Page 171 of This Blood that Bonds Us
He spoke in a sob. “When she told me she loved me.”
“I knew it.” I chuckled, and despite the heaviness on my chest, relief rushed over me.
It was done. My part in all of it was over. I wanted to stay and fight, but I was going.
“You’re free, Luke. You’ve got to get them all out. You have to fight.”
“This is wrong. This is all wrong.” He gripped at my chest, trying desperately to stop the bleeding. “You were supposed to stay home. You were supposed to live.”
“No, this is right. This is how it’s supposed to be. I’m saving you this time.”
“This is my fault.”
“No way. You’ve done everything right. You’ve been such a great big brother.”
All that trying not to cry was catching up to me, and my eyes went wet when I spoke.
“Why? Why would you do that for me?” Luke pressed his forehead to me between sobs, and I struggled to keep my eyes open.
“You’d have done it for me.” I coughed. Black blood filled my mouth and splattered on the floor. “You deserve to make your own choices. You need to live. They’ll need you.”
“I need you.”
I shook my head. “Go be free, Luke. Live.”
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can. Make your five-year plan. Get all of them and go. I know you’ll take care of Kim.”
It was never my story. I was never hero material—way too soft to ever be strong enough to take down this coven—and not smart enough either, but I broke the curse holding my brothers in bondage, the thing forcing us against each other. That was enough for me.
“Promise me you’ll fight.”
My vision was going, and I was thinking of her. Finally, the sadness of leaving Kimberly hit me. I kept my promises, but it would have been nice to build her that cabin . . . and I bet she’d have looked breathtaking in a wedding dress. Maybe it wasn’t in the cards this time around.
“Luke, promise.”
“I promise.”
The relief of his words held me as I drifted into the peaceful bliss pulling my eyes closed.
Chaos broke out in front of me. Yelling. Screaming. Crying.I wanted to stay.
The funny thing was, even with a dagger through the chest, I still had hope things would work out.
Seventy-Five
Luke
I couldn’t leave him there. I’d poured my blood into his wounds, and he still wasn’t awake. My brother’s blood soaked my pant legs. His skin had gone pale, and seconds later, he let go of my hand.
It was usually the part where I’d crumble. Cry. Resign to the grief and the hopelessness and the weight of all the emotion that had fallen back over me, but my brother had believed in me. His belief was the only thing that got me to my feet.
And Ipromisedto fight.
I looked behind me. Zach hadn’t realized yet. I needed to go. I’d given almost all my blood to my brother, but I had to try to live for him.
I didn’t look at Her as I turned to the battle. The fire in my blood sang higher and higher until I was engulfed completely.
