The Blood Moon Twins
Chapter 137

BLADE

I had my hand around his throat the instant he came around the corner. I pinned him against the wall, not allowing him to get the best of us. Then I looked down at his face, completely horrified.

He was only a child, no more than seven years old. His hair was dark and disheveled, and he was covered in dirt. He looked at me with waning red eyes, filled with terror. I recognized that terror and instantly recoiled. I let go of his throat, and then my back hit the wall across from him. He was only a child, so small and fragile and alone. And I had been the one to wrap my fingers around his throat, ready to kill without a second thought. My heart raced, feeling the fear this little boy held in his eyes as he stared at me. He had done nothing to provoke me, and I had been too ready to kill.

Caulder stepped up, moving cautiously. "Hello."

The boy snapped his attention away from me and glared at Caulder. He wrinkled his nose as he took in the scent of the werewolves before him. The hair on his arms rose, and he pressed himself against the wall, cowering in fear. If this was a trap Draven had set, it was a damn good one.

"I'm not going to hurt you." Caulder's voice was soft and soothing, but it did nothing to comfort the boy.

"Are you friends of Draven?" the boy asked.

Caulder glanced at me, looking for approval. I gave it to him. Even if this child was somehow a trap, telling him the truth wouldn't hurt us. I just hoped this child wasn't here to try to kill us in some way. We could easily take him out if we needed to, but I never wanted the blood of a child on my hands.

"No, we're not his friends. We are looking for him, though." Caulder took a step forward, and the boy flinched.

"He's not here." The boy held Caulder's gaze, and even though his body shook, he held his chin up high. He was scared, but he wasn't going to cower away from his fear. He would fight us if we threatened him.

"Do you know where he went?" This time it was Harper who asked. She moved closer, kneeling on the ground in front of the child.

Caulder visibly tensed, and I didn't blame him. If the child was dangerous, Harper had just put herself in a more vulnerable position. She didn't show any fear, though. She smiled brightly, and it was working. The boy shook just a little less.

He was braver than me. I still couldn't peel myself off of the wall across from him. I wasn't scared of the boy. I hated what I had almost done to him, and I was afraid of what he represented. He smelled so familiar, and I knew my blood ran through his veins. He had been born from Draven or perhaps my father before he died, and we shared a familial bond. His hair was a similar shade to mine, but it was his nose that gave it away. We had the same nose.

"He left," the boy whispered. He looked down at his hands that were shaking again. "He left, and he didn't take me with him."

I saw myself in the boy, and that was what scared me the most. He was scarred and left behind. Draven didn't love this child. There was no way he could.

"What about the others that were here?" Caulder asked. He hovered protectively behind Harper, but the longer we were there, the more I knew it wasn't necessary. This wasn't a trap. This was a child who had been so unimportant that when Draven picked up his coven and left, he didn't bother to make sure his blood was with him. Or perhaps he left him behind as a message to me.

"I don't know. I woke up, and everyone was gone. They didn't tell me where they were going, or if they were coming back. I waited. I kept waiting, but you were the only ones to come back." Tears brimmed in his eyes from the pain of being left behind. Harper reached her hand out. "You're not alone anymore. We won't leave you behind, okay?"

Caulder's mouth twisted, and he wasn't sure about Harper's statement, but I knew he wouldn't negate it in front of her. I understood his hesitation. I wouldn't put it beyond Draven to use his own blood as a trap or a spy. The child seemed innocent, and I hoped he was, because the alternative was so much worse. Until we knew for sure, we still had to be careful.

"Why are you here?" The boy didn't take Harper's hand. He didn't trust her. He smelled the scent of the enemy on her skin, and it was clear he didn't know what to make of it yet.

"We came here looking for Draven," Harper answered. She left her hand there as an open invitation to the boy. Her smile stayed strong.

I was a coward. I should be the one offering the boy comfort, but I couldn't bring myself to move or speak. I saw too much of myself in this boy. I wanted to run as far away from him as possible while simultaneously protecting him from seeing any other horrors. He had already seen too many for one child to bear. I could see it in his eyes.

