I can feel everyone’s stares. I’ve failed. I tried to stand up, to change things, and I’ve hit the same wall I’ve been hitting since I arrived. Not sure why I thought someone like me could change a place like this.
“Then we break the blood contract.”
Ash’s voice is quiet. I turn to look at him, sure I’ve misheard. His green eyes meet mine.
I stare at him, unable to process what he’s saying. The blood contract is his birthright, the thing his ancestor, Sebastian, lost when my ancestor, Abigail, betrayed him. It’s the source of his power, the foundation of his coven’s claim to magical authority. And he’s offering to destroy it.
“You can’t,” Victoria says, but there’s a hint of uncertainty in her voice now.
“We can,” Ash interrupts. “Together.” His eyes never leave mine.
I realize he’s asking me something without words. Asking if I trust him enough to try this, to jump into the unknown with him. To rewrite hundreds of years of magical history.
Victoria’s face has gone pale. “You have no idea what you’re proposing. The contract has stood for centuries. It can’t be done.”
“It’s a chain,” I say. “And chains can be broken.”
I turn to look at Ash. This man, who started as my enemy, then became my reluctant ally, and is now something more. Something I still don’t have a name for. He’s offering to destroy the very thing he spent his life trying to claim, the foundation of his bloodline’s downfall centuries ago.
For me. For us. For a chance at something better.
I reach for his hand, and he takes it, his fingers wrapping around mine.
Forty-One
Rose
Everyone is still staring at us. Victoria with her mouth slightly open, students with wide eyes, Drake, Soren and Lucien with expressions ranging from hope to skepticism. But all I can think about as Ash holds my hand is the way our magic joining feels like coming home. Like this is what was always meant to happen.
“You can’t do it,” Victoria says, her voice losing its usual commanding edge.
“Watch us.” I really hope I don’t end up eating my words.
Ash’s thumb brushes across my knuckles. “Do you trust me?”
“I probably shouldn’t,” I admit. “But I do.”
He looks at me a little longer, then he turns to face Victoria. “The contract was meant to be broken.” He takes a breath before continuing. “Sebastian and Abigail were lovers. Their child would have united the bloodlines. Instead, they were torn apart. The contract was created in grief and betrayal, but it was never meant to last forever.”
Victoria shakes her head. “You would throw away centuries of tradition, of a chance to regain your coven’s power, for what? This girl? Your enemy’s descendant?”
Ash’s grip on my hand tightens. “For a future where magic doesn’t come with chains that bind. Where one coven doesn’t decide an entire world’s fate.”
“What do we do?” I ask him, suddenly aware that I have no idea how to break a magical blood contract that’s survived for hundreds of years.
“We need you. And we need the contract,” he says. “The physical document.”
Victoria laughs. “It’s not here. It’s locked away, protected by wards that?—”
“It’s right here,” Lucien interrupts, stepping forward. He reaches inside his jacket and pulls out a small scroll, yellowed with age.
I can’t believe he has it. “You stole it?”
“Borrowed,” Lucien corrects, and I see Soren nod his approval. “I thought it might be useful leverage.”
Victoria’s face darkens. “Hand it over, vampire. That document is my property.”
“No,” Lucien says simply. He walks to us and places the scroll in my free hand. “It belongs to Rose. It always has.”
