Page 28 of The Bonds of Indigo

“I know,” he grits out.

He wraps the chain around his fist and yanks me up beside him. With his other hand, he pulls out a phone, dials a number, and presses it to his ear.

“I’m done. Going dark. I’ll contact you in a few days.”

Then, without warning, he crushes the device in his hand. Metal and plexiglass rain to the floor as he shakes the shards from his palm.

He tugs the chain roughly again, as if impatient with me, and drags me toward the exit.

The moment the doors open, cold air rushes in. I want to breathe it in, to feel the moonlight on my face and the salt of the sea against my skin. But Butcher yanks me in front of him before I can even lift my head.

“Do the damn promise thing,” he growls. “Or whatever.”

Now that we’re outside, in the moonlight, I can finally see him. Beyond the blood and carnage. The scowl cutting across his mouth. The furrow between his brows. The dark hair—just as I imagined, a deep chocolate brown.

And his eyes, even full of hate, look almost… kind.

Swallowing hard, I lower my gaze to my hand and turn it palm up.

Vendra… “Through this oath, I bind myself to help you…”

“Find someone.” He adds in the detail.

“…find someone,” I echo softly, “in exchange for a death.”

Gripping the cuff on my other wrist, I drag its sharp edge across my palm. The metal splits skin easily, and blood wells up, hot and bright.

“It’s not a child,” I add, glancing up at him through my lashes. He’s watching my hand, transfixed by the blood. “Cut your hand and place it in mine.”

“Yeah, sort of figured that.”

He raises his hand to his mouth and bites down. His fang pierces skin, and a line of crimson trails down his tattooed forearm—a sight that’s equal parts brutal and beautiful.

“Who am I killing?” he asks.

“Who am I finding?” I counter.

His eyes narrow, but he doesn’t answer. Instead, he presses his palm against mine. His skin is searing, and the moment our blood mingles, the signature of the binding hums between us.

I close my eyes. “Locked by fate, bound by our oath.”

When I let go, he yanks his hand away. “Is it done?”

I nod once and take a slow breath, ready—finally—to feel the cool night air on my fevered skin.

It lasts all of two seconds.

He’s gone before I can blink, and then⁠—

A crushing pain explodes at the back of my neck. Blackness blooms at the edges of my vision, spreading fast. The last thing I see is the ground rushing up to meet me.

Chapter 8

Iwas tempted to let her hit the ground, but I refrained from being that much of a dick. Though it didn’t stop me from restraining her further and shoving her into the trunk of the car I stole from the hotel lot. She stayed out cold the entire drive back to said place.

I’m not entirely sure what her kind is, to be honest. I may be old, but I haven’t made it a mission to study every damn creature walking this planet. Up until last week, I didn’t even know there was another type of Witch.

What got me was how the officers and the warden lost their shit the moment she said Vendra’s name—one of the Divine Twelve. When she said it again during the oath, I remembered to be careful.