Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 67140 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 336(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67140 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 336(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
Either that or she’s worried about me. I broke a law last night.
To his credit, Damien does not waste time dancing around the subject. He stands and leans against the desk, waiting until I’ve shut the door to speak.
“I’m told you brought an uninitiated to church.” He folds his arms across his chest.
I raise my arms and grin. “Guilty.”
Damien fixes me with a glare. He’s not as tall as me or as broad, but he’s a savage fighter who’s proven himself. Since we were children, he’s been our leader. Father Francis was our patriarch and guide, but Damien was one of us. That’s why he has the crown.
“The only reason I haven’t thrown you to the Torturer in the Abyss is because St. James told me to give you a chance to say your piece. And I know you’re loyal.”
“I am. I was at your wedding when you claimed your reluctant bride.”
It’s dangerous to bring up The Devil’s elita. He’s crazy about her, and claiming her has only made him more psychotically protective.
He rubs his chin and covers his mouth, masking his expression with the skull tattoo on the back of his hand. But he lets me speak.
“Did you know, when you first met her, that she’d be yours?”
He lets his hand slide down enough to answer. “Yes.”
I lean against the wall, staring at the ceiling to find the words. “It’s the same for me. You know my history. My past. The childhood I never had. I had nothing.”
“None of us did.”
“But I had my brother. We had each other, and then we had you. You made something of us. You and Father Francis and St. James. Together, we became something great. Totum maius est partibus suis.”
Damien’s cheek quirks with a hint of a smile at my clumsy Latin.
“I’m grateful. I never wanted anything more.” I pause to let this sink in. “Until her.”
He sighs and says, “St. James said he gave you a reward.”
“I’ve been fighting for so long. But now I want someone to fight for. To live for.” I stop talking and wait. It’s up to the Devil whether I live or die for my trespasses. But if I can’t have Elodie, I don’t want to live.
Damien lets out a heavy sigh. He rubs his hand over his face and then drops it to study his ring. “I understand.”
Damien knows I would die for him and for my brothers. He’d do the same for me, for us. That’s what it means to be Fraternitas.
And when we claim an elita, we make new vows. Damien would die for his chosen one, and so would I. My loyalty to Fraternitas extends to the one he’s claimed. That’s why we take care when we choose the one we’ll claim. The elita ritual is more binding than a legal marriage. It’s a vow written in blood.
“I need someone to cherish.” There’s an ache in my chest, deeper than any physical pain, as I think of my bunny waiting for me in my bed. “Elodie is that someone.”
Damien is twisting and turning his Fraternitas ring. I know he’s thinking of his elita and the long, hard road he took to claim her. “Then take her. With my blessing.”
Eloldie is as good as mine.
I just have to convince her.
I turn to go.
“But Jaeger,” Damien calls before I can open the door. I halt with my hand on the doorknob. “The rules say she must pass the test and prove her loyalty to Fraternitas. If not…”
If not, my life is at stake. I knew this when I brought her to the Abyss. “She’ll pass the test.” I’ll make sure of it.
Or die trying.
Elodie
I stare at Kaiser, who’s glaring at me. I should be used to it by now, but he’s scary up close.
“No. Should I?” I want to add that Jaeger does whatever he wants, but I don’t want to mouth off too much to a man who hates me for no reason.
“This morning, he was summoned to speak with Damien. The one called the Devil? Do you know what that means?”
I want to say, No, I don’t know anything about your stupid brotherhood or its hierarchies. Instead, I shake my head.
“It means they know. All of them. They know you were there.”
He’s talking about last night. The murder I’d witnessed. The ritual that binds Sarah to Fraternitas forever, and me as well.
Kaiser moves into the penthouse, heading toward the far wall. He opens the panel with the safe. I don’t ask how he knows it’s there or how he knows the code, but he unlocks it and holds up the briefcase with my cash.
“This is what you’re going to do.” He comes toward me, and I lock my legs to keep from backing away. “You’re going to take this, and you’re going to leave.”