Blood & Power [Book One of The City of Eternity Series] [✔]

1.16: Bond

If I was asked to retrace my steps to where I ended up, I think I'd struggle. I wasn't entirely sure how I'd managed to hobble all the way here. The small window in front of me offered a somewhat pleasant view of old residential houses covered in a swarm of darkness, the smog of the night beginning to swallow them whole. The flickering streetlights were allowing glimpses of the ivory vines inching their way up the front of the building, nature reclaiming what we hadn't.

Something was jabbing me in the back, slowly but surely. I opened my eyes to peer into the dimly lit home. I must have lost consciousness for a while; the hues of dark blue having faded into a black tapestry of white dots. I shifted against the floorboards, a stack of books haphazardly placed against the wall behind me, toppling over.

Dust coated the inside of my mouth, making it hard to breathe. The twins must have disturbed the layers of dust that had accumulated throughout months of neglect. The pale moonlight filtering in through the sheer curtains did little to illuminate the family room I'd decided to collapse in but allowed me to watch the slow particles drifting through the air. My fingers carefully ran across the ripped threads in my trousers, clutching the thin strands when a wave of mind-numbing pain flooded over me.

I instinctively wrapped my arms around myself, feeling the dull ache continuing to thrive inside my throat and chest. Resting my head on my knees, the jolts of pain dulled just enough to let me close my eyes and breathe peacefully.

The drugs were making my head spin; the journey from Giorti to the outskirts of town was filled with staggers and pauses. My hand stayed clamped to different surfaces in order to keep my balance, skin now covered in scratch marks from the ragged brick walls I'd rested against.

In my hour of need, I was drawn to the small semblance of warmth I'd met in my long lifetime. Those two were so full of life and excitement in comparison to the half-dead that surrounded me on a daily basis; souls that were quite literally fighting to survive in more ways than one.

The more I thought about it, the more I had to regret my decision to come back to this small house of all places. As I sit staring up at the ceiling I can't help but think of Rudhairi and how furious he'd be if I died here. There were many people in my life that would certainly have a bone to pick with me if I let myself turn to ash here of all places, at the time the world was turning cold, but Rud would sit at the top of the list; the first in line to fight me over it.

If I had tried to make my way to Central, would the guards have let me through seeing the state I was in? Would I have managed to stumble through the zone and the crowds of people that visited at night, and then still manage to climb the stairs to his office? If I had done all of that, would I be in any better position than I was now?

The only real difference would have been a familiar face to die in front of as he scrambled around trying to find a way to fix me before I passed away for good. I had chosen to die alone because I was too stubborn to look for help where it was guaranteed to be.