I can’t believe what I’m hearing. “You force me to make an oath and then offer me a job? You’re certifiable.” Anger presses along my veins. “And no different than the God Men you claim to work against.”
Ansaldo’s eye twitches at that. “As I said, once you take the blood oath, I’ll consider your release. Until then, you’ll stay within these walls.”
Before I can conjure a response, he holds up a hand. “I’ll give you some time to think about it. It’s not as if you can say anything to an outsider anyway, since you don’t know the way out beyond the way you came in.”
Bes and Cec do, though.Would they defy Ansaldo for me? Can I ask that of them?
“The tree requires no more sacrifice from you,” he continues. “Come to me when you’re ready to take your oath.”
He walks out of the hall before I can argue the point, to rage at him that he’s taken away my right to choose by forcing my blood into some magic tree. A part of me might’ve considered helping the Order of Cavendi, was fascinated by the prospect. But now? Now… I may not have a choice.
“Miss Hawkins,” Bes says, standing before me and grasping both my arms. “I don’t know what to say. That was—”
“Brutish?” I suggest, shrugging him off. “Savage? A violation? I completely agree.”
“I apologize; I never should’ve brought you here,” he murmurs, hands falling to his sides.
“I’m sorry too, Hawkins,” Cec says, and my anger mounts. How could he just stand there, speechless, as his father said those things? “I’m spineless when it comes to my father. I’d like to claim I’m working on it, but he makes it impossible.”
Quelling the anger in my heart takes a moment. Eventually, I sigh, my ire slowly melting away. I used to be the same way with Nonna.
“How have you found another way to make me pity you? It’s not enough that you’re mostly blind, but now you have an abusive father?”
He grimaces. “Can I make it up to you by bringing dinner to your room?”
I nod, wanting him out of my sight for the moment. “You may.”
An almost-smile pulls at his lips as he turns on his heel and hurries toward the main exit.
Bes gestures toward the exit. “I’ll walk you back.”
I walk past him without waiting.
“So, it turns out you weren’t lying about the blood oaths,” I observe once we’re in the hall, working to settle my lingering rage.
“I tried to warn you,” he reminds me, then grows serious. “Apologies, Miss Hawkins. Truly. Ansaldo shouldn’t have done that.”
“No, he shouldn’t have,” I agree, wishing I could steady my voice as I stare sightlessly down the long hall. What does this mean now? Besides never being able to stab my left foot with my switchblade maliciously, does that second drop of blood mean anything? Have I promised something without realizing it?
“I know you want to run,” he murmurs, and I glance over at him, noting his pinched brow as his gaze searches mine. “I can see it in your eyes. And there’s probably very little I could say to convince you to stay, nor can I blame you for wanting to get as far away from this place as possible.”
He swallows hard and his jaw ticks. A part of me wants to tell him he’s wrong. Yet, I also can’t stop wondering how the hell I’m going to pry open that mechanical door at the end of the cartunnel with my bare hands. I’ve never been treated so poorly in my life, and I refuse to stay in a place where the leader abuses people and forces them into things they don’t want to do.
“You may think it can’t get worse than this, but it can. If the God Men got their hands on you, assuming your affiliation with the order after seeing you with Cec and I, they’d torture you for information. And if they broke you”—Bes pauses, nostrils flaring—“before you took the blood oath, then hundreds of people would die, and the world would fall.”
“How can you put that sort of pressure on me?” I glance away, lower lip trembling slightly. “I never wanted any of this.”
“I know, but you have it all the same. Now, it’s up to you what you want to do with it.”
I glance up at the stone ceiling.Fuck, he’s right.I can’t run now. Even if Ididknow the way out, I don’t want to be tortured by the God Men. If anything has been proven to me over the past few days, I wouldn’t last a week on my own without the connections the order has. Ingrid would find me, torture me until I told her everything I know, and kill me. Then, she’d use that information to hurt others.
No, I’ll have to stay and come to terms with needing to make a blood oath—and figure out how to use this place to my advantage. I still plan to read all I can about the amulet—especially after what it did just now after the tree drank my blood—and now I need to find more about Nonna. If I’m being kept here against my will, I plan to ask as many questions as I can.
I don’t realize we’ve stopped in front of my door until Bes clears his throat.
With slightly-trembling fingers, I fish the key out of the front pocket of my borrowed pants. Slipping it into the lock, I push inside. Of course, not knowing I was going to have company, my things are strewn about the place like a tornado breezedthrough. I shove most of it—including the dirty clothes I left in the corner—underneath the bed.
Once that’s done, I get to my feet, finding Bes exactly where I left him.Maybe he’ll answer some more of my questions.I don’t want to ask him about my nonna—he claimed she was only Ansaldo’s friend, but that could’ve been one of his lies—or the amulet. Those, I’m reserving for Ansaldo.
