Page 103 of Speak No Claim

I was over this shit. These rituals were so fucking performative, from the chants to the blood to the oaths. They were all a fucking show to the legacies before us.

“Tonight,” a council member announced, “We renew what was sworn before us, we renew what our families laid out for us, we renew our pledge to the Blood Oath Brotherhood. Tonight, we remember who we are.”

We renewed our pledge a few times a year, mostly because it made the council’s dick hard. They loved nothing more than to hear their own words thrown back at them, vowing the bullshit we were ordered to. Don’t get me wrong, the Brotherhood had its advantages.

I’d never have to look for a job. The connections were intended that way. If I wanted to run in anything political, I’d have the ties in a matter of minutes. If I ever got arrested, they wouldn’t even handcuff me. If I needed a favor, a lawyer, a fucking blow job, it was handed to me on a gold-plated platter with the initial D on it.

The sky was the limit. Brothers gave their souls over for a free ride at this thing called life.

The blade moved to the next brother. It went on like this for far too long until I heard something coming from the forest. It was the faintest sound, a twig breaking. Without moving my head to make a scene, my eyes shifted toward the movement, and a soft shadow moved with a prowl I was familiar with.

Fuck…

As soon as Hennessy started to make herself at home on our land, I knew it was only a matter of time before she found one of our ritual sites. My father loved hosting these things. It gave him a much greater sense of power in a world where he already held so much. It was never enough; nothing ever was for him.

Especially when it came to this Brotherhood. It was his whole world and the only thing that mattered to him.

For a second, I feared for Hennessy’s life. No one ever came back here, and if they did, they didn’t live to talk about it. She was hidden, blending among the trees in the way she always did, being one with nature, understanding it more than anyone I’d known. The Brotherhood spent decades making sure no one outside of us knew about this place, yet there she was.

Did she follow me out here, or did she stumble upon it?

It was midnight. She could’ve been roaming around, participating in her own rituals. She loved the full moon, never missed one, constantly dancing for her gods. She was getting ballsy, or maybe she was just looking for answers that no one would tell her. I imagined it was probably a little of both.

She was fed up. After Thanksgiving and finding out she was an assignment for me, it was only going to rattle her brain, overriding any sense she actually had, which wasn’t much, if any.

I swear the girl had a death wish.

Everything inside me went still, hoping like hell the Brotherhood hadn’t heard what I did. No one had made any inclination they heard her, and I prayed she had enough sense not to make herself seen.

She shouldn’t be there. No one other than the Brotherhood was permitted in these parts.

Not a soul, but we were all soulless except for her. Maybe it was why I felt her to begin with. She was too pure, too holy, too untouched, and the demon inside me knew that.

I knew her gaze was fixated on what she was observing for the first time. From an outsider looking in, this must’ve been quite a sight. Some sick fucking cult shit, cutting each other, sacrificing our blood to the Brotherhood.

I could feel her stare taking it all in, from the cloaks to the dagger, to all the symbols and oaths and God knows what. If life had taught me anything, it was that confusion always led to fear, which led to panic, which led to fleeing. As much as I loved to chase her, this wasn’t the time or place for my sick fucking kinks.

If she were any other outsider, I would have already been running after her, chasing my prey and then bringing it back to my pack to make them pay. Instead, I stood there more alert than I’d felt in years, ready to protect her with my life if I had to.

She meant that much to me.

So many thoughts and theories sped through my mind at lightning speed with no stop. I couldn’t make a move, not a sound, or a reaction. I just had to keep pretending my focus was on the ritual taking place in front of us.

Even from the space between us, I could feel her emotions pouring out of her and directly into my veins. I saw the exact moment this could turn horribly wrong. The feeling barely left my chest before it was my turn to pledge my oath again.

Except this time, Hennessy would be watching me, and I hated that more than anything.

Word by word, I pledged, “Speak No Claim, Hear No Promises, See No Temptation.”

Each oath felt as if it were tearing apart whatever was left of me with her witnessing my greatest tragedy. I never wanted her to see me like this, and I swear I could hear her breathing, desperately trying not to take off after her. It was my instinct to.

Did she recognize my voice? Did she know it was me under this mask and cloak?

Under all these lies…

Seconds turned into minutes and minutes turned into hours. We could’ve been standing there for days by the time the ritual was over.

It was only when Caspian whispered in my ear behind me, “You better catch her before they do, Onyx,” that I understood where his loyalty lay.