Chapter 23
FINN
I’m perched on the front stoop of the apothecary shop, the warm hues of the late afternoon sun spilling across the cobblestones of the French Quarter.
Inside, the rhythmic clinking of bottles and the faint hum of Josie’s incantations drift out, blending with the emerging buzz of the city as New Orleans stirs to life.
Like yesterday, I work on centering myself. My dark side is restless and angry—angrier than I’ve ever been before.
I’m trying to tether the vampiric nature raging in my veins, but there’s a real possibility I could lose control for the first time in my very long life.
Even as a fledgling, I wasn’t this close to stalking the shadows and ripping out the throats of unwitting tourists.
Something is wrong with me.
Part of me worries it’s a side effect of the unity bond. When I think back, that’s when it began, and it’s gotten worse each time I’ve fed from Josie.
How could something so perfect and incredible—a gift from the goddess herself—be rotting me from the inside?
Rune certainly doesn’t seem to be suffering. Last night, I got to witness firsthand how the two of them interact in private. They are an easy pairing. They laugh, freely. They play.
I enjoyed the play too.
I just had to remind myself not to gut him and rip out his entrails for touching my mate.
Our mate.
Feckin’ hell.
As if my toxic thoughts have called him into being, Rune appears at the corner and stops to allow the traffic to pass before crossing the street.
There’s something off about the Viking.
His footsteps are unusually heavy, his aura clouded with turmoil. As he nears, the set of his jaw and the furrow between his brows tell me more than words could.
I straighten, a knot of concern tightening in my chest. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
He stops at the bottom of the four stone steps that lead up to the shop, propping a boot on the tread of the second step.
When he doesn’t speak, my alarm bells chime even louder. Rune’s not one for contemplative thought. He blurts out every idea that sparks without a moment’s hesitation or concern for the consequence.
He exhales sharply. “It’s Sebastian. He… he wiped something from my memories.”
A chill slices through the humid air. “He what? Are you sure?”
He nods. “He called me in. I remember going over the street reports, we talked a little about how things went last night…and then nothing.”
“What do you think he took?”
Rune gives a bitter laugh, rubbing his temples as if he could physically coax the memories back into place. “That’s the point. I can’t fucking remember what it was about because it’s gone.”
“Of course. Sorry.”
The thought that Sebastian has slipped so far from the man we swore our love and allegiance to is both disheartening and terrifying.
The lively sounds of the city feel distant now, as if we’re wrapped in a bubble of our own, crushed under the weight that he would do something so out of bounds.
To enthrall Rune—his brother—things have devolved so much more than I imagined. “What did he say when you came out of it?”
“He was there, nose to nose, and patted me on the shoulder. He told me not to worry, that he only took what he needed and nothing more. He said it was for my safety and that things are bigger than me and my hurt feelings.”
“I agree there are things that trump personal feelings, but why doesn’t he trust us with them? He’s always told us everything.”
“There’s something seriously wrong with him, Finn. Last night, when we were going to Sloane’s lounge, he was talking to himself—no, arguing with himself—and telling the thin air to fuck off.”
“Is he hallucinating?”
“That’s what it looked like to me. A couple of dumb humans called him on it, and he nearly ripped their throats out, right there on the sidewalk.”
“Feckin’ hell.”
The door behind us creaks open, and Josie emerges, wiping her hands on her apron, a smudge of green staining her cheek. Her eyes flick from me to Rune, instantly reading the tension in the air. “Everything okay out here, boys?”
“Not exactly,” I mutter. “But it’ll keep. You need to focus on the trial.”
Her forehead crinkles with her frown. “No. You need to tell me what’s going on because I feel the anxiety building over our bond and I’m worrying. If you tell me, then I can put it away until after the trial if I need to, but at least I’ll know.”
I scoot over to make room for her, and she sits beside me, her warmth a comforting presence.
Rune looks up, the streetlights catching the red tinge of rage in his eyes. “It’s Sebastian. He did something to my memories. Erased parts of them. It’s something we swore we’d never do to one another. It’s a violation, and we swore…”
Josie hops up and wraps her arms around him. Standing on the steps, she can actually hug him and look straight into his eyes. “I’m sorry, sweetie. Do you have any idea why he’d do that to you?”
Rune clenches his fists. “He’s lost his fucking mind, is why. He’s been riding a slippery slope for a long time and now, he’s fucking lost it.”
Josie eases back and frowns. “This slippery slope…did that start after the bonding and my mom getting killed?”
