The Blood Bracelets #1: Blood Bound

Chapter Twenty-Three

‘I don’t like her.’

Taryn zipped up her jacket and turned around, finding Eljae at the bedroom door. ‘Who?’

‘The Alchemist. I don’t like her.’

She sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled on a pair of boots, which Coranna had been nice enough to lend her. ‘How come?’

Eljae scoffed. ‘Please. Don’t tell me you like her? She’s quite obviously latching on to your man.’

‘He’s not my man, Eljae,’ said Taryn. ‘Kael can do whatever he wants.’

‘I don’t believe that for a second,’ she replied.

Taryn didn’t say anything. She tied up the laces of the flat, loose leather boots, trying to erase the image from her mind of Kael walking out with Eden and the look in his eyes as he met her gaze for just a few seconds. In that moment, he had seemed unreachable, like the distance between them was so great Taryn couldn’t have crossed it even if she tried. She didn’t understand what had changed from the moment he kissed her to this morning; did he regret it?

Still leaning forward, Taryn glanced at her blood bracelet. She focused on it, tried to feel its warmth, tried to feel Kael’s presence – but there was nothing. It was just a piece of jewellery right now and she had no idea why.

A sharp pain bit inside Taryn’s chest and she sat up, gently pressing her palm into her sternum.

‘Hey, you all right?’

She looked back up to Eljae. ‘I’m fine, still tired I guess.’

Eljae gave her a knowing look. ‘You know I don’t believe that either, right?’

‘Yeah, I know,’ said Taryn, standing up.

Kael had left almost thirty minutes ago with Eden. Taryn didn’t know what they were doing; she thought they had walked outside to arrange the meeting with Asina but when she had peered out the window, they both were gone.

Stop thinking about it, she told herself, trying to shrug it off.

‘What’s this place like, anyway? The “Halls”?’ asked Taryn.

Eljae shrugged. ‘No idea, I’ve never been there. Demons aren’t allowed, remember?’

‘Which country is it in?’

‘Oh, it’s not in any country,’ Eljae said, ‘actually, it’s kind of in every country.’

Taryn sat back down again. ‘Huh?’

‘How do I explain it? The Immortal Halls is in another dimension, I guess. There are permanent Doorways in places throughout every country that only Immortals and some Alchemists know about, but really it’s a place within a dimension that connects every other dimension.’

‘So, where is it?’ asked Taryn, because Eljae’s answer didn’t quite make any sense to her.

Eljae laughed. ‘You’ll see it soon enough, just try and keep that pretty little bangle of yours hidden, okay? And keep an eye on dancing girl, too.’

She smiled, absently tugging her sleeve down to hide the blood bracelet. Eljae gave her a wink and walked out to the hall, her footsteps receding as she headed downstairs with the others. Taryn wasn’t quite ready to go back down, so instead she lay on her bed, her head falling onto the pillow, and stared up at the ceiling.

Afternoon sun streamed in from the window, the day remarkably clear considering they were almost into winter. She wondered what the weather was like wherever they were going, and then remembered she was going there with Kael and Eden. Taryn let out a groan and rolled over onto her side, facing the wall.