiny gold ring reverently. “I couldn’t sleep either.”

I wanted to say something, but what could I say? Nothing would bring his sister back. And nine years ago…Mom had been killed nine years ago, too. The anniversary of her death was…tomorrow, I realized, with a jolt of shock.

“Cass was a lawyer. She took mostly pro bono cases, anyone in the clan who’d committed a petty crime or owed money and couldn’t afford a lawyer to represent them.”

“So you have a…court system? With judges and juries and everything?” I asked, not sure how I never even thought about this before.

“We have old, antiquated laws, which are upheld by the king. If the king is just, then the laws are meted out fairly. If the king is corrupt, well, the best one has to hope for is someone will stand up for you, and maybe, just maybe, you don’t end up rotting away in Tyrell’s dungeon or becoming one of his thralls. Punishment, before Riordan, was never compensatory to the crime in this clan.”

“But Riordan’s father—” I snapped my mouth shut.

“Yes, things were every bit as bad under Dominic Graves. My sister wasn’t fighting for anything as intangible as justice, she was fighting for people’s lives, and she was all that stood between an innocent victim and Graves. Or Tyrell, since he pulled Dominic’s strings.”

“Since she fought an unwinnable fight, she was always flat broke and lived with my sire and mother north of here at the Marten estate.” He stared into his coffee, his expression somber.“None of us cared about the money. We admired Cass because she was doing something none of the rest of us were able to do. She fought the system, but mostly, she fought Tyrell’s tyranny.”

“So Tyrell and Cassmira…were enemies.”

“My sister was the biggest thorn in Tyrell’s side since he left the Old Country. Of course, outright murder of a citizen is frowned upon by the High Council…”

“I’m sorry, the what? High Council?”

“Our governing body, located in Europe, is called the High Council. As powerful as he is, even Tyrell answers to them. Dominic answered to them, too. And the only explanation for what happened next was…the council sanctioned my sister’s murder.”

He sucked in a breath, as if he was gathering himself for this next part. “First, the Silverwoods infiltrated our estate and executed my sire and mother in their bed. They took Cass. Questioned her for two days before dropping her on the front steps of Darkmore Castle with a note pinned to her chest.‘She told us your secrets. Now none of you are safe.’”

I could almost hear Silas’s satisfied chuckle, see his brutish hand scrawling such a gruesome message. Some sense of wrongness niggled at me, though. Why would my father, legendary vampire hunter, make such a grand gesture to the oldest Ancient on American soil?

Unless Cassmira was part of a larger trap?

“Certain crimes”—Blake’s voice was shaking now—“are punished more severely than others. Betraying our species is considered the greatest crime a vampire can commit. Tyrell handed my sister over to Valaine for punishment.”

Shadows curled around him like a shroud, the ends playing down his arms, his neck, like they were trying to comfort him. I tightened my grip on my cup, because part of me wanted to do the same.

“I…” I rubbed my brow. “I know that name. Riordan said…he tortures people.”

“Tyrell planned to give you to Valaine the night of the auction. That was the choice. Me…or Valaine. Then you took matters into your own hands and we—Rohr and I—had to make a decision. That’s why we turned you. Not to take your choice away, but because we knew that Valaine would hurt you, and…we couldn’t let that happen.”

“But…Cassmira wasn’t so lucky, was she?” I didn’t want to hear this, Icouldn’tstand to hear it, but I had to listen until the end, for Blake’s sake.

For Cassmira’s sake.

“Rohr and I tried to get her free. We broke into the castle and got as far as the lower basement—that’s the level above the dungeons—but we couldn’t go any further. Bosch and his guards overwhelmed us and there were magic wards that sapped our power, silver bullets, fucking revenants…Suffice it to say neither of us should have walked away that night.”

“But you did.” I couldn’t take my eyes off this male who’d lost everything, been consumed by guilt and bitterness, andstilldidn’t have his vengeance. “Your sister wouldn’t have wanted you to die, Blake. Trust me. I’d never want my sister to suffer for me, not for a single second.”

His shoulders sagged. “Tyrell gloated when he gave me back Cassmira’s mutilated body. Valaine had gotten sloppy and snapped her neck, otherwise, he would have kept her alive longer. I always wondered if that mistake was luck…or something else. But that’s why I hate your family. That’s why, when I heard your name—thatname—slide between your lips, I just…lost it.”

“I would have lost it, too.” I was so…exhaustedby all this cruelty. How fucking much damage did people like Silas andTyrell have to do before they were finished? How much pain did they have to cause before they were satisfied?

He didn’t so much as blink. “I should have given you a chance, Evangeline.”

“You already gave me that chance when you saved me from Valaine. Now you’re trusting me by telling me about your sister. Next time…who knows?” I reached out and brushed my fingertips over the back of his hand. “Trust is hard for people like us, Blake. But I’d like to get there. Are you willing to try?”

I lifted my cup. “To Cassmira. May she get her vengeance in the next life.”

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