Yet he stood there, looking over Harper, debating if he could trust her.

"Did you come to kill him?" the boy asked. The room fell silent. The answer could change the boy's demeanor completely.

"Yes," I whispered. I wouldn't lie to this boy. Either he'd hate us for the truth, and we would find out what side he was truly on, or-

"I hope you find him then," the boy said, the darkness pouring out of his soul. His eyes met mine as he said the next line. "I hope you kill him, and he never comes back here."

"I will find him, and I will kill him." This was a promise. To the boy and to myself.

He nodded. "Good."

"Is there anyone here to take care of you?" Harper asked.

The boy shook his head.

Harper kept her smile bright, even though I could feel it falter. "My name is Harper, and this is Caulder. If you want, we can take you with us. We can get you clean clothes, food." The boy still held my eyes. "Do you have blood?"

He was paler than he should be, and I wondered how long it had been since he ate. If a vampire went too long without feeding, they could go crazy. The boy was weak, but he didn't seem crazed, so he had to have found some sort of source for feeding, or Draven hadn't been gone for more than a few days.

"We can get you some."

"Okay." His voice was quiet, and he grabbed Harper's hand. "I have something to show you.

He pulled on Harper, easily bringing her to her feet. He may have looked weak, but he was faster than I had expected. He yanked Harper out of the room, and my alarm bells started ringing in my ears. This wasn't good.

Caulder and I flew after the child and Harper, prepared to attack or save her from some unexpected trap. However, the boy stopped when the hallway opened up into another wide area. He still held her hand tightly, but he wasn't trying to hurt her. He pointed to a bottle sitting in the middle of the room and whispered, "Look."

The bottle was glowing like starlight, and it called out to me. It begged me to pick it up and take it home. Inside the bottle was a part of me.

I felt Caulder's eyes on me, not the bottle. "Is that what I think it is?" he asked.

I moved forward, eager to find out that for myself.

"Be careful," he called out after me.

I stopped a foot in front of the bottle, heeding his warning. Even though every part of me was calling out to the magic in front of me, I resisted taking it. There was a note underneath the bottle, and I knew this was waiting for me. Somehow Draven knew I would come here, looking for him.

I crouched down and picked up the note.

Oh Brother, how predictable you are. Did you really think you could come here and ambush me? Stop me from coming after you and Remy? You are still the foolish boy you've always been. You assume the world is better than it really is.

That's why I'm going to get everything I've ever wanted, and you are going to lose everything. You won't play dirty the way you need to in order to move up in this world.

Dear Brother, it's still not too late for you to join me. I'll even let you keep that woman as a plaything. Just do my bidding, and at least you won't lose everything.

a token of good faith, I have left you a special gift. Your magic is in that bottle. Father took that away from you a long time ago, and I'm returning it to you, knowing you'll make the right choice.

-Your dearest brother, Draven.

The words on the page sickened me. Every word was carefully crafted to taunt me. He had never seen me as a brother, and he knew calling me that would get under my skin. My hands shook with anger, and I hated him. I hated Draven with every fiber of my being. He was one step ahead of me all of the time, and it felt like there was nothing I could do to get ahead of him.

A hand fell onto my shoulder, and when I looked up, I saw Caulder looking down at me. "He does not control you."

"He said he left my magic as a gift to me, as a good-faith gift for me to join him," I whispered. My eyes fell onto the glittering bottle once again. I knew that was truly mine with how it called out to me, but I still didn't trust it. I would never trust a gift from Draven, and he knew it too. He was playing mind games with me.

"We'll bring it back to the pack house and have Ginger look at it. She'll be able to tell if there are any tricks or glamours placed on it," Caulder said. "We should get going, though, before anyone wanders down here."

I grabbed the bottle and tucked it into my pocket. I turned to the others, the boy's eyes still watching me. "Let's go."