Page 133 of Claimed By Blood

“Grandmother…” The man in the pulpit looks taken aback.

“Quickly, boy, and then we’ll leave. I will speak with your cousin.”

Cousin?

My shock resonates down my bonds, and beside me, Draven and Gideon straighten, frowning. Andrei trudges from his pulpit and into a small room behind the altar, but the older woman takes no notice of him.

She addresses the few remaining villagers. “What are you waiting for? The girl told you to flee. So,flee.”

The mass exodus I expected happens as soon as she finishes. Humans push and shove in their haste to leave but give the three of us a wide berth as the old lady approaches us.

“I am Ioana,” she says. “Andrei is my son.”

“And my cousin?” I still need that explained to me.

“We are related,” she confirms. “Our family is descended from your father’s sister. I don’t know if you were told, but she was looking after you…”

“When Cain killed my mother,” I finish for her.

“I had a sister, too.” Ioana’s eyes go soft with sadness. “She was killed by Cain when he took you from that place.”

From the mausoleum, I realise. The old woman my thralls mentioned, the one who bowed to my coffin, must have been her sister.

I knew, in theory, that it was possible I had a human family somewhere. But I never bothered trying to track them down before my imprisonment. Why would I? I was Cain’s perfect puppet, convinced humans were barely better than animals.

To be confronted with them now, with so little warning… I don’t know what to do. How am I supposed to react?

For Ioana’s part, she doesn’t seem to expect me to hug her or participate in any kind of emotional reunion. No. The old lady just stands there, subdued yet dignified, as she examines me.

Andrei reappears, holding a charred and battered book which is so old the binding has broken and the pages are yellowed. The volume is thick and held together by two belts, which are buckled securely around it, concealing whatever faded writing remains on the cover.

“Yes.” Ioana nods. “He burned your house, and everything in it. But my ancestors managed to recover this from the ashes. Your mother’s grimoire. Our family doesn’t have the gift, but we have kept it safe for the day you, or someone else with the power came for it.”

“And it can tell me how to kill Cain?”

Ioana shrugs. “We are not witches. We can’t even read it. The pages appear blank to us.”

So without a witch, the book is useless. Yet… I can see the ink on the pages from here.

Relief slams into me and I hold my hands out for it. “May I take it?”

At the same time, the buzzing of blades reaches my ears.

A helicopter. No. More than one.

Gideon and Draven both stare pointedly at me, and I can tell they want to grab the book and run.

Thankfully, Andrei must be thinking the same thing, because he shoves the book into my hands. “We’re leaving,” he tells his mother. “Good luck… cousin. I hope that book is worth all our lives.”

“Wait,” Draven says, drawing out a small card from his pocket. “This is the address of a safe house in Bucharest. You should be able to lie low there until this blows over.”

Andrei nods, accepting the card, and ushers his mother from the church without another word.

Too late, I realise I should’ve asked for some way to contact them, but they’re already gone. It’s for the best, I tell myself. Disappearing is safest for them.

Draven gave them the address of that safe house. Maybe when this is over, I can go there and get to know them…

I long to open the book, but I know with certainty what I have to do. So I turn to the two men, biting my lip.

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