Tree Of Souls (Transfusion Saga #6) - Stephanie Hudson Page 0,13

a chair she had fallen asleep in. At least it answered how she had been led into the Temple to begin with and it pained me to see her trusting a figure of myself taking her into the dangers that awaited her. I had to give it to this bitch, the witch was turning into a mastermind at manipulating people.

I had, of course, ignored the questioning look I had received from Dom the moment Amelia threw herself into what she believed was my arms, telling me she was sorry. This, of course unbeknown to Dom, was referring to our argument on the rooftop.

But witnessing this all play out meant only one thing, which was that I found myself getting closer and closer to losing my shit with every second I was forced to watch the ghost of the past play out through Takeshi’s re-enactment of events.

However, this had been nothing compared to having no choice but to assume force was needed when using Amelia’s to open the vault. This was something that we couldn’t see due to Takeshi’s limitations to where we were. But once inside, this hadn’t been the case and we were forced to witness the struggle that occurred after the deception was discovered. And from the roar of anger next to me, then I would say I wasn’t the only one finding this shit difficult. Especially when Dom’s fist found itself embedded in his own image in the statue nearest to him. It reminded me once again of forcing myself to watch the fight between her and the mercs back at Transfusion. Although granted, it helped somewhat that I had seen her since this moment obviously happened, unlike before when she had been taken from me.

And just like that moment, I also found myself in utter awe at her strength and found that the only shred of a silver lining in all of this was that her father was finally getting a chance to witness it too. Because she made herself get to her feet despite the blow she received to the side of the head and run after the witch, fully intent on getting the box back.

Gods, but I didn’t know whether to be angry at her for what could have happened or worship at the girl’s feet for what she had accomplished when running after her. And it was easy to see that I wasn’t the only one who was astounded as Dom’s reaction was a mixture of disbelief and blessing the Gods for the gift of such a daughter. Something we were, unsurprisingly, in agreement of.

However, by the time Takeshi had finished showing us images of the past, then the biggest question of all had been how? Neither of us could understand what force had summoned the river of blood in that moment, for it was clear in the worried face of panic that it hadn’t been the witch’s doing, for she had looked both shocked and surprisingly… scared. It was a question that still plagued us both after Takeshi had admitted that no other trace of power could be detected, so it remained an unknown, something neither I nor Dom, accepted easily. But then Takeshi did also point out that his power was limited within the Temple’s walls as the past belonged solely to that of Janus. Once through the doorways, this was another matter. Hence the void in Takeshi’s visions.

It quickly had me questioning if consuming my blood wasn’t taking some affect that could cause such a connection with the source of Hell’s power the river of blood had come from? For that was the most that Dom’s Seeker could detect, none of which eased our concern. But this all seemed secondary and cast in the shadows for the time being, seeing as she was still missing!

Dom had even called the authorities reporting the theft hoping to add pressure to finding her. This was after my insistence of course, for I would stop at nothing in my mission of finding her and if getting her put in a jail cell was a way to achieve it, then so be it!

I walked over towards where she had been hiding when watching the wrong end of the conversation between me and her mother, one I would fucking curse until the end of my days. Even now, as I slipped behind the staircase and saw a book on the floor, I continued to replay every word back, trying instead to hear it the way she