Page 38 of A Heart Of Bitter Poison
“Bloodfated?” Eryx asks. He leans a little forward in his chair and I groan. His eyes twinkle when he meets my gaze. For real. The wrong balls got the glitter memo, because his eyeballs are properly sparkling. He’s fuckinglovingthis.
Bianca raises her glass and brings it to her smile. “A sacred bond of fate in blood, unbroken by distance and time. Two souls, drawn together by a shared essence. It is not unlike Aristophanes’ dialogue on love in Plato’sSymposium. Two halves of a whole, separated by the gods, searching for their missing piece. Except, in reality, it is much rarer than Plato supposed.”
“So rare it’s actually a myth,” Ediye says.
Bianca looks at her and grins, but not without a hint of challenge. “For a powerful witch, I thought you would know better.”
“I’m sorry,what?” Eryx asks as his gaze shifts between us. “Mistoffelees? What doesCatshave to do with this? I’m so confused.”
“Dio ci salvi tutti,” Bianca groans. Ediye properly chokes on her wine and spits it back into her glass. Gigi straight-up cackles. Cassian snickers until he looks at Davina, who watches him with a flat, assessing stare. “Not Mr. Mistoffelees.Aristophanes. The Athenian playwright. Let me guess - you’ve been an immortal for all of thirty seconds,sì? Modern education is so lacking.GesùCristo.”
Eryx sits back in his seat, visibly shrinking into the quilted leather.
“Plato wrote theSymposiumas a philosophical dialogue on love,” Bianca explains, gesturing with fluid grace as she animates her tale. “In Plato’s work, Aristophanes presents the idea that the gods were angered by humankind’s arrogance, and thus Zeus split our bodies and souls in two. We were left to look for our missing halves, bereft. Once reunited, both individuals would be struck by kinship and humor and love. We would be restored to our ancient nature. Healed.Due anime diventano una.”
“And you think Lu and Ashen were what… two souls that were split somehow? And reunited?” Eryx asks, leaning forward again.
“Who knows?” Bianca says with a shrug. “Two ancient creatures, who trace back as far as we can map immortal existence, restless in themselves and in the world. Both broken and alone, now bound by blood in a bond that surpasses the confines of reason or magic. Two fates spiraling closer together with every drop of life shared. It certainly seems like a myth breathed to life, does it not?”
Bianca’s eyes land on me, passing right into my soul. Crystals of ice bloom beneath my skin.
I want to argue back and deny all her claims. I want to tell her that our bond died when Ashen did. I want to say that anything left behind was wrenched from my body when he watched as I was taken to the cage. It withered away in the dungeons of the Shadow Realm. I want to tell her how every needle and cut and burn and break had pulled our fates apart. How they had stolen from me, and anything left in a bond had to have died with everything they took.
But none of that would be the whole truth.
We may have unspooled, but somewhere, somehow, we are still tied. Whether by hurt or vengeance or love or death, we are tied.
I place my glass on the table. I sit back a little in my chair. I wanted the truth, and I got it. Part of it at least. I can feel it, as impossible as it could be. Ashen and me, our fates are bound, somehow. Whether those threads end at my destruction or his, or something else altogether, I don’t know. But we are part of a greater tapestry of lives on the brink of unraveling. I know that too. I feel the fates at the loom, spinning us into the mysteries of the realms.
“I need to find Valentina,” I say, not breaking my connection to Bianca. A smile lifts the corners of her lips.
“Give me two days.”
“We need to take Cassian with us too, before Semyon tracks him here.”
“Please do,” she says, her smile broadening as Cassian’s huff of irritation carries toward us.
My head feels clearer. My veins fizz, filling with a tingling hum. I stand, giving a nod to Bianca. “Two days.”
“Two days.”
“Where are you going?” Ediye asks. She looks between us, confused.
“Downstairs, to have a drink and have some fun while I can,” I reply, offering her a hand. She takes it and stands, the others following our lead and rising from their seats. My legs feel steadier when I turn away and walk toward the stairs.
I know the truth.
The Reaper is back in the Living Realm. And he’s coming for me.
CHAPTER15
The music vibrates through my chest. It flows through our little band of immortals like water, carrying us away on its waves. We have centuries of practice and decades of grace, after all. But when you’re a vampire in particular, dance has a music all its own. It fills me with heartbeats. The sound of muscles working and air passing through lungs. Feet tapping in percussion on the floor. Voices and laughter. Whispers of skin. Caresses. Kisses. The scents and sounds of desire.
With every note, I feel myself restored. I close my eyes and smile more than I’ve smiled in a while. I lose myself in the surge of sound. I dance until a thin film of sweat embraces my skin and glows in the flashing lights. I feel more like myself with every song.
After a while, I separate from the others, standing at the edge of the dancefloor to catch my breath and just watch for a moment. When I look toward the tables, I spot Davina sitting with Cassian, giving him a tentative smile as he leans forward in the throws of an animated tale. Something about that moment seems more than okay. I look away as though the weight of my gaze might break the spell.
I’m watching the lights that frame the stage, smiling a little at the DJ mixing songs and beats I’ve never heard. I’m thinking about the notes my voice could add when I feel it.
