Page 55 of Always Eros

“There’s a name plaque,” I say. “Hezekiah Miller, Esteemed Disciple, Ordained 1783.”

“Hezekiah…” Hale whispers. His knees buckle as he reaches out and grabs Yves’s arm for support. With his hand clutching his throat, he stares wide-eyed at the black-and-white photo. “It’s me. It’s really me. I remember it now. They came to us during war. I had defected and…” He grips his forehead. “Can’t remember yet.”

“That’s a start,” Yves says. “Justice, where is the holy vat?”

“On the altar where we came in.”

We head back that way, while Thorn and Midnight walk with a dazed Hale, who keeps turning and looking at his picture on the wall.

Yves walks up to the holy vat—a tall glass vessel filled with deep red liquid that swirls like an ocean current. He starts to lift the lid, but I run towards him.

“No. If anyone other than the designated ones open it, the Supreme Being will know.”

“Good,” Yves says. “I’d like to meet this… whatever he is.”

I look over my shoulder nervously as Yves lifts the lid and dips his finger inside the liquid. He lifts it to his nose, sniffing it, and his eyes narrow. “It’s mixed blood. Hundreds, if not thousands of varieties.”

“It’s given by those who enter Eternal Bliss.”

“What?” Yves asks.

“The death ceremony. When this life is over, we are to donate our blood to the holy vat for the benefit of the Supreme Being and the disciples. Then we die.”

I don’t miss the hard look Yves gives Eros. “Where is the leader?” Yves asks.

“I would assume he’s in his sanctuary across the property. It’s guarded.”

“Not a problem,” Yves says. “Lead us there.”

“If you say so.”

Hale is staring at the picture of the Supreme Being, gripping the altar hard enough that I can hear the wood crack in his grasp. “I think we should go.”

“And why is that?” Yves asks. “If you think I’m afraid of a vampire with a god complex, I assure you—”

“No,” Hale interrupts. “It’s all coming back. I know what happened to me.” He exhales a shaky breath, focusing on me. “This is a cult, but not the religious kind. The vampire kind, and what I have to tell you might change everything.”

Chapter Nineteen

EROS

After helping a shaky Hale back to the car, we ride back to New Onyx in silence. It would be impossible to have a productive conversation while Hale deals with his memory returning in what seem to be violent waves.

He moans and trembles in his seat, mumbling incoherent words as if reliving his experiences all over again. More than once, he seems to repeat some sort of incantation, but he always stops before he’s done.

“Is he dying?” Justice asks, clutching my arm.

“No. His memory is returning.”

“Looks like it was way better to forget.”

“I have to agree.” I turn my attention to Justice, brushing his hair from his forehead. “And how are you holding up?”

“It wasn’t as bad as I thought. I should’ve been more scared though. Guess I’m still wrapping my head around the idea that I might’ve been raised by vampires.” He scoffs. “In some ways it makes sense, well, as much as it doesn’t. I mean, vampires? What the fuck?”

His laugh is nervous and bordering on breaking into sobs. “I can only imagine what you’ve been through since leaving. It has to be a lot to take in.”

“Yeah.”

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