Once Betrayed Never Forgotten

Chapter 84 A New Bloodwrath is Born

Tatiana spins around, her face contorted in rage. “Be that as it may, I’ve still got the upper hand, Arianna. You are ruined, cursed. You have no idea what you’ve done… what you’ve become. You can kiss Aleksandr goodbye. After I give him this…”

She abruptly snatches the The All Seeing Eye out of midair, where it has been hovering and floating this entire time, watching and recording as events unfold. The pale purple iris shimmers with a malevolent, unblinking glow as Tatiana clasps the pendant in her hand, smiling triumphantly.

Before I can fully register what’s going on, Tatiana disappears in a flash of purple light, the portal opening and closing so quickly that I can barely process what I saw.

“No!” I shout, springing towards the now empty space where Tatiana stood just a split second ago,

“Dammit!” I curse, before realising that Bloodbane is staring at me with a mix of admiration and curiosity.

“What?” I ask.

“You are the first mortal to cross over in millenia,” he says, a hint of awe in his voice. “I didn’t think I’d ever get to witness the birth of a new Bloodwraith.”

My mind is buzzing with questions, possibilities, fears – but I can’t focus enough to think too deeply on anything right now. All I know is that I need to get out of this tower, and back to Aleksandr.

“How do we get

et out of here?” I ask Bloodbane, and he sighs.

“The same way I came in,” he says, pointing to the narrow window cut into the stone, barely wide enough for my forearm to pass through.

It takes me a moment to catch on.

The mist… I can transform into a cloud of red vapour, and simply float out through the window. But then I’ll be outside the tower, in that hellscape 1 glimpsed through the window–fiery plains, Jagged cliffs over a black sea, and a horde of demonic monsters lying through the blood red skies.

I’m probably better off inside the tower than outside.

“I mean how do I leave this… um… world?” I ask, not sure what word would be appropriate. “This plane? 1 need to get back to where I came from. Back to Los Angeles.”

“That’s not possible,” Bloodbane says. “Not now, at least. First, you must go to the Blood Scribe. She will seal your power, contain it, so that it does not consume you. This is something every Bloodwraith must do. She will teach you to travel between realms. This is something that only she can teach.”

“Ok, so let’s go,” I say impatiently, but he just frowns.

“I cannot leave this realm,” he says, his voice suddenly flat and emotionless, as if hiding some deep pain. “Not unless my mistress wills it. I can tell you the way to reach the Blood Scribe’s realm, but I cannot take you myself.”

Of course. He’s still bound to Tatiana

“Isn’t there some way to break the bond between you and Tatiana?” I ask desperately. “Like, breaking the curse or something.

He thinks for a moment, his eyes growing dark.

“There’s a way, but I fear you will not like it,” he says.

at is it? 1

“The Red Ceremony,” he says flatly. “If Tatiana is to no longer imprison and control me… then you must take her place. You must become