I didn’t appreciate his honesty in this regard. I studied the floor and tried to wrap my head around this. “My sister trusted you with something, what was it?”

  “Isn’t that obvious? You,” Maverick stated.

  “She couldn’t keep you safe and knew all about the game. She went through Judicium years ago. None of us believed her when she said you didn’t know what it was. Turns out she was telling the truth.”

  I turned and looked at Ciaran directly and finally asked what had been bugging me since the thought came to mind. “Are you the one that got her pregnant?”

  Maverick smothered a laugh by pretending to clear his throat again. Ciaran’s eyes went glacial. He clearly didn’t like the implication. He leaned forward and made sure he had my full attention. “The only Serpine I’d ever waste a single breath on, is you. Never forget that.”

  He said my family name as if it were riddled with disease. If he didn’t like them then Grace and Mel’s families were on his shit list too. It was the timeless divide I’d heard about all my life.

  He and his friends belonged on one side and us on the other. The Belair’s were morally no better than Serpines, though. So where was this hatred coming from and why did Lamia trust them enough to bring me and Ciaran together.

  “Okay, now that we’ve established none of us like one another--.”

  “I never said I didn’t like her,” he interrupted Mel.

  Maverick snapped his fingers to summon our attention. “Listen, I’ve got the cliff notes. You three should know all about the game because typically, you’d be the one doing all killing after your inductions. Since you’re all so oblivious we assume, and I can bet my asshole, you are going to be highly bid-on contestants from start to finish.”

  There was an unspoken if you live that long hanging at the end of his sentence.

  “Can you maybe add some enlightenment? Contestants for a game where we kill people or get killed?” I queried, not buying this was an actual thing.

  The barn incident I could believe because I’d been there. I knew our families had wealth and shady ass people of power in their pockets. Getting away with murder was done as easily as Maverick had just snapped his fingers, but this was extreme.

  “Puppet, if you don’t kill them, they’ll take immense pleasure in killing you.”

  “Especially given who your family is,” Charon added. “They’ve already got some master scheme for the new playground.”

  Maverick bobbed his head in agreement. “I didn’t even consider that. The bids that would come in for just one of you being on the wrong side of the game full throttle would be insane. The spectators would love it.”

  “Spectators?” I repeated in a sad attempt at keeping up with the foreign language he was speaking.

  “It’s a lot of complicated parts to this. We don’t want to overwhelm you,” Ciaran said in a way that warned Maverick he needed to stop talking.

  “So, our families will just send us off to die?” Grace asked

  “No. That is never the goal, especially when it comes to your family. Heirs are the foundation,” Ciaran explained. “As I said, there’s a lot that goes into it.”

  Grace sighed and rubbed her temple, “This is unbelievable.”

  “You better start believing because Judicium was child’s play. In our reality you don’t get to leave and go home at the end of the day,” Kyrous stated with a roll of his shoulders.

  Mel laughed dryly. “Are we going to be locked away and forced to play along?”

  “Yes,” Charon replied matter-of-factly.

  I could tell by the energy in the room and their serious expressions that they were being serious. That didn’t make it any easier to accept. If Lamia was aware of this, she’d been keeping more from me than I thought.

  If she wanted me to get involved with Ciaran, she had to have a reason, a pretty damn good one. The night of Judicium, he said it was to keep me safe. I was beginning to have a hunch on who she wanted me protected from.

  Ciaran’s next words further solidified the culprits in question.

  “We have a theory on why your families have been keeping you in the dark, but right now it’s better if you’re none the wiser.”

  I worried my lip and sat back. “You never said why you decided to drag us into this at my sister’s behest.”

  Ciaran gave me a look as if he was the one confused. “You think I’m doing this because of…? Lana, I don’t give a fuck about your sister. That had nothing to do with my decision.”

  “But you know where she is?” I challenged.

  “I have a general idea, but it isn’t something I would tell you.”

  “Where is my sister?” I asked again with a calmness that was at odd with the tumultuous emotions warring inside my head and chest.

  “I do not like repeating myself, so stop asking the same questions.”

  I’m not sure what happened exactly in my thought process. One second, I was on the arm of the chair and the next I was damn near straddling his lap with a hand wrapped around his throat. “Where the fuck is my sister?”

  No one made a move to get me off him. Grace stood when Charon did. Mel remained seated. There was a glare on her face that I couldn’t see aimed at the other two people in the room as if daring them to try her.

  “I think this is the first time you’ve been a bottom, C. How does it feel?” Maverick joked.

  Ciaran’s eyes traveled from the hem of my dress to mine, a grin slowly spreading across his face. “I think I could get used to it, but you know better than that. I’m always on top.”

  He slipped his hands beneath my dress and grabbed my ass. Grabbing two handfuls, he hefted me up and flipped our position.

  Charon laughed as his brother walked around to our side of the room. Grace positioned herself behind the armchair as if that would stop him from getting to her.

  “Should we fight too?” Charon asked Mel playfully.

  “Not if you want your balls to remain between your legs.”

  “Get off me,” I snapped at Ciaran.

