Page 62 of Blood from the Marrow
Elena looked at Librada. For once, Elena couldn’t exactly read her expression. She seemed surprised that Sofia and Zuri were advocating for her, but there was an eager undercurrent. A struggle between protocol and her heart.
“I’m sure Hel has far too much to attend to here.” Elena set her gaze on the muscled woman who must have descended from fucking Vikings.
“Sabina asked me to go with you,” Hel said, as if Elena couldn’t read how much she wanted to join them. “To learn?—”
“This isn’t a field trip,” Elena said like a steel door slamming shut. “We don’t have time to?—”
“The mess with Sayah is big, innit?” Hel took a step toward Elena. “You know I can help. How many green vampires do you have in your crew? How many know what war requires?”
Elena looked at Librada and remembered her heartache. They couldn’t have had enough time to talk things through, not when they hadn’t seen each other in so long. Not when there was so much to unpack.
“Well, which is it, Hel? You want to share what you learned in those books? Or you want to study the Aglion? Or you want to fight?” Elena put her hands on her hips. “And what about The Order’s neutrality?—”
Hel interrupted her again. “All things can be true at once, can’t they? And I’m acting on my own in this. I’m not?—”
“I didn’t know cults had a revolving door. I didn’t realize you could just jump in and out.”
“I wouldn’t know,” Hel said, body visibly stiff, but she held herself together. “I’ve never been in a cult.”
Elena looked at her for a long time, but she couldn’t see the path forward. She had too many other things on her mind to worry about Hel. No, not Hel… Librada.
“What say you, Librada?” Elena asked, much to her second’s surprise.
“Hel is a competent fighter with a great deal of experience,” Lib said like she was trying to sound neutral on the subject. Like it wasn’t obvious that she didn’t want to leave Hel behind. “And anything she might know about the Aglion could prove useful.”
“And what’s something that you know, Hel?”
“There are three kinds,” she said, as if Marisol hadn’t already told them that. “Some can call down lightning and the strongest of those can send electrical impulses to the heart to stop it. Others are bloody bulwarks who can make themselves impenetrable.” She looked at Marisol like she wasn’t sure she wanted to say the rest in her presence. “And the healers, of course.” She kept her attention trained on Elena. “At maximum power… it seems they can bring the dead back to life.” Shedropped her voice. “But the cost is… Well, nature always finds a balance.”
Elena understood she meant healing Aglion could heal someone to death. Their own death. She moved on from the topic.
“I’m sure that’s something we would have discovered on our own,” Elena replied, even though Marisol had told them about the sorry state she’d found the Aglion in.
“I returned to Sabina’s tower this morning. I learned a great deal, Elena. And I’m willing to fight by your side,” she said when what she meant was Librada’s side. The idea of Lib having her own protector pulled Elena into the stupid decision.
“Will you submit to compulsion?” Elena asked, sure Hel wouldn’t allow the loss of control.
“What? Why?” Hel tensed, expression dripping with revulsion.
“That’s the price,” Elena said simply, ready to get back home. “If you want to come, I need to know that I can trust you.” Her attention darted to Lib. “Trust you with the people whose lives mean more to me than my own.”
Hel looked at Librada, her steel blue eyes softening. Her chest rose and fell and Elena knew she would submit by the way she dropped her shoulders and relaxed her hands.
When she turned back to Elena, Hel nodded. With only a moment of resistance that Elena guessed was more reflex than defiance, Hel allowed Elena inside. The answer to every question Elena asked had the same result. Hel was not working with Sayah, had nothing to do with the vampires who descended on Sabina’s tower, and she only wanted to join them to help Librada no matter the cost. Even if it required self-sacrifice.
Satisfied, Elena released Hel’s mind.
“Fuck that feels awful,” Hel said.
Elena managed a smirk. “I’m sorry, darling. Next time, I’ll ease in more gently.”
Hel glared at her, but didn’t say thatnext time, she’d put up a fight. Elena nearly wanted her to try, but then Sofia was walking back into the kitchen.
“That was Armand. Lune de Sang’s second.” Sofia slipped her phone into her back pocket. “Bernice is pressing to talk with you. Sayah is courting her and she’s running out of ways to avoid her without her loyalty to you being obvious.”
The head of the Louisiana cartel had always been a friend. Could she trust her still? How the fuck was she supposed to trust her intuition anymore? Betrayal was everywhere she looked.
“She is not the only one, Elena.” Librada stepped forward. “Other cartels have called. Northern Mexico. Southern California. Eastern Canada. They want to rally to your side.”
