Page 102 of Claimed By Blood

Oh, this is good.If I weren’t so terrified, the sight of miss-goody-two-shoes finally getting an earful from our Sire would be amusing.

I’m not stupid, though. He’ll scare her a little, but he won’t risk putting her out of action. He needs Bella to run his empire. Once he’s sent her off, it’s me who’ll have to bear the brunt of his anger. I’ll be the one left aching and bleeding on his bed.

“Interrogating runts is going to get usnowhere. By now, Evelyn and her thralls almost certainly know what Samuel does. If your men—your wretched progeny, Armin, who you were so fond of—were worth a damn, they’d have killed your sisters and your wretched, traitorous brother. Instead, they’re incompetent, just like you.”

Bella chokes as she blabbers and claws at his hand. “But, Sire, there’s no rush. You said yourself, Samuel’s claims are ludicr—”

Cain’s other hand goes to Bella’s jaw and—in a movement so fast I barely see it—he digs his claws in and rips her head straight from her body.

My throat burns with vomit. Bella’s old enough to overcome beheading, but it still hurts like a—

I don’t see the stake until it’s too late. One second Bella’s corpse is lying on the rug, bleeding into the plush blue fabric, staining it an awful shade of black-brown. The next, a splinter of silver is sticking out of her chest and she’s shrivelling away into nothing. Soon, all that remains of my eldest sister is a husk. When Cain drops her withered head to the carpet, it disintegrates entirely.

He killed…

Oh God.

Hekilledher.

A scream lodges in my throat as he turns his cold grey eyes on me. Only self preservation freezes the sound before it can emerge. My lungs burn, but I can’t seem to physically force myself to breathe past the crushing terror in my chest.

I sit in silence, staring with wide eyes at the grey, cold corpse wearing my sister’s clothes and jewels.

“If I’d known all it took to shut you up was killing Bellatrix, I would’ve done it a lot sooner,” Cain mutters, striding the length of the room. “Clean that up. I’m taking command of our troops. Be in my chamber at sunrise. I’ll need to feed.”

The door slams behind him, but I barely notice him leaving. I can’t rip my eyes away from Bella. Instead of a scream, my lungs clench, forcing free a ragged sob.

The second I manage to draw in a shaky breath, I collapse.

“Bella,” I whisper, sliding from the sofa and landing hard on my knees.

I reach out, but stop with my perfect French manicure just inches from her crumbling form. If I touch her, she’ll disintegrate entirely.

Not that it matters. She’s unrecognisable now. Only her prim tailored suit and favourite bangles give any clue that the corpse before me is even her.

She was the perfect daughter. Cain’s shadow who took care ofeverything. She worked loyally for centuries without a hint of hesitation. I didn’tlikeher, but she was always there when I called. Never turned me away. Never complained about my spending, or my partying. Reliable to a fault. The perfect eldest sibling.

And he killed her. My sister.

Worse, I said nothing.Didnothing.

I’m next.

I feel it with a cold certainty that slithers into my bones and wraps around my heart. Grief, shock, and disbelief war inside me until my finger crosses that final distance and touches her hand.

It turns to ash at the contact, collapsing under the lightest contact. Her bangles roll across the blood-soaked rug, and the diamonds in them are quickly coated in scarlet. By the time they come to a stop, they could be mistaken for rubies.

Some primal part of my mind recognises that her blood still smells good. First generation. Powerful.

I seal my lips and force myself to swallow down my rising bile.

“Oh my God, Bella.”

I’m falling apart, but I don’t have that luxury.

Deep breath in, I pick my jacket off the arm of the chaise and slide it on. Twiddle the rings on my fingers, stroking the stones in a rhythmic pattern.

I’ve seen death before. This is no different.

---