“Then they have nowhere else to go,” I say, stroking the map.
“So it seems,” Altair mutters, his eyes narrowing. “What made you change your mind?”
“About what?” I ask, my eyes locked on the symbol of the Bloodbane keep.
Altair rolls the map up, covering the Bloodbane keep, and sets it aside. I turn to look up at him. He’s leaning against the table, his arms crossed impatiently over his chest. “The wedding.”
I press my lips together tightly. “Something is wrong with me, Altair.”
His eyes soften and I know that no matter what I’ve done, he pities me. “What do you mean?”
“Ever since I broke the curse, I’ve felt something different inside me; something deep down.” I twist away from him, blinking back the tears that threaten to spill from my eyes. “I don’t understand who I am anymore, or what I want. Before I broke the curse, when I looked at you, it was like I was in a dream. Now I can’t wait to wake up.”
“Perhaps we awakened something within you when we broke the curse,” Altair murmurs, his hand stroking my shoulder.
I pull away from him, wiping at my eyes. “It doesn’t matter now. I want to be married by the end of the week, maybe then I’ll feel like myself again.”
He presses his lips into a thin line, his hazel eyes narrowed with concern. “That simply isn’t enough time to prepare.”
“I don’t care if it’s a big wedding or if hardly anyone is there. It could be just the two of us,” I say desperately.
“Our wedding is meant to draw Alnembra back into the world and strengthen ties with our allies.” Altair shakes his head.
I feel a flash of inexplicable anger. “Then we’d better get to work.”
His eyes glimmer and he moves back to his seat. “Then it will be done.”
I wrap my hand around the door knob and tug it open. “Thank you, Altair.”
“Verity,” he says. I pause and glance at him over my shoulder. “Stop reading the book. Burn it if you can.”
I run my tongue over my lips, anxiety flooding me. “Why?”
“I don’t think it warrants an explanation,” Altair says bitterly. “The book is leading you down a dark path.”
“It’s just a book,” I mutter.
“No,” he says. “It’s not.”
I know he’s right. I know the book is powerful enough to pull me away from myself and deeper into my Bloodbane past. But I don’t know if I can deny the magnetic pull I feel from the text. I don’t know if I can deny all that Dain has promised I’ll find in the book. My hand trembles on the knob. I push through the door, stepping back into the hall without another word to Altair. I can feel his eyes on me until the door closes shut again.
The skirts of my gown swirl around my feet as I head to my room. The book is safely hidden behind the wardrobe. I draw it out after locking my door. The sun is shining brightly outside. I curl up on the balcony with the book on my lap to read in the sun. Altair’s words echo through my mind as my eyes rove the pages. I shouldn’t be reading this. I know that. I’ve known that since Dain first put the book in my hands in the library. But I don’t want to stop reading it. I’m fascinated by its mysteries. And I sense that if I stop reading it, Dain will be nothing but a distant memory.
I twist my lips into a frown as I think of Dain. I should never have betrayed Altair in that grove of trees, but I know in my heart that if given the chance, I would do it again. Dain need only say the word and I would run to him. I shudder, chills tingling up and down my spine at the realization. I grip the book so tightly my knuckles go white. I can only hope that my marriage to Altair will save me because I can’t save myself.
My attention is drawn back to the book as my eyes catch the words Holy Rite. I stroke the ink, eyes scanning the page greedily. My stomach turns as I read of the unholy ritual the Bloodbane perform when a new female joins their order. The witches bring the initiate into the highest tower in their keep, a room with a portal that leads into the ether. I bite down hard on my bottom lip as I read of the ceremony that ties the initiate to Sadal. It turns my stomach, nausea sweeping through me. It’s sickening and painful and no doubt pleasurable when Sadal claims the initiate for his own.
This is what I would have to endure to become a true Bloodbane; what I would need to do to complete the oath already running in my veins. Curiosity tugs at me, compelling me to read more. I bury my nose in the book, eyes roving over the illustration of the well that acts as a portal to the ether. In the drawing, blood drains down into the well as the initiate is stretched over it. Sadal is pictured there, his sharp nails digging into her flesh.
A cloud crosses the sun, shrouding me in darkness. It pulls me away from the book and I feel as if I surfaced out of the deepest depths of the ocean. I look up, lifting my gaze to the sky. And I see Altair gliding above me, the wind ruffling his dark feathers. He doesn’t glance down towards me, instead heading off towards the harbor.
I glance down at the book. I gasp, seeing the sketch of the dark ritual. Its grotesque, blood spattered everywhere. I drop the book, fingers trembling as I look at the drawing with new eyes. I kick the book away with my foot and draw my knees up to my chest, shuddering. Altair’s father was right to destroy the books about Bloodbane magic and
