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The door behind us creaks open, and Josie emerges, wiping her hands on her apron, a smudge of green staining her cheek. Her eyes flick from me to Rune, instantly reading the tension in the air. “Everything okay out here, boys?”
“Not exactly,” I mutter. “But it’ll keep. You need to focus on the trial.”
Her forehead crinkles with her frown. “No. You need to tell me what’s going on because I feel the anxiety building over our bond and I’m worrying. If you tell me, then I can put it away until after the trial if I need to, but at least I’ll know.”
I scoot over to make room for her, and she sits beside me, her warmth a comforting presence.
Rune looks up, the streetlights catching the red tinge of rage in his eyes. “It’s Sebastian. He did something to my memories. Erased parts of them. It’s something we swore we’d never do to one another. It’s a violation, and we swore…”
Josie hops up and wraps her arms around him. Standing on the steps, she can actually hug him and look straight into his eyes. “I’m sorry, sweetie. Do you have any idea why he’d do that to you?”
Rune clenches his fists. “He’s lost his fucking mind, is why. He’s been riding a slippery slope for a long time and now, he’s fucking lost it.”
Josie eases back and frowns. “This slippery slope…did that start after the bonding and my mom getting killed?”
We both nod.
“Aye. Sebastian has always been a vampire prone to violence, but the chaos and craziness only started after the ritual,” I say.
“And it’s gotten worse lately,” Rune says, frowning at our girl. “Since you got back, it’s been way worse.”
“Not that we think it’s yer fault in any way,” I add, shooting Rune a glare. “Yer not to blame for any of it.”
Josie searches our faces and frowns. “Oh, but I think I am—both me and my mother.”
“What do ye mean, luv?”
She searches my gaze and then Rune’s. “Something happened between me and Sebastian in the wee hours of the morning after the masquerade ball.”
I’m on my feet and growling as Rune’s fangs descend and his eyes flip blood red. “What did he do, babe?”
“I promised I wouldn’t tell you.” She sucks in her bottom lip looking torn.
“I’m going to fucking kill him,” Rune snaps. “If he hurt you?—”
“—He didn’t!” Josie presses her palm against Rune’s chest and leans close to stare him straight in the eyes. “Stand down, Viking. He didn’t hurt me.”
It takes Rune and me a few minutes to back our darkest, protective impulses into the shadows again. When that’s done, I swallow and take Josie’s hand. “What happened, luv? While I respect yer intention to keep yer business private, things with Sebastian are getting dangerously volatile.”
She seems to consider that for a moment, and then she exhales. “Night before last, I was zonked out from the physical trial and then, somehow, I was pulled into Sebastian’s nightmare. It was cruel and awful?—”
Rune curses. “Fuck. You should never have to see what goes on in his head, Jo. That’s fucked up.”
She shakes her head. “No. It wasn’t him that was being cruel and awful…it was my mother.”
“Sebastian was dreaming about yer mother?”
She meets my gaze and shakes her head. “Yes and no. After Egan attacked her, Sebastian found my mother dying. With her last breath, she cursed him to never know a moment’s peace for what he’d done.”
Rune winces. “Fucking hell. That’s harsh. He wasn’t even the one who killed her.”
“I know.” Josie’s eyes well up with moisture. “It’s not right, but if what I saw was what he goes through every time he closes his eyes, it’s no wonder he’s losing his hold on reality.”
I look between Josie and Rune, the weight of our situation settling in. The Quarter buzzes around us, alive and vibrant, a stark contrast to the dark undercurrent of our conversation.
I think about this logically and wonder if knowing this can help us undo the damage done. “Tell us, luv. What did ye see?”
Josie draws a deep breath and frowns. “At first, he was being invited into bed by his vampire maker. She was naked and seductive, and I could feel how much he loved her. Then, my mother twisted the scene, and he’d stabbed her. Manon was dying and asking him why he did that when she’d never done anything but love him.”
