The Blood Bracelets #1: Blood Bound

Epilogue

‘I’m around the corner,’ said Seth, talking into his phone. He glanced surreptitiously over his shoulder. ‘Where are you?’

Degraves Street was eerily quiet at this hour, but Seth was glad it was. Otherwise carrying a glowing sword would probably cause a bit too much attention.

‘Good,’ he replied. ‘See you soon.’

The door was open when Seth approached, but that was because the man inside was expecting him. He doubted he kept the place unlocked at 4am in the morning all the time.

Stepping inside, Seth found the light was on above the bar. ‘Rafael!’ he called.

‘You better have a damn good reason for keeping me up at this hour, kid.’ Rafe walked out from the kitchen at the back, folding his arms heavily over his chest. ‘You’re cutting into my beauty sleep.’

The front door opened behind Seth, making him turn. ‘Michael,’ he said, almost relieved.

Mike, Taryn’s lecturer, also didn’t look too happy about being awake so late, or so early depending on how you looked at it. He didn’t seem as irritated as Rafe, though.

‘Setheus,’ said Mike, ‘you sounded anxious. What’s happened?’

‘Aside from you revealing yourself,’ said Rafe, his brow raised. ‘Who gave you permission to use your wings like that?’

‘Rafael,’ Mike warned calmly, ‘there isn’t a need to admonish him over that. You and I both felt the demonic energy that appeared.’

‘Well it’s gone now,’ said Seth, ‘and so is Taryn.’

Rafe’s eyes snapped across to him, the dark colour of them suddenly flaring with gold. ‘What do you mean?’

‘It was a trap, the whole thing,’ Seth began. ‘I didn’t think the Alchemists knew anything about Taryn, but they did all this time. I think they know something we don’t. They helped us track down the Infernum after Taryn, let it distract us, and then they went after Taryn. She’s gone.’

Rafe’s eyes were blazing. ‘It was your duty to watch over her, Setheus. I didn’t tell you I found her only for you to lose her.’

‘I thought going after the Infernum was the right thing,’ he defended. ‘He could have told us what he’s trying to accomplish, but he got away.’

‘Of course he did,’ muttered Rafe. ‘Do you know which Infernum it is?’

Seth had been dreading the question. ‘You’re not going to like it.’

‘I don’t like a lot of things.’

‘Asmodeus.’

Rafe’s eyes suddenly blazed with gold fire. ‘What?’

‘Then we have no choice,’ said Mike, his pupils ringed with gold – albeit a calmer gold than Rafe’s. ‘We cannot keep our existences hidden any longer.’

‘I thought we weren’t supposed to interfere beyond keeping Taryn safe?’ Seth asked.

‘She isn’t safe anymore, is she?’ Rafe retorted.

Seth bit his tongue. He didn’t need Rafe telling him off like he was a child, because Seth was already blaming himself. A part of him knew that he should have stayed behind to protect Taryn, that it was stupid of him not to predict the Alchemists’ betrayal. He should’ve known better.

But, then again, he didn’t actually know a lot in the first place. He didn’t know why he had to protect Taryn other than because of who her parents were, that she had some sort of power inside her, but he didn’t know what sort of power or how she had it. He wasn’t privy to the information though, not when he was only told this much upon being given the purpose of protecting her.

‘It doesn’t matter,’ Mike interjected again, always the diplomatic voice among them, ‘because if the power inside Taryn is unleashed by the Alchemists, we wouldn’t be able to stay hidden anyway. Setheus, contact Zerachiel. Rafael and I will speak with the others.’

‘Right,’ said Seth, nodding.

Mike held out his hand, and in his grasp a sword began to appear, burning into existence like a growing flame. The sword was longer than Seth’s and wider, emitting a power that made even Seth step back.

The Sword of Michael.

‘If the Hellgates are opening,’ said Mike, ‘we will need to prepare.’ 

 

 

 

 

 

“It is an ironic habit of human beings to run faster when we have lost our way.”
- Rollo May

A/N - Thank you so much for sticking with Blood Bound until the end, and I hope you enjoyed every moment of it. But, as you can tell, the story of Taryn and Kael is far from over. Stay tuned for Demon Born, the second installment of The Blood Bracelets. 

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