Page 42 of Blood

Zeus needs to pay for what he took from us, Jack growls. The sudden ferocity in his tone takes me by surprise. Of the two of us, my brother is the more mild-mannered one. He prefers using his words over his fists and coming to a resolution that doesn’t involve any violence or blood.

Me? I have the mentality that, if bitches aren’t bleeding, then they’re not paying.

Maybe I’ll get that motto tattooed on my rib cage.

I can’t imagine the pain Violet’s going through. She lost her mate, Hux. If I ever lost Violet... Jack trails off, unable to articulate the ending of that sentence.

Pain like I can’t even articulate rushes through me just at the thought. A world without Violet Dracula is a dark, dreary place and one that I don’t want to live in. If she died, I have no doubt that the last shred of my humanity would perish with her. I’ll kill everyone in this room, the rest of the world, and then myself.

If I lost her or you... I can’t finish that thought. I love you, brother.

Is this the first time I’ve said those words out loud?

For hundreds of years, there’s been a divide between the two of us. Jack saw me only as a murderous entity who claimed control of his body, and I knew him as the jailer who kept me hostage. Our communication had been scarce as well.

All of that changed when we enrolled in Prodigium Academy.

Jack was the one who chose to attend. I think he finally got sick of my presence in his body after all these years and chose to eradicate me. So, he convinced our father—the ingenious Dr. Jekyll—to enroll us as new students, so he could seek help from the professors. Now, I wonder if fate was tugging us toward Violet all along, knowing instinctively that our futures rest with her.

I did want to get rid of you, Jack admits, his voice a hushed murmur in my head. But now...

Frankie believes there’s a way to separate us, like he did with Balor. The words rush together, turning into a jumble of syllables and vowels. Do you still want that?

Jack takes a moment to answer. But when he does, the noose around my neck loosens incrementally. I don’t know.

I don’t know either, I confess.

Not being able to hear every one of Jack’s thoughts...

Not being able to know he’s safe with me...

Not being able to sense his emotions...

I don’t know if I want to be separated from my brother.

Violet will love us either way, Jack points out, and I wonder if he’s thinking the same thing as me.

Or maybe that’s just hopeful thinking.

Why would he want to share his body with an out-of-touch, murderous psychopath like me?

Of course, she would, I huff out irritably. She’s perfect.

She truly is.

I don’t get a chance to respond.

Suddenly, my brain explodes with a searing pain like a thousand needles are being simultaneously jammed into my skull. I can’t keep the scream locked away. It escapes me in a torrent, the sound echoing off the cavernous walls of the man cave.

“What the fuck are you doing?” That voice... I recognize it. It’s one of Violet’s mates. The stabby one—though I suppose that doesn’t narrow it down much. They’re all stabby.

Vin, Jack supplies weakly, but he sounds just as dazed as I am. It’s hard to remember where I am, what my purpose is, and what I need to do next. All I’m aware of is the piercing, incandescent pain that turns my brain into a bonfire.

“I’m tugging the magic out of the rune, making it ineffective,” a somewhat familiar voice says, sounding strained. I know that voice, but I can’t put my finger on where I’ve heard it.

“You better hurry the fuck up, Balor. If you kill them—”

“Shut up and let me concentrate!”

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