Free Blood Awakening by Tessa Dawn Page A

lifted her head and tried
one last time. “Again, wizard, with all due respect: You just don’t know if it
can be done...because your males have never tried any other way. Until now,
there has never been any other possibility.” She sighed and held up her hand. “But
for the sake of argument, let us assume that what you say is true, and I cannot
give Marquis...children.
    “I can still argue for him—at the end of the Blood
Moon—when the curse comes to claim him.” Her voice was beginning to waver. “Nachari,
surely those who have cursed you would not punish me. I am one of them . One
of the original females— the very reason the curse was enacted in the
first place . Even the gods would have to concede to that point.”
    Nachari glanced at the sky. “Ciopori, being who
you are, you must be a woman of great faith, are you not?”
    “Of course I am. That’s just my point—”
    “Do you believe that the gods know all and see
all?”
    “Of course I do. Of course they do . Yes.”
    Nachari looked her in the eyes. “Then they know
you are here, don’t they? They know that Marquis...loves you...and you, him. They
know exactly who you are and where you are from, yet they do this anyway.” He
gestured at the heavens. “Forgive me for being so blunt, but after
fifteen-hundred years of making him wait, why did the gods choose now? It is
almost as if they acted in haste to prevent the two of you from joining.
If you believe in divinity, then there is no coincidence.”
    Ciopori blanched at his reasoning. He was right .
    She shut her eyes and clutched her arms tight to
her stomach. If the gods truly knew all, then they had to know she couldn’t
possibly let go of Marquis now that she’d found him: They had to know that she
would fight for this warrior to the bitter end. She would never let such a
punishment stand.
    Ciopori Demir was willing to enter the Valley of
Death and Shadows with him if necessary.

five
    As if Nachari had read Ciopori’s mind, he held out
his hand. “Will you walk with me, Ciopori? There is something I need to show
you.”
    Ciopori took Nachari’s hand and followed him back
into the house. They passed through the receiving room, entered a main hall,
and eventually made their way to the rear of a large mud-room that sat just
beyond the kitchen. The door to the mud-room opened up to a dark, circular
tunnel with a hand-laid cobblestone floor.
    “What I’d like to show you is just on the other
end of this hall,” Nachari said, ushering Ciopori in front of him. And then
with the sweep of his hand, he lit a long row of torches, each one anchored in
rows at the top of the arched wall.
    Ciopori drew in a deep breath as she followed the
wizard through the long, damp tunnel.
    When they finally got to the end, there were two heavy,
wooden, arched doors—like one might find in an ancient castle. Nachari gestured
to the one on the left. “This entrance opens up to the Hall of Justice as well
as the Ceremonial Hall of our people.” He placed his hand on the thick iron
handle of the door on the right. “And this one leads to the Chambers of Sacrifice
and Atonement.” He cleared his throat. “You should prepare yourself for the...energy....
It is a place of great mourning and death.”
    Ciopori took a slight step back, braced herself,
and then nodded. “I’ll be fine.”
    Nachari was the one to pause then—lost in a frozen
moment in time. It was as if the weight of the entire world were sitting on his
shoulders, and he couldn’t bring himself to open the doors. As if his hands
were frozen in place.
    When he finally summoned his courage, he swung the
heavy door open so hard that it slammed against the wall behind it, sending a
resounding echo through the already creepy room. He swallowed a lump in his
throat. “Come on.”
    The moment Ciopori entered the chamber, she felt a
sudden drop in temperature. The room resembled a small, 1800s church: There
were several rows of pews, all lined up, each