Sinful Seduction (Darkest Desire Book 3)

8. Blood Must Have Blood

Aurora nodded, having known that some sort of initiation rite would eventually take place to officially make her a part of the High Council. She was, however, uncertain as to what it entailed specifically. And that made her nervous. Not knowing always tended to do that to her, and it set her teeth on edge. It was irksome, she told herself, that's all. 

The rest of the members all got to their feet, and followed Magnus to the antechamber, where with a wand-and wordless spell he raised a pedestal from the ground. The stone pillar was narrow at the bottom and widened into a small platform that held two indentations in the shape of one's hands, allowing the person standing in front of it to lay both their hands, palms faced down, flat into the hollowed out shapes. The pillar itself was made from black marble, and exuded an air of sophistication, something a tad bit dark and ominous.

All the members of the High Council assembled in a semi-circle around the pedestal, and Aurora stood next to Sebastian, leaning in to whisper a question at him.

"And what exactly am I supposed to do?" she asked, knowing he had gone through this not so long ago.

"Sanguis enim sanguis" Sebastian whispered back, giving her a teasing smile "Don't you worry, you'll find out soon enough"

"Spoil-sport" Aurora muttered under her breath, causing Sebastian to chuckle, a sound he managed to morph into cough as he got a stern look from Hannah, who was standing beside him. She wondered what the hell he had meant with 'blood for blood', though.

"Aurora, please step forward and we shall begin the initiation rites" Magnus told her sternly, indicating she should take a step forward and stand in front of the pedestal.

"Of course" Aurora acknowledged, keeping her face expressionless as she walked up to the black marble pillar with the hand-shaped indentations.

"Place your hands upon the stone, and you shall be marked with the sign of the Alchemists" Magnus instructed her, standing next to the pillar, and Aurora didn't miss the calculating look in his eyes as she approached him.

When she stood in front of the pillar, she raised both her hands, hesitating a fraction of a second before placing them inside the hollowed out stone, wondering what on earth Magnus meant by 'marking'.

Her question was answered when marble restraints morphed from the rock, as if they had melted and the molten rock reaching over her wrists and back onto the pillar before solidifying, like stone restraints, the two marble arches now encasing her wrists and not allowing her to pull her hands back. She would have been scared, should have been perhaps, but instead Aurora found herself fascinated as she felt something in the rock underneath the palms of her hands. 

And then she felt a sharp pain cutting into the palms of her hands.

She would have cried out, but something stopped her. She refused to show shock or weakness in front of these people who expected it of her, and instead kept her expression neutral as she felt the skin on the palms of her hands split open as something was carved into it. The physical pain however was a welcome distraction to the mental onslaught she'd been suffering through for the past few weeks. It was an almost welcome pain, and the searing sensation was only enhanced by the stark contrast it made with the cold stone pressing against the palms of her hands, now slippery with blood. 

As quickly as it had begun, it disappeared, and then the stone restraints also retreated into the pillar, a faint smear of dark liquid in the hand-shaped indentations the only sign that something had indeed transpired.

Slowly pulling back her hands Aurora turned them around, palms facing her as she observed the now marked skin. She immediately understood what Magnus had meant by 'marking'. Like a stencil had been etched into her skin, a circle was now engraved into the palm of each hand. She recognized is as an alchemical transmutation circle, recognizing the symbols for the four elements and some other characteristics. The wounds were still fresh, the red lines still weeping blood, and Aurora somehow knew she shouldn't heal them quite yet.