We both nod.
“Aye. Sebastian has always been a vampire prone to violence, but the chaos and craziness only started after the ritual,” I say.
“And it’s gotten worse lately,” Rune says, frowning at our girl. “Since you got back, it’s been way worse.”
“Not that we think it’s yer fault in any way,” I add, shooting Rune a glare. “Yer not to blame for any of it.”
Josie searches our faces and frowns. “Oh, but I think I am—both me and my mother.”
“What do ye mean, luv?”
She searches my gaze and then Rune’s. “Something happened between me and Sebastian in the wee hours of the morning after the masquerade ball.”
I’m on my feet and growling as Rune’s fangs descend and his eyes flip blood red. “What did he do, babe?”
“I promised I wouldn’t tell you.” She sucks in her bottom lip looking torn.
“I’m going to fucking kill him,” Rune snaps. “If he hurt you?—”
“—He didn’t!” Josie presses her palm against Rune’s chest and leans close to stare him straight in the eyes. “Stand down, Viking. He didn’t hurt me.”
It takes Rune and me a few minutes to back our darkest, protective impulses into the shadows again. When that’s done, I swallow and take Josie’s hand. “What happened, luv? While I respect yer intention to keep yer business private, things with Sebastian are getting dangerously volatile.”
She seems to consider that for a moment, and then she exhales. “Night before last, I was zonked out from the physical trial and then, somehow, I was pulled into Sebastian’s nightmare. It was cruel and awful?—”
Rune curses. “Fuck. You should never have to see what goes on in his head, Jo. That’s fucked up.”
She shakes her head. “No. It wasn’t him that was being cruel and awful…it was my mother.”
“Sebastian was dreaming about yer mother?”
She meets my gaze and shakes her head. “Yes and no. After Egan attacked her, Sebastian found my mother dying. With her last breath, she cursed him to never know a moment’s peace for what he’d done.”
Rune winces. “Fucking hell. That’s harsh. He wasn’t even the one who killed her.”
“I know.” Josie’s eyes well up with moisture. “It’s not right, but if what I saw was what he goes through every time he closes his eyes, it’s no wonder he’s losing his hold on reality.”
I look between Josie and Rune, the weight of our situation settling in. The Quarter buzzes around us, alive and vibrant, a stark contrast to the dark undercurrent of our conversation.
I think about this logically and wonder if knowing this can help us undo the damage done. “Tell us, luv. What did ye see?”
Josie draws a deep breath and frowns. “At first, he was being invited into bed by his vampire maker. She was naked and seductive, and I could feel how much he loved her. Then, my mother twisted the scene, and he’d stabbed her. Manon was dying and asking him why he did that when she’d never done anything but love him.”
“That in itself is a fucking nightmare,” Rune says. “That bitch never loved anyone or anything in her entire rotten existence.”
“But Sebastian loved her,” Josie says. “I felt it.”
I nod. “Aye, he did. There’s a bond between a vampire sire and their child. It’s hard to explain, but it’s a deep connection.”
Rune glances over at me and I try not to get sucked into the question in his gaze. I realize I’ve been angry and off lately. I don’t need him reminding me of how badly I’m fucking up.
“What happened then?” Rune asks.
“Then he was lifting my mother into his lap, frantic to get her to a healer, when she cursed him and died. Then my mother morphed into me, and I was dead in his arms.”
Rune and I both recoil at the image that paints in our minds. It’s unthinkable. The bond between us is such a physical force, the idea of our witch being taken from us is too much.
“For Sebastian to have to live through it once was excruciating. The prospect of going through it again is the main reason he’s rejected the bond,” I say. “But to have to relive it every time he falls asleep…”
“It’s no wonder he’s so fucked up,” Rune says. “But why wouldn’t he tell us?”
Josie brushes a tear from her cheek and looks up at us. “Because a death curse is almost always permanent and on the off chance it can be lifted, it would have to be done by a witch from the same bloodline.”
Rune blinks. “So, you can break the curse?”
I shrug. “That was his hope. He gave me back my family grimoire, and I gave him my word that I would do everything in my power to free him.”
I raise my hand to shield my eyes from the setting sun. “And we will free him, luv, but right now, ye need to gather yer bits and bobs. We need to get ye home and ready for the trial.”
Josie sighs. “About that. I need to make a quick stop on the way. Do you mind?”
“Of course not, luv. Where are we headed?”
“To the Dumont family crypt.”