“WAKE UP, CHILD! GO! THIS IS YOUR CHANCE!”
What . . . what did he want? What was happening? She looked around. In the middle of the aisle, Schuyler was holding Jack in her arms, like a Pieta. She stumbled forward, still holding her bouquet. What was Schuyler doing with Jack Force? Jack was supposed to be bonded. But no, Schuyler had never followed any of the rules. The Code of the Vampires had never applied to her. What had the Visitor called her? Selfish. Unremarkable. A false friend.
Bliss felt so lost and alone. Maybe the Visitor was right.
Maybe he was the only person she could really trust. Her mother had not even bothered to wait for her, to see her, to speak to the daughter who needed her so badly. As for Dylan, well, maybe he was false too, had he really disappeared? Was he really being held? He had been able to break through before, what was stopping him now?
There was nothing to stop her.
Maybe the Visitor was right. She couldn’t think anymore; she couldn’t see straight. All she knew was that she was so tired of listening to the voice in her head. She was so very tired of fighting.
“Do it!”
“DO IT!”
“KILL HER!”
So very, very tired of resisting and being good . . . And maybe if she did what he wanted, he would stop torturing her. Maybe if she did what he wanted, she would finally have peace. . . .
Bliss walked over to where Schuyler was sitting and removed the shard of glass from her bouquet.
CHAPTER 66
Schuyler
You’re going to be all right,” Schuyler murmured. Jack lay asleep in her arms. She knew he would live. She could feel it. Her blood would save him. It was the only thing that would save him. It would bring life back to his body and fight the black fire from Leviathan’s blade.
She looked around the empty church. Mimi had not yet returned. Her former nemesis had looked broken and lost. Something had happened back there, down in the glom.
Schuyler hugged Jack tighter, but then heard footsteps. Someone was headed her way. Someone was standing, looming in front of her.
“Bliss, what are you doing?” Schuyler cried.
Her friend looked like a witch, with her wild red hair and her torn black dress, holding something shiny and ominous in her hand.
“I’m so sorry, Schuyler. I’m so sorry,” Bliss sobbed.
Schuyler moved Jack so that he would be safe. She stood up and covered him protectively.
“Bliss, put down the knife.”
“I can’t . . . I have to,” Bliss whimpered.
“I’m sorry but I have to.”
“What do you mean? What’s going on? What’s happened to you?”
“My father . . . he’s in my head. He tells me things. He says I have to do this or I’ll never see Dylan again.”
“Your father?” Schuyler asked.
But she already knew the answer to her question. What had Cordelia once told her? We fear one of our oldest families is harboring the Dark Prince himself. We don’t know how and we don’t know who, but we suspect the betrayal is at the highest level of the Conclave.
Bliss Llewellyn was the Silver Blood all along. Bliss carried Lucifer in her. Then Schuyler remembered something Lawrence had told her as welclass="underline" Your sister will be our death. Bliss was her hidden sister. Bliss was born to kill her.
“No, Bliss, you don’t have to . . . I can help you. We can do something about it. You don’t have to do what he tells you.”
Bliss did not respond. Instead she lunged at Schuyler, who ducked just in time. But Bliss caught the hem of Schuyler’s skirt and dragged her down. Schuyler could feel the blade start to inch its way toward her chest. This was it . . . Jack had risked his life for her and she for him . . . but it was all for nothing. How could she have not known?
“Bliss! Please!” Schuyler sobbed. “Don’t?”
Bliss held the blade above Schuyler’s heart, an inch from her chest, but at the last moment, she hesitated.
“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry!” Bliss cried as she released her friend, the tears streaming down her face.
“Bliss, stop, what are you doing?” Schuyler screamed. “No!” “
With a mighty thrust, Bliss plunged the archangel’s blade deep into her own heart, breaking the glass into a million pieces, and ending her life.
CHAPTER 67
Mimi
The Coven was up in arms. Forsyth Llewellyn had disappeared. Kidnapped by the Croatan? Or was he Croatan himself. Who knew who they could trust anymore? Mimi wondered why he had been so keen on their bonding. Had it truly been for the sake of the Coven, or was it something else? Had he known what was hidden under the church?
Meanwhile, the Conclave was in shambles. This was the end of everything, silver Bloods in the church! At a bonding! It was madness, inexcusable. There would have to be meetings to discuss what must be done. More and more meetings, and proper investigations, and no decisions made. They were frightened and leaderless. Mimi understood that the Coven needed her and Jack now more than ever. More even than yesterday.
The church had survived the attack intact, except for a fine black dust that covered every surface. As Mimi walked through its doors the next morning at dawn, she was glad, in a way, that she and Jack would be alone for the ceremony this time. Because their bonding was not just about the two of them, but the survival of their people. It was their duty.
She was wearing a simple T-shirt and jeans. There would be no society photographers this time, no honored guests. It would be just as it had been in the early days of Rome. There would be no witnesses to their bonding, but they needed none. All they needed was to say the words to each other.
This was their fate and this was their way.
She walked to the front of the altar and lit a candle. Jack wouldn’t be long. They had shared a cab to the church, but he had asked her to wait for him inside while he took a call.
But as the minutes ticked by and Jack did not walk through the church door, Mimi understood. He would never walk through the door. He had lied to her yet again, because he was not worthy of her. He would never be worthy.
Not like . . . but she could not say his name aloud. Kingsley. All that could have been flashed in Mimi’s mind: the two of them hunting Silver Bloods together . . . a life of danger and adventure . . . a chance for her to be herself again. . . .
Her phone vibrated. It was a text from her brother. It said two words: “I’m sorry.”
Mimi blew out the flame. There was no need for it now.
So. She was right. Jack had forsaken her to be with the half-blood. He would not honor their celestial bond. He would not do his duty. She had sacrificed her love, but he would not sacrifice his. He had cast his lot to the winds, tempting fate, death, rebelling against the laws of Heaven and the laws of their blood bond.
She would never forgive him for that. She could have left for Paris when Kingsley had asked. She could have chosen happiness as well. But she had not. She had made her decision too late.
And now she was alone.
The Code of the Vampires decreed that anyone who violated the Sacred Law was condemned to death, the blood burning. Charles had refused to subject Allegra to the sentence. But Mimi was a different matter. Mimi walked out of the church, knowing that if she ever saw Jack again, she would have to kill him.
CHAPTER 68
Bliss
When Bliss woke up the day after Mimi’s bonding, she was lying in a comfortable bed under a patchwork quilt. Across from her sat an ordinary woman with ruddy cheeks and a quizzical expression, wearing a worn cashmere sweater and a wool argyle skirt.
“Miss Murray?” Bliss asked. What was her history teacher doing sitting across from her?
“You’ve had a hard time of it, love. Take it easy; don’t exert yourself.”