Bleeding Demons: The Dark Bloods - Book III ✓

Chapter 17 - The Brushstrokes of Memories

Blethinette gazed at Mundus as she sat next to him. Her hair pooled around her, falling on Mundus' lap and enveloping Verden like a blanket.

"My lady," Radi said, eyes wide.

Reyna's insides twisted. "It's not her. It can't be."

Was it the broken balance that brought her back? But Blethinette's death had triggered the final crack that shattered it. She would have vanished along with it, but here Reyna was, staring at the deceased queen.

Mundus also gaped at his mother—if that was really her. He gritted his teeth and placed a protective arm over the still sleeping Verden. Clawed hands dug into his brother's shirt. "What are you?" Mundus asked.

Blethinette recoiled as if hurt. "Dear. It is as you called me. Your mother."

His eyes narrowed. "No. She is dead, her essence of reincarnation gone."

Her confusion seemed genuine. The softness of her face and wavering of her multicolored eyes even gave Reyna pause. "Mundus." Blethinette captured his face between her hands, her expression begging for something. "It is me."

"I..." He paused, and Reyna saw it. Even if it wasn't really her, he was going to take it.

Mundus threw his arms around her and buried his face in her shoulder. Without hesitation, Blethinette stroked his hair as his shoulders heaved with silent sobs. "I am so sorry for what I did to you," he said. "Mother, I am so sorry for killing you."

Reyna sighed at the ground as a gnawing feeling chewed insider her chest. She saw Radi cross her arms, but there was a forlorn look in her orange eyes as she saw the scene in front of her.

Blethinette pulled away from her son and noticed Verden on the ground. She narrowed her eyes as if seeing him for the first time. Reyna tensed as she leaned over him, and Mundus arm went over his brother again.

"Mother," he said, the warning in his voice evident.

"It is Verden." Her voice was soft as she placed a hand on the sleeping half demon's cheek. "My first born. My lovely baby Verden."

That was when Reyna sat on the ground and threw her head back. It wasn't Blethinette. Whoever or whatever it was, it couldn't be her. As relieved as she was, she was also disturbed by how cruel it seemed to be. Her head snapped forward when she sensed Verden wake up and she saw he had gripped Blethinette's wrist in his hand. He was silent, but his expression said it all.

"Verden." The hurt on her face didn't seem to come from how tightly he was holding her wrist.

He sat, his gaze holding a calm intensity.

"You look so much like your father. I am certain that elates him so." She smiled, pride on her face.

Verden stared.

Her smile widened and she disappeared.

Reyna blinked. She couldn't sense the queen's odd essence anymore, verifying that the vanishing act in front of her was real. She chewed over the thought of walking over to the two brothers, but Radi beat her to it.

"That was not truly her, was it?" she asked Mundus.

He shook his head and turned away from her.

Verden stood.

"Are you okay?" Reyna asked him.

He nodded. "I think I was just tired."

"You think?"

He grin reassured her.

"Shall we continue now?" Radi asked.

"If Reyna is ready," Verden said.