Page 117 of Bloodgrove

His gaze settled upon Elodie. “Elodie, you will become my servant.”

“No!” Eric stepped forward, but Elodie was already approaching the king.

She stopped before him and looked up with awe in her eyes. “I am ready.”

“I know. Your uncle brought you to me as an infant, still wet with your mother’s blood, your umbilical cord still attached.” The King smiled. “I ate it.”

Elodie swallowed. “I have dreamed of this place, but I never understood…”

“You have become powerful, just as your uncle promised me. You will make a worthy servant.”

With a muffled grunt of pain, the King tore one arm free from the wall and reached for his abdomen. Long, sharp fingernails dug into the flesh, and he ripped out a piece of muscle. “Eat, and become mine.”

“Elodie!” Will was on his feet now, but the god held him back.

“My child, you will eat my flesh every day until the end of your life. Until another servant awakens and takes your place.”

“Yes, I swear.” Elodie accepted the bleeding flesh and raised it to her lips. She was beautiful, even now. Once more, she was the bride speaking a vow for life, surrendering body and soul to her new groom. The King would take possession of her. She would become nothing more than an extension of him.

With grim resolve, she bit down.

Chapter 58

“Elodie, please, don’t,” Will whispered. Until he had descended into this hell, he had believed her will was strong enough. That perhaps his blood could help. But how was he supposed to help if he was dead—or worse, trapped forever, reduced to nothing more than a pair of eyes? Did she even want to be saved?

“It is the only way. I was meant for this,” she said as she took another bite. Her teeth sank into the flesh, blood dripping from her chin.

“You were never meant to be anyone’s instrument. You were meant to be free.”

She smiled sadly. “We are all meant to be free, but I have to sacrifice myself so that everyone else can be.”

She truly believed it. She still believed she was the cure to the curse. That her mother’s death and her father’s torture had destined her for this path. Will shook his head sadly, and Elodie looked away.

“Now, my daughter, tell me—who is your sacrifice?”

“What difference does it make? They will die either way.”

The king gestured toward the living corpses. “They were all beloved. They accompany me in my torment.”

Elodie swallowed, because even she knew that was worse than death.

“Do not lie. I will know.”

At last, tears filled Elodie’s eyes as she looked between them. At Eric, who stoically endured the judgment passed upon him. He had lost; the king had decided against him. Whatever his years of service had asked of him, they had gone unrewarded. Their eyes met, and for the length of a heartbeat, Eric dropped all his masks and showed Will his sorrow—his broken heart. He had tried to save Will, tried to save the ones he called his, but again he had failed.

Elodie looked at Will, who could not summon the strength to be heroic. Would he have survived if he had boarded the train? The ticket burned inside his breast pocket.

“Will,” Elodie said, but her voice broke. She looked up at the king, who nodded. “But let Eric go. He is a good servant. Sacrificing him would be a waste.”

The king tilted his head, his brow furrowed. “You are not lying. You sacrifice your love, yet you do not ask me to save him. A true warrior. So be it.” Once again, the king reached into his abdomen and tore out a piece of flesh. “Eric, I expect a lifetime of service from you.”

Eric accepted it hesitantly, his eyes still wide with shock. He looked at Will and opened his mouth to speak when an invisible force lifted Will’s body.

Slowly, he rose to the king’s height, his arms spreading like the wings of the Albatross.

I am sorry I cannot keep our bargain, Albatross. If he had to choose, he preferred to die for Elodie and her noble cause rather than an ancient god.

Somewhere inside him, the Albatross awoke from his slumber. You are mine, my beloved. Your body is mine, my beautiful one. The greedy bastard will not have what belongs to me.