  “Don’t be like that. You propositioned me first,” he teased with an antagonizing grin. “If I let you go, will you be good, and do as I say?”

  “Do I look like a bitch that obediently follows commands?”

  “Hmm.” He cocked his head to the side as if truly considering the question. “Your parents seem to think so.”

  His words rubbed an already sore spot, prodding at the anger burning in my gut. I pushed myself up. He shoved me back down onto the couch with enough force to knock the air from my lungs. “You’re not quite in control, are you? Someone has to pull those strings of yours.”

  He grabbed both of my forearms and pinned them on either side of me. I slammed my head back into the cushion when he lurched down, bringing us to eye level. He came closer and murmured softly. “Unless you want your friends to watch you get fucked every way imaginable, save the foreplay for when we’re alone.”

  I silently cursed my debauched desires, clenching my thighs together. This was bullshit. I didn’t spend hours taking self-defense classes to wind up pinned down and defenseless. Another rush of anger had me attempting to headbutt him.

  He moved back as if he’d been anticipating the move. With another infuriating grin, he slowly shook his head. “We’re going to have a lot of fun together.”

  “There is no we, motherfucker.”

  His dickhead friends laughed, watching the two of us as if we were prime-time television come to life.

  “I want to help you,” Ciaran amended, his expression morphing to one of somberness. “Here us out. I promise you it will be worth it.”

  When I made no move to attack him again, he slowly released me and sat down on the coffee table. I calmed myself as much as I could and sat forward eyeing him with suspicion. “What am I really doing here, Ciaran?”

  “I want you to know before any of this happened, I’d made my mind up about you.”

  “I’m not following.”

  He expelled a heavy sigh and studied me a beat. “I know you came here wanting help to find your sister. Our interests are somewhat similar. I want to help my brother.”

  My mouth opened and closed but nothing came out. I crossed my arms and stared, waiting for him to continue.

  “Since when do you have a brother?” Mel asked without her usual hostility.

  “He’s considered by societal terms a half-brother. My father had him before he finally committed to my mother. We thought he’d gone missing. He simply volunteered himself to enter a world he doesn’t understand thinking he could save your sister.”

  “Your brother got Lamia pregnant,” Grace summarized the obvious, her tone soft and understanding.

  Ciaran looked away, staring out the floor-to-ceiling window behind the sofa. “I told him not to get in bed with snakes.”

  I took that stinging insult on the chin. It wasn’t the first time I’d heard it. There were far more concerning matters at hand than my pride. A sickening realization was spreading through my chest.

  If my family knew Ciaran’s brother was the one Lamia was seeing, it would cause a fallout of epic proportions, and it had. The half-brother issue would be the cherry on top. She’d been disowned and essentially kicked out onto the streets for her dalliance.

  After weeks of silence, she’d vanished again right after reaching out to me. There were very few people who would know she’d done that. My parents topped the list. All they had to do was check the usage history on our phone bill and they’d see her incoming texts. My stomach twisted as I weaved more of this together.

  They couldn’t see the messages themselves, but that would be enough to set them off. It was such a stupid fucking mistake. I looked at Ciaran and refrained from asking if they’d been the ones who put her wherever she was. I knew the answer.

  He'd already alluded to them knowing about everything else.

  “So, none of you know where she or the brother is?” I checked.

  Maverick winced and rubbed the back of his neck. “We’re doing our best.”

  I shook my head and ran a hand over my brow. “What do I have to do to help?”

  Ciaran’s blue eyes met with mine and something close to a smirk curled one side of his lips. “You’re going to make a deal with the devil.”

  I leaned forward and mirrored his position. “And what am I supposed to bargain with?”

  “Uh, Lana.” Grace stepped towards us as if to stop me and was promptly halted by Kyrous wrapping an arm around her from behind.

  “You too,” he monotoned.

  “No shit her too. Lana isn’t doing anything with you assholes alone,” Mel proclaimed.

  Charon looked at her openly amused. “That’s not what he meant.”

  “You three are a package deal,” Maverick chimed in.

  Leaning back, I placed my hands on my lap and studied Ciaran through slightly narrowed eyes. “What does that mean?”

  They did that thing again, where they passed some kind of coded message we couldn’t understand. Now it was me who regretted asking such a question.

  “You asked what the devil wanted. What if I said it was you?”

  I tilted my head and looked at him quizzically. Me?

  “Haven’t I been telling you this entire time I want to help you?”

  “Yes, but…” It couldn’t be that simple. There had to be something he wasn’t telling me—us. A lot of things, actually. He’d already divulged more than anyone else ever had, though.

  I wasn’t foolish enough to believe it was because he’d been madly in love with me this entire time. Whatever he was after, whatever his reasoning, it was important. “How does helping me, help you?”

  He looked at me the same way he had on the staircase, with a twisted sense of possessiveness burning in his eyes. “The enemy of my enemy is my greatest asset, Puppet.”

  Ah. Now, this was an angle that made sense and I could honestly get on board with.

  Alone I couldn’t do a damn thing if I were to go against my family, but having someone like him on my side changed everything.

