Chapter 253: Yan - Blood-brothers

The only reason I agreed to ally myself with the Lords was because of Rin, because he’s been one for years. Our grandfather was a Lord, but he stopped associating with the rest of the organization a long time before I was born.

Rin has always been interested in the Lords and used to ask our grandfather many questions about what it means to be a Lord.

Almost ten years after I became a vessel for my demon and an angel, at the age of twenty-seven, I’m finally becoming a Lord. Nor for Rin, not for Emily, or anyone else, but for me.

Accepting what I’ve been made into–a man who will never fully be a Lord but a Duke either–has taken time, but even so, the ones I was to stand by are the Lords. They are no better than the Dukes, but at least they do have some morals. But more than that, they do want to protect Earth from what’s to come, and I’m more than ready to keep my family safe.

So, after months of thinking and countless conversations with Rin, today I will link myself to him, Steven, Mads, and Cirro, and become their blood-brother.

The first part of the ceremony starts with us in a quiet room, so we can better connect with our demons and think of what it means for us to become blood-brothers.

As I sit in an armchair, I look back at everything that has happened since I found Rin in December. He welcomed me with open arms, but he wasn’t the only one. Cirro and Levi had the same reaction. Unfortunately, Levi died before I got to really know him, but from the little we got to speak, I know he was a great guy. But so are Mads, Steven, and Cirro. I’m biased when it comes to Rin, since I always saw him as the coolest guy ever, and no matter how much time passes, my opinion hasn’t changed.

But more than being their friend and feeling alive in their company, I trust them with my life. And I think that’s what it means to have blood-brothers–to be linked with men who you truly see as brothers and know they have your back and that you will do anything for them.

Getting to this point has not been easy, but everything we’ve been through, especially when Maddox attacked me, has allowed me to lower my guard and see them for who they really are. The time spent in the facility made me think that most men and women are evil, but Emily and… my blood-brothers proved me wrong.

A couple of hours later, each of us is taken to separate rooms within the Blood Lodge.

“Wait here,” I’m told.

So I wait.

Until I hear my mother’s voice. “Yan, run!”

It comes from behind a curtain at the far end of the room.

I don’t think twice before I grab my cane and leap to my feet. The logical part of my brain knows it can’t be her, but the other part still hopes she’s real.

Before I can move, the door suddenly flies open and two strong Lords drag Steven in.

“Move, and Steven dies,” one of them snarls, pressing a gun to Steven’s temple, just as the curtain is shoved aside to reveal my mother exactly as she was the night she was killed.

After Aunt Caori left the reservation with Rin, my mother became everything to me. I was fifteen when she was killed right in front of me, and just like now, I couldn’t help her because I… froze. Just like now, but for a different reason.

I’m not afraid anymore, but I can’t risk Steven’s life. We’ve had our differences, but he matters to Emily, and if he matters to her, then he matters to me.

I clutch the cane hard as I watch my mother being stabbed again and again, knowing that by the time her killer is done, he will have driven the blade into her more than a hundred and fifty times and severed her head from her neck, while I want nothing more than to draw the sword hidden inside the cane and drive it straight into the his heart. But instead, I stay still, knowing how heartbroken Emily would be if Steven were killed because of me.

When it’s over, the curtain falls shut.

“You’ve passed the test,” the Lord says, releasing Steven.

“A test?!” I shout. “What kind of sick joke is this?”

“This is no joke,” the same Lord replies. “Having blood-brothers means putting them first, most of the time.”

“Most of the time,” I echo. “So they come before our families and friends?”

“A blood-brother is more than family, more than a friend. He carries a piece of your soul within him, just as you carry a piece of theirs.”

“That’s why losing a blood-brother hurts so much,” Steven adds. “Because you lose that part of your soul forever.”

“Despite the risk, you still go forward with it,” I observe. “Why?”

“Because the risk is worth it,” Steven replies. “Because you will feel like you are part of something big.  But more than that, you will feel linked to us. In times of great need, we can access our powers.”

“I can use my electricity without being linked to any of you,” I point out.

Steven nods. “But we need your help to access ours.”

My gaze shifts to the two men next to Steven. “Will there be any more tests?”

“No. The Test of Brotherhood is the only one a Lord must endure to become a blood-brother.”

Steven also had a test. So I ask, “Who did you have to see die?”

His jaw clenches before he says, “Gavin and Isak. It was between them and Cirro. The choice was not easy.”

Which means that Rin had to endure seeing Levi die again to save Mads’ life. But I do wonder what Cirro and Mads’ tests were.

I can’t lie and say the entire thing hasn’t been fucked up, especially forcing me to relive my mother’s death, but I will take my anger out later on the punching bag.

“What happens now?” I ask.

“Now you and your future blood-brothers will be linked together. For that, we will go to the Inferno Room.”

Steven adds, “In the same room, the Piercing Ceremony will happen.”

We already have everything ready. We only need to ask Emily to marry us.

Half an hour later, my blood-brothers and I kneel before the altar as Cain asks, “Are you willing to enter into a covenant with one another? Are you willing to sacrifice your life to save that of your blood-brother? Are you willing to bind yourself to them, to leave a part of your soul with them? If your answer is yes, then rise and partake of each other’s blood.”

A cup is in the middle of the altar that has been filled with our blood earlier. The first to drink from it is Rin, since he’s the group leader, followed by Cirro, then Steven and Mads, and lastly me.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but just as Steven had explained, the moment I drink the mixed blood, a bond forms between us. It’s not like the connection we share with Emily—this is different. This is brotherhood, forged by the blood we’ve consumed.

We are indeed blood-brothers.