He takes a breath, and the copper disappears, but it takes a moment for the black to fade back to his purple ones.
“I apologize, I did not mean to distract you,” he says formally. “Please continue.”
Oh, he’s pissed.
“That’s okay,” I reply, tearing my eyes away from him and refocusing on Griff.
“We all had the same reaction,” Griff tells Baz, and all I hear is a grunt from behind me. Griff smirks and then returns his attention back to me, “Where was I?”
“You were explaining that we didn’t need that much blood,” I remind him, super proud that I remembered.
That almost never happens.
“Right, so we have to each put a droplet of blood on the altar, and then if we are true mates, a bloodstone will form, and it will be official,” Griff replies, although he is frowning slightly.
“What is it?” I ask.
He hesitates but eventually replies, “It’s just that it seems really simple, and I hope that it really is that simple, but there is a chance that it’s not and that something else is going to happen, and Michaeleither didn’t tell us because he’s in the dark as well or because it’s a part of it.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll be prepared for whatever happens,” Van says. “I hope we’re being overly cautious though.”
“Me too,” I agree. “Alright, let’s stop stalling and get this done, so that we can all stop worrying about what’s going to happen when we do it.”
I don’t wait for anyone to question me or reply in any way, I simply use Asael, who has managed to transform himself into a dagger for me, and prick my finger, squeezing it so that a drop of blood appears and is big enough that it will fall from my finger, and then I hand Asael to Griff, and he does the same thing. We both hold our fingers over the altar and watch as first my droplet and then Griff’s hits the basin.
Nothing happens.
“I can’t move my feet,” Griff suddenly says, a hint of panic in his voice.
I try to pick my foot up and find that I am very much cemented in place as well.
Fuck. This can’t be good.
“Aren’t you supposed to say something?” I ask, remembering the note that Michael gave to him.
“Shit, yeah, you’re right,” he replies.
Before he can say anything else, the cave groans and shudders, and to my utter shock, it doesn’t sound like rocks or the ground shifting, it sounds like a voice.
My eyes widen.
“Hmmm,” the fucking cave hums. “Oh, it has been a long time since true mates have visited me.”
I stay silent. This is trippy as fuck.
The cave is talking to me.
To us.
At least I fucking hope that Griff can hear it too.
Even the Voices are silent and not being snarky with me. I think their shock scares me more than anything else could.
My eyes meet Griff’s, and I’m grateful to find that he is just as shocked as I am at the current turn of events.
“Are we true mates?” He asks, his voice full of awe and hesitance.
The cave rumbles, “Oh yes, but wait, that’s not the whole story, is it? Come here.”
