Bittersweet Blood (The Order #1)

“I expect such treachery from this one.” The Walker nodded at Piers, who grinned and flashed his fangs. “But you are held to be a man of honor, a man who carries out his oaths.”


“There are some things that even I would consider more important that my honor.”

“And those things are?”

Christian remained silent.

“Love,” Piers said.

“Love?”

Piers shrugged. “He’s in love with your abomination.”

Christian stared at him, a growl trickling from his throat.

“Hey,” Piers said. “I’m trying to appeal to his better nature.”

The Walker watched them, a frown on his face as though he didn’t quite know what to make of the whole thing. “My better nature?” he mused. “Do I have one?”

Piers shrugged. “Well, I have to admit it was a long shot, but—”

“Shut up, Piers,” Christian snarled. He turned to the Walker. “I wasn’t aware of the facts back then.”

The Walker raised one arched eyebrow. “And you are now?”

“Most of them. I’m hoping you can clear up the last few things.”

“I’m interested in this love thing.” He studied Christian. “I wasn’t aware that vampires were capable of love.”

“It’s irrelevant.”

“I don’t think so. Tell me about her. I presume it is a ‘her.’”

Christian searched the fae’s face. This was not a direction he would have chosen to go without Piers’s intervention, but perhaps it would help. Or hinder. It was too late to stop now.

“We were told she looks like her mother,” he said. “And she has your eyes.”

“What?”

“Her eyes, they’re green like yours, and her hair is blond, almost silver.”

“And she looks like her mother?”

Christian nodded.

The Walker rose to his feet, his body rigid, his fists clenched at his side. Piers glanced at Christian in query, and Christian shrugged. The Walker turned back to them. His eyes filled with a deep sorrow. “Her mother was my brother’s child.”

It was Christian’s turn to be stunned. “What?”

“My people do not produce many children, and Lillian was the last.”

“What happened to her?”

“The demons took her. She was much loved by our people. She was a beautiful child and grew into a beautiful young woman. All who saw her wanted her.”

“How?” Piers asked. “She should have been safe in the Faelands.”

“Lillian was fascinated by earth and humans. She was always crossing over. The last war was on, my brother tried to keep her at home, but she slipped away and must have been seen by demons. They love to take beautiful things and destroy them.”

“That’s when you came to us?”

He nodded. “My brother was frantic, but it was too late. When the war was over and the demons banished, we thought we might find her. We hoped she would return home to us, but she’d disappeared, and we believed her already dead.”

“Instead, she was pregnant and running from you because she knew you would kill her unborn child. Would you really have killed an innocent baby?”

The Walker didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

“And people believe demons to be evil.” Piers shook his head.

“We cannot allow demons access to the Faelands. It is why the child had to be killed, why she must die now.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“She’s part demon and can enter the Faelands. They will use her against us.”

“She’s also part fae, doesn’t that matter?”

“It can’t matter. We have to protect ourselves.”

“They can’t use her if they don’t have her,” Christian said. “If I can guarantee they will never know of her existence will you back off? Let her live.”

The Walker appeared thoughtful. “How could you do this?”

“Have you been able to find her?”

“No. We felt the presence once, months ago, and again ten days past. We sensed its dual nature and we’ve been hunting since, but found nothing.”

“She’s not an ‘it.’” Christian growled.

The Walker shrugged. “It never occurred to me that this could be a child of Lillian’s. We thought it a human with traces of fae and demon blood. But a half-demon, half-fae, she could go anywhere—enter the Abyss, the Faelands. The Accords would not hold her.”

“She has no wish to enter the Faelands or the Abyss. She’s grown up believing she’s human, and all she wants is a normal life.”

“Are the demons aware of her existence?”

“Only to the extent you are. They sensed her, but she’s hidden to them now.”

“How is she hidden?”

“She wears a talisman. It hides her true nature.” He paused. “Her mother had it made. She paid for it with her blood and her life. Would you have that sacrifice made for nothing?”

The Walker pursed his lips. “She’s part demon, there will come a time when she will cause trouble.”

“Not if she never knows what she is, who she is. What if we arrange it so she truly believes she’s human? If she remembers nothing of the worlds of fae and demons?”

“You mean more magic?”

Christian nodded.

“Would she agree to this?”

“It doesn’t matter. It would be done.”