“I assumed you werehelpingher, notmentoringher,” she screeched, her wide eyes glancing at the other Council members. “I thought her uncle was mentoring her.”
“That’s the usual order of things,” Elias mused, more to himself than to the group. “I don’t believe there has been a Twinflame bond in over 200 years. At least none other that has been recorded. Only three in our history.”
“Can someone please explain what this Twinflame bond means?” I stepped in front of Alaric, refusing to once again remain a topic of conversation instead of a participant. “So what if Alaric is my mentor? It’s not like either of us had a choice in this.”
The room fell silent, and Alaric tensed next to me as he took my hand and placed the ring back on my finger.
“Alaric had a choice,” Celeste bit back bitterly.
“Was I supposed to let her die?” His voice boomed, his question not just for Celeste but for all the Council members in the room. His father bristled, standing straighter in an attempt to meet Alaric at eye level, but Richard fell just a few inches too short.
“You know what the rules are about un-initiated Bloodwrights,” Dr. Duvall stepped in front of her niece, coming to her defense. “Either they find a way to cope and seek out their blood-related mentor, or they are cast aside.”
“I had to at least try,” Alaric reasoned. “The ring burned me until I finally gave it to her.”
“It did?” Both Elias and I asked at the same moment.
Alaric took a deep breath, glancing between the two of us, before settling his gaze on Elias. “Yeah, burned like shit. Hadn’t felt that kind of pain since I first emerged and got too close to a cemetery walking home from school.”
“Interesting,” Elias replied, stepping forward to the annoyance of Richard and Dr. Duvall as he pushed them out of the way, taking my right hand in his as he examined my hand and the ring carefully. I hissed in response, my hands and fingers still tight with pain.
“Can you please just tell me what this means?” I spoke directly to Elias, ignoring all the others, especially Alaric, who seemed just fine with keeping me in the dark. “What is this blood-binding ritual you mentioned?”
Elias’ features softened as he turned my hand over and then reached for my left arm, pushing up my long sleeve to reveal the golden sigil tattoo. I hadn’t noticed before, but it had grown; the vines stretching further down my arms to my fingers. It tingled at his touch.
“She’s been marked for death?” Elara’s shrill voice echoed. “Why is she even in here? Send her out. Let the Stonebound deal with her.”
Dr. Duvall lifted her hand in command. “The Council voted last night to let this play out.”
Elias and I ignored both of them as he took my two hands in his, looking into my eyes.
“This death mark will tear you apart even with your power emerging more and more,” he began, eyes shining. “But the Twinflame Blood Ritual will bind your soul here in your body and . . .”
“And to mine,” Alaric finished, his voice low, like he was ashamed.
I gaped at both of them, not quite processing what they were saying.
“The blood ritual will act as your full initiation,” Elias continued. “But in order for the bond between the two of you to endure, there must be ablood fusion, as the two of you are not blood-related. This will act as a tether for both of you. But it comes at a cost.”
“What cost?” I whispered, not trusting my voice.
“We’ll be bound for life,” Alaric confessed. “Your pain will be my pain, and my pain will be your pain. We’ll be connected in ways that can never be reversed.”
“Your power doesn’t just flow beside Alaric’s—it answers to it, the way flame answers to air. Twinflames aren’t just bound, they are fused. His fire will scorch when you bleed, your light will falter when he breaks,” Elias paused, putting my hand back in Alaric’s. “You’re Twinflames. You are not just bonded. You are halves of a whole—forever tethered.”
I stood mute, the room feeling like it was closing in as Alaric squeezed my hand. I was a Bloodwright with a mentor from who I’d never escape, unless that escape was death.
Chapter Thirteen
After learning I was a Bloodwright, I didn’t think anything could scare me more than being hunted by a Stonebound or finding out I was magically tied—body and soul—to my mentor at sixteen. But apparently, brunch with my aunt, uncle, and said mentor was the real nightmare.
Tiffany had insisted on an upscale brunch restaurant in Mid-town where the crystal glassware and golden-tinted plates glimmered among the many chandeliers and floor to ceiling windows that gave a spectacular view of the city, 30 stories up. Tiffany and I had met Alaric at the restaurant, Alaric maintaining our ruse by smiling sweetly, kissing me on the cheek, and pulling my chair out for me as we were seated. The blush that crept up my neck and cheeks must have been proof enough for Tiffany that Alaric and I were the real deal, as she winked at me when she thought Alaric wasn’t looking.
We had to wait about a half hour before Uncle Dan showed up, claiming work on his case kept him, when I had a feeling it had more to do with Bloodwright business and my upcoming initiation. Tiffany huffed when he sat down, clearly unhappy about his tardiness.
Tiffany continued to lead the conversation between herself and Alaric, asking about his college plans. I was trying to pay attention, but my mind kept wandering to what had happened in the past few days and what lay ahead. Elias had made it clear that completing the blood-binding ritual to complete my initiation was necessary in order to advance my training and to keep this death mark from killing me. I glanced down at my right arm as I took another sip of tea, remembering how the sigil had expanded even more over my body when I went to take a shower this morning. Elias said it would only continue to grow and spread as I came into my powers, so the blood ritual had to commence.Tonight.
I glanced up at Alaric, who seemed totally at ease, laughing and charming Tiffany off her feet. Dan drained the last dredges of his coffee, the anxiety in his eyes mirroring my own.
