"Yeah," she agreed. "But we kept bumping into each other. He didn't turn me in, he made sure I was filled, offering himself to me at times, and I like him. Mei picked on me about it. She said it worked out, though, because with his knowledge, we finally had a chance. She just wanted to bring down the Church once and for all so we could live until the sun stops shining."
"And he knows how the Church operates?"
She nodded. "He's already explained a bit to me, and his brother knows more. I'm sure Thane can get information for us."
"That's useful," he agreed. "We need to know about their Words, those stakes, and how they find us. The more we know, the safer we will be. I'm just not sure how he'll feel about us destroying his church."
"He asked me to spare his brother," she explained. "He said that if it's not possible, he doesn't want to see Laird killed. I agreed. He knows. He wants to help."
Cain licked his lips, then moved to sit on the bed across from her. "The eidolon won't like him."
"I don't care," she assured him. "Thane is mine. He's under my protection, and if you have a problem with that, tell me now."
"I can't," he admitted. "I am trusting you, but when I meet him, I'll make my own decision. I'll give him a chance, but if he is a risk to us, I will kill him. I'm concerned that he didn't come with you. I'm worried that him staying in the Church means he's playing you."
"His brother is there!" she snapped. "If he bails, they will put a stake in Laird, and who wants that on their conscience?"
Cain lifted a brow. "Really? Stop and think about that for a second. In case you forgot, I killed my brother myself."
"Shit, sorry," she breathed.
He just waved her down. "I said I'll give him a chance, and I will. I'll back you up on this as much as I can. With the two of us standing behind him, none of these kids will be dumb enough to fuck with him."
"Yeah, but..." She made a face, then decided to just put it out there. "Cain, I can't drain him. I'm sure I could bleed him out, but when we have sex, he tells me to take what I need. The first time, I planned to fuck him into unconsciousness, leave him sitting in that club like he'd passed out, and never look back. I went from starving to completely full, and he was still walking. Maybe a little tired, but not a lot tired."
"Just the once?" he asked.
She shook her head. "Every time. When he called me back from the Abyss, I drank from him, blew him, and then he fucked me. I went from nothing to everything, and he was more tired from the long day than the vitality I drained."
"Shit," he breathed. "Are all inquisitors like this?"
"No," she admitted. "Well, kinda. The ones I fed on all seem to have more oomph per drop, but they aren't endless. Him and his brother? They taste sweeter and fill me more."
"What's his last name?" Cain asked.
"Keegan," she replied. "Thane Keegan."
"Then that's out," he grumbled. "I knew a pair from the same area once. An eidolon and a priest. They were enemies, but he died no more than a few pastures away from where she was living when she found her power. Three years after his first death, the Church found her, indoctrinated her, and sent her out to find us. Every time he fed on her, he said it was as if her power was never-ending."
"And I have a pretty good idea that Thane wasn't alive when I died," she teased. "Maybe there are just a few of them with exceptional power? I mean, he said he's sterile because of it."
And Cain's lips curled into a devious little smile. "So, the power burns out their ability to breed, huh?"
"For some of them," she clarified. "The oldest sons become priests. The younger are supposed to breed the next generation, but it sounds like being sterile is a big enough problem that they test all the boys on their eighteenth birthday. The ones who are shooting blanks become hunters, the physical warriors of the Church. The older brothers wield the magic."
"And the rest make more," he realized. "They're fucking breeding priests."
"Which is why we need to stop them now," she pointed out. "Thane said they've been doing this for generations. They marry others from the Church, and from the way it sounds, they bring in people from the outside to join the Church. So, stages to earn trust and plenty of fresh bloodlines. Cross those to someone carrying the power, and it won't take long before the priests outnumber the normal humans."
"Unless we stop them," he agreed, leaning over his knees. "And we will, or we'll die trying. I promise you that. I also know that the reason you're throwing yourself into this is so you don't have to think about Mei."
Her throat immediately tensed. "I'm doing this for her."
"No, you're doing this for you. You're doing this to make yourself feel less guilty about what happened, but it is not your fault. You didn't ask for them to hunt you, Val. You didn't force Mei to do anything. You kept her safe for as long as you could, but we can't stop everything. We can't change the past. We cannot be blamed for the Inquisition."
"I just want her back," Dahlia breathed. "I don't know who I am without her."
"You are Dahlia, the flower of the eidolon. You began as Valka Sjorensdotter, wife of Hrokr, mother of four. You are the valkyrie, chooser of the slain, the vengeance of battle, and the sun come down to earth. You, my dear, are a warrior, born from warriors, and you will not stop fighting. You don't know how."
"But I want to learn," she said softly.
He reached over to cup the back of her head. "Don't we all. Today is not that day. If we fight well, then maybe tomorrow will be. Fight with me, Val, because I will always fight with you. We're the oldest. We're the strongest. We are the father and the mother of the eidolon, and I think the time has finally come to use that."
"How?" she asked.
"By making Mei's dream into a reality. We will protect our own. We will find the newly created ones and teach them how to survive. We will find a way to reach the rest. It won't be fast, but once we have a core group, this will spread. The Inquisition is winning because they're organized. It's time for us to form an army."
"And they'll never see us coming," she decided.
"Yes, little sister. Exactly."