Blood Heir (Aurelia Ryder, #1)(37)

It was a skill that would’ve been out of my reach if it wasn’t for Kate.

Years ago, I was bitten by a shapeshifter and my body rebelled against me. I would’ve gone loup, but the Pack’s chief physician, Dr. Doolittle, had sedated me, delaying the inevitable to allow Kate and Curran to come to terms with it. I was going to be put down. In a last-ditch effort to save me, Kate pulled the blood out of my body with magic and washed it with hers, purging the Lyc-V from me.

Her blood coursed through me, and it gave me the powers of her bloodline. Even after my transformation forever altered me, I had retained the power of blood magic. After Erra and I had awakened her people, Erra named me her formal heir. Some of the advisors raised concerns about whether or not I was suitable. I walked into the session of the council, dumped a gallon of vampire blood at my feet, cut my arm, and clothed myself in blood armor. Nobody ever questioned my right to rule again.

Conlan rotated his wrist. The gauntlet fit him like second skin. The construction was perfect. A year ago, he could only coat his claws. It must’ve taken him months of intense work. I wondered why he spent so much time with Grandfather. Every time I popped in, he was there.

“I’ve applied myself,” my brother said. “I want in.”

He was looking at me with that single-minded determination I often saw on Kate’s face. Conlan had made up his mind. He would find out what was going on. My choices had shrunk to two options: tell him myself and control the narrative, or let him figure it out on his own and kiss the chances of reining him in goodbye.

“I’m trusting you with something important.”

“I know.”

“One careless word, and we’ll end up with the kind of disaster nobody can fix.”

“I understand.”

“What do you know?”

“If you go home, Mom dies.”

Ah. “Grandfather?”

He nodded. “He told me eight months ago. I haven’t told anyone. I understand the gravity of the situation. Let me help.”

“It’s imperative that your parents don’t know.”

“I understand.”

“You must learn everything you can about Moloch.”

“Who is he?”

“The enemy. An ancient god has been reborn as an avatar. The Witch Oracle foretold that in the future he will kill your mother. We’ve been trying to alter that future, but so far we’ve failed. If your mother finds out about the prophecy, she will die.”

He sat very still. Fear flickered in his grey eyes. That’s how I reacted the first time the meaning of the prophecy had really sank in.

“The eye you took, did it belong to Moloch?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Is that why you look different?”

“Yes.”

I pulled an unmarked book off the shelf and put it in front of him. He opened it and stared at the pages lined with my handwriting and illustrations of sigils.

“This is everything I know about Moloch right now. This book doesn’t leave this house. Read it here, commit it to memory. Once you’re done, you must go to Grandfather and get as many details about Moloch as you can. Moloch attempted to invade Shinar in the past. Grandfather can tell you more. I need you to figure out what to watch out for. I need you to guard your mother. If you spot any signs of Moloch or his shithead priests, you must tell me immediately. Do everything you can to keep Kate and them from interacting.”

The distant cry of an eagle echoed through my mind. Turgan.

I let the eagle’s sight unfold in my mind. Nick’s house came into focus, like a vision woven in a net of glowing threads. Turgan turned his head. A large lupine shape was coming toward us, running at full speed down the dark street.

What in the world?

The wolf stopped by Nick’s front door. It was massive, bigger than any wild wolf I’d seen that wasn’t dire. A shapeshifter. Their beast forms ran larger than their animal counterparts.

The wolf sat on its haunches and gently scratched the door. A moment and the door swung open. The wolf’s body surged up, a controlled whirlwind of flesh and bone, and a nude woman rose on Nick’s doorstep, long blond hair falling down to her waist.

Ummm…

The woman threw her arms around Nick. The eagle caught a glimpse of her face, and I almost fell out of my chair. What?

He scooped her up, carried her inside, and kicked the door closed behind him.

Nikolas Feldman, the Knight-Protector of Atlanta’s chapter of the Order, the paragon of knightly virtue, was having a torrid affair with Desandra Kral, the alpha of Clan Wolf.

I got the hell out of the chair. This I had to see.

“Earth to Julie?” Conlan said.

“I have to go.”

“I’ll come with.”

“Not this time. But there is something you can do for me tonight. Read the book first. Then go to Shriker Boulevard on the edge of the Honeycomb Gap. One of the ruins has a wooden pole with a phone line going from it. I cut it this afternoon. If they repaired it, cut it again. Don’t let yourself be seen.”

My brother smiled. “Done.”

I told him my phone number. “Don’t write it down anywhere. Call me tomorrow when tech hits and tell me how it went.”

I was almost to the sanctuary doorway when he called out, “Julie…”