Unhallowed (Rath and Rune #1) - Jordan L. Hawk Page 0,40
of mankind. The battle to stop them took place here, in Widdershins.”
The color drained from Ves’s face, lending a grayish tinge to his olive skin. “Oh. I…I see.”
“I wasn’t here for it—long story, I’ll tell you later. But suffice it to say, only people who’ve moved to town after don’t know about the arcane.”
The waiter reappeared with the sandwiches. Sebastian picked his up, stomach growling, but Ves only stared at his plate blankly.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Ves? Are you all right?”
Ves’s throat worked as he swallowed. “I told you I was raised in a cult. They worshipped nameless gods, collected unspeakable tomes, and sometimes cast spells. All in preparation for the end of the world.”
Sebastian almost choked on the bite of fish sandwich he’d taken. “Dear lord,” he managed when he could speak again. “I thought you meant they were part of something like the Millerites.”
Ves laughed, though there was no humor in it. “Well, they did have their own version of the Great Disappointment in 1902.”
“But…you ran away when you were seventeen, right?” Sebastian asked.
“In spring 1902, yes. Apparently I cut it closer than I meant.” Ves picked up his sandwich but only continued to stare at it. “I didn’t want any part of the grand destiny they tried to create for me. Certainly I didn’t want the world to be subjugated to things from the Outside. I didn’t bring any of their twisted philosophy with me. The only important thing I took from them was my knowledge on how to bind and conserve books, since the types of tomes they collected were often in dire shape.” He bit his lip. “They…weren’t like your family.”
That sounded bad. “I’m so sorry you went through that, Vesper,” he said sincerely.
Ves’s startled eyes met his. Then Ves looked away again, blinking rapidly. “I…no one’s ever said that to me before. Not that I’ve ever told anyone.”
He sounded so lonely, so sad, that it broke Sebastian’s heart. He put down his sandwich, reached across the table, and took Ves’s hand. “Then I’m honored you told me.”
Ves gazed at their hands for a moment. Then he turned his palm-up, curling his fingers into Sebastian’s.
Sebastian’s breath caught. Not from lust, but from something he wasn’t entirely sure he could put a name to. He only knew that he was deeply glad to be here, with this man. That Ves felt Sebastian was worthy of confiding in.
He’d let down so many people in his life. But he swore at that moment that Ves would never be one of them.
Chapter 14
They elected to walk from the restaurant to the address on Kelly’s electricity bill. As they strolled, Ves told Sebastian about the various unnerving encounters he’d had in the library, starting with a whisper and escalating to the attack in the bindery that morning.
His head still spun, to think that Sebastian not only knew about the arcane, but apparently almost everyone else in town did as well.
If he’d stayed, if he and Noct had accepted their grand destiny…this was where he would have come to lead an army of cultists and monsters. He would have fought against Mr. Quinn, and Arthur, and Mortimer Waite, and all the rest. Against Rebecca Rath and Kelly O’Neil. Against Sebastian.
Gods of the wood, he’d never been so glad he’d taken Noct and fled.
Mother and Grandfather would surely have come here to welcome back those who had once ruled the earth, and whom they wanted to rule again. This was where they’d died.
He’d had no idea he was setting foot in the town that had seen their defeat. He’d assumed things hadn’t gone their way when the world failed to end. As for the cult itself, he’d been unable to find a trace of it when he made cautious, veiled inquiries later. They were gone, wiped from the face of the earth, their grand design unsuccessful.
Cultists who failed didn’t usually survive the experience, so it had come as no real surprise. He and Noct had never really spoken about it, never mourned, just quietly gone on and tried not to dwell.
Now he learned that he’d come to the very town where defeat found his only human relatives. What had happened to their bodies? Had they been incinerated by magic, or thrown into a pit?
He’d never know. And it shouldn’t have bothered him, not after everything, and yet somehow it did.
“I wish you had mentioned this from the start,” Sebastian said, once Ves was done telling him about the spirit.