Dark Promise by Annika West

6

Willow’s voice was as impassive as ever. “Sure, people left every once in a while. My cousin Ben ran away when I was fourteen. I cried like a fucking baby when we found out —”

“You?” I demanded. “Cried?”

She slid a murderous gaze toward me. “I’m a vampire, Cut. Not a robot. Anyways, we mourned him like he died. Because once you leave the clan, you’re as good as dead. You’re not allowed back, and you’re certainly not allowed to call your parents on the phone on Christmas.”

I inhaled so sharply that I choked on my spit.

Willow watched me, unimpressed, as I gasped for air on the sand while clutching my chest.

“Woah,” I rasped. “Sorry for almost dying there.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“Why does the clan do that?” I asked. “Banish people? Arrange bonds? Cut off family? That’s fucking barbaric.”

“It’s the way they’ve done things for over a thousand years. We had some old assholes in charge convinced that some god gave them a mandate of superiority. Their job was to keep the bloodlines clean and live separate from the rest of the world.”

“That is fucked up.”

“Pretty much.”

“When did you leave?”

“When I was fifteen. I stayed with my aunt. Marni’s mom, as you’d know her. Don’t say anything. That family was the only thing my broken ass had.”

Curiosity took over, and oddly enough, helped me forget a teensy bit of my own self-pity. “You didn’t go to school with Marni?”

“I was homeschooled. Depressed as fuck and terrified of how big this city was. My aunt paid for a tutor who turned out to be August’s as well. August went to a normal school, though. He joined me every Monday and Wednesday for math and language arts lessons.”

Oh. So that’s how they knew each other.

“I won’t bore you with the crap that happened with Marni and Bee that got us into Cayne’s employment. You know the shit that matters, and I don’t feel like reliving it. But let’s just say I’m a fast learner, and I much prefer my life now to the sheltered, bullshit one I had before.”

Still trying to wrap my head around it, I pressed, “Don’t you… like… miss your family?”

“Every fucking day.”

And that’s why she was so protective over Marni. Beyond just normal familial loyalty, that is. This part of her family is all she has left.

“Did you ever find your cousin Ben?”

“Yeah,” she said, shrugging. “He’s living with his partner in New York. Not really interested in knowing me, so I leave him to himself. We talk once a year on the phone, and that’s good enough for the both of us. Do you have any more questions, or can I finish my story?”

“Why didn’t you join an L.A. clan?”

She rolled her eyes like I was stupid, and she was probably right. “I’m done with clans for good. They might not be as abusive as my original clan, but the foundations are there. Clans have exclusionary practices that I couldn’t care less about. I want nothing to do with them. Any of them. I get way too pissed off at the slightest bit of bullshit, so I stay out. Vulcan Corp. is dangerous, but simple. I can leave anytime I want, but it’s someplace I belong for the moment. That’s all that matters.”

This was such an unexpected reveal from Willow, but I was ravenous for more information. It was the first real glimpse I was getting into her, besides our love-hate relationship.

And then there was the cult aspect. That was something new.

It wasn’t like witches were all that different. I knew firsthand how exclusionary covens could be. I didn’t have any real experience in vampire clans beyond the general facts, but it wasn’t hard to imagine that full-bloods had issues with anyone who wasn’t like them.

She turned to me. “Trust me when I say that if you need to leave our team and get the fuck out of Los Angeles, I get it. Do what you need to do and don’t look back. You know what’s best for you. Every. Single. Time. Don’t let anything or anyone guilt you into staying in something that only hurts you.”

Ah. Now this story makes sense.

I swallowed hard. My skin was too numb to feel the cold anymore, but my core still shivered.

She added, “Cayne can go fuck himself. He doesn’t own you. I don’t care if you’re mates or if you have a contract. But he doesn’t deserve your loyalty or your presence if he doesn’t earn it.”

“Who died and made you the Logic Queen?”

Her stony, still gaze was set on the dark horizon, unblinking.

I looked ahead too.

Could I do what Willow had done? Leave my parents behind? Ditch every aspect I’ve known and jump into a new world, forever cut off from those I loved?

Part of me knew I could. I was adaptable. It was practically my brand.

All of me knew it would be way harder than I expected.

But I needed to get out of Los Angeles. There was no way I’d set foot on Level 47 again unless I was a free woman.

How could I do that without Hux agreeing to my terms? What did I have to bargain with?

Obviously, he didn’t consider our mating bond enough leverage. Maybe a few weeks of no contact would change things, and he’d grow a damn frontal lobe and make the right decision.

I crossed my legs and winced when something hard dug into my thigh.

The artifact we’d taken tonight. It was still in my pocket.

I pulled it out. “Oh, shit.”

The thing was pulsing with pale blue light.

Willow’s mouth turned down. “You didn’t leave that shit with Cayne?”

I threw up my free hand. “Sorry. I was too busy listening to him beat the shit out of a wyvern asshole and finding out that he super-mega lied to me.”

Willow’s jaw clenched as the artifact glowed even brighter. “Then make it stop! You’ll attract too much attention, and we don’t know if all of the members of the black market operation were killed. Take it into your invisible realm until it stops.”

“Oh! Good idea.”

I reached into my soul room and meandered into the energetic realm. I thought that was the end of the issue when the world vibrated with light.

Oh, shit.

Since I could see the magical footprints of energy in this realm, I was able to see in full color what the thrumming artifact was in the process of creating.

It was oval and tall enough for an eight-foot person to walk comfortably through. And apparently, taking the artifact into this energetic world wasn’t enough to stop what it was doing.

A doorway. The crystal was forming a doorway.

My instincts screamed this so intensely that I knew it with complete certainty.

When I returned to Willow’s side in the physical realm, the doorway began to form itself there, too.

We were both on our feet and braced for an attack.

“What the hell is that?” Willow demanded.

“Sorry, no answers! I’m just a stupid Cut!”

Darkness pooled inside the door, glittering with what looked like a strange galaxy. Definitely not one I was used to seeing.

Then, a man stepped onto the sand.

The blood drained from my face.

The tall, imposing faery smiled down on me, his calculating eyes taking in everything at once. “Hello, Daughter. I do believe it’s time we met properly.”