  “Then I guess you have a deal,” I stated casually, hoping the sound of my pounding heart couldn’t be heard by everyone in the room.

  Ciaran’s smirk faded and he turned to look at Maverick. “Good thing you prepped the knife.”

  Had I missed something? “Why do we need a knife?”

  Grace broke away from Kyrous with a scowl. “There’s no way you’re being serious. Why would you do that?”

  “What is it?” I questioned, looking between them. I wasn’t as quick to catch on

  “It’s a life sentence,” she spat angrily at Ciaran’s back.

  When I finally connected the dots, I pulled in a small intake of breath.

  Ciaran rose from the coffee table and offered me his hand. With a grim twist of my mouth, I reached out and accepted it.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  The only light came from a dimmed chandelier and a few candles placed strategically around the room. Two vials sat on either side of a round metal bowl. A curved dagger rested on a black cloth in front of them.

  We’d moved from the formal living room to the dining area that was overlooked by a modernized kitchen. Standing around a table of tempered glass, I was moments away from sealing a deal I would never be able to renege on.

  This was quite possibly the most reckless thing I’d ever decided to do. It was like signing a contract without understanding the fine print.

  There were the blood oaths in movies and fiction, and then there were the oaths exclusive to our society. They were done to unify families for generations or form alliances.

  It was ironic to me I’d sworn off marriage and relationships only weeks ago and now I was tying myself to someone with an oath that was sacred and lasted beyond death. It wasn’t someone that loved me or vice versa, but the one person I was expressly forbidden to get involved with.

  I couldn’t think of a better fuck you to anyone who would object or deny this oath. Not if they had a hand in hurting my sister or planning to use my friends.

  “You know if our families find out about this the apocalypse will reign down on earth,” Mel insinuated.

  “Not our families, just yours,” Ciaran countered.

  “You mean they won’t gather their armies and ride at dawn?”

  He flashed me a grin and reached for the dagger. “Every family has its secrets, but mine isn’t quite as fucked up as yours.”

  I had nothing to retaliate with. I couldn’t bring myself to defend them. “You don’t have any STDs or anything, right?”

  “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just ask me that. Give me your hand.”

  I reached across the table and allowed him to flip my palm upward. Mel and Grace stood on either side of me for moral support.

  “What is it you want?”

  I masked my expression before my confusion could mar it. I’d never gotten to learn about this in-depth yet. My parents had claimed it was because they wanted me to be older. Now I wondered if it was really because they didn’t want me doing something like this.

  It would be unacceptable for me to choose the man I wanted to give this kind of promise on my own.

  “I want--.”

  “Don’t say your sister,” Ciaran interrupted.

  “Helping you is a given. That isn’t something you ask of your partner. Expressing what you want is different. No one other than you can feel or hear your thoughts,” Kyrous surprisingly filled in some of the blanks.

  I wasn’t ready to admit what I truly wanted out loud. It was silly, but it mattered to me.

  “We won’t judge,” Maverick assured, sensing my inner conflict.

  I was saved from replying when Ciaran took the initiative to go first. He gave my hand a gentle squeeze and winked so subtly that I almost missed it.

  “Listen closely, try to remember that I’m not a fan of repeating myself.” With our gazes locked together, he brought the tip of the dagger to my palm, not yet pressing down. “I only want you, Puppet. I have everything else.”

  I forced my hand to remain steady as he began to press the blade into my skin. There was a sharp sting and some pressure as it cut into me. He drew a line from my thumb to the edge of my palm.

  Charon made sure the blood that dripped landed in the bowl while Maverick uncapped one of the vials and held it up to begin catching whatever he needed. I had no idea why that was necessary but chose to keep my mouth shut.

  “You’ll be loyal only to me. If anyone ever touches what’s mine, I’ll be forced to make you watch as I tear them apart,” Ciaran made another line.

  I bit my tongue and drew in a quiet breath. This one was right beside the first.

  “Double lines for two lifetimes,” Grace stated, catching me off guard. How did she know?

  There was only one more to go and I at least understood what this one was from hearing my Abuelo mention it about my abuela.

  A third that tied us together and represented the three outlooks on life. Past, present, and future. They would be implicitly woven with his. As he readied himself for the final cut, that same look he’d had before returned. The hairs on the back of my neck rose and my stomach somersaulted with nerves. It took Mel placing a reassuring hand on my lower back to restrengthen my resolve.

  “You’re going to give me everything,” Ciaran vowed, marking me with a final pull of the blade.

  I forced back a hiss, pulling my gaze from his. My blood dripped steadily, pinging into the bowl. Maverick capped the vial while Kyrous took hold of my wrist to keep my arm extended.

  Ciaran grabbed the cloth and wiped the blade before flipping it around, offering me a chance to do what he had. “Would you like to add your terms?”

  “They’re the same as yours,” I replied without thought. I realized my mistake when he grinned devilishly. He flipped the knife back around and began marking himself.

  “I pledge this blade and blood, as I pledge to you my soul, forever at your service.”. He pressed our bloodied palms pressed together and sealed the deal.