Free Revelations (Bloodline Series) by Lindsay Anne Kendal Page A

time,” he
explained. “Anyway, Vetis was the toughest warrior in our tribe, undefeatable. Anyone
who faced him died.”
    “Except
you.”
    “Yeah…it
turns out the younger brother was tougher than the older.”
    “He’s
your big brother?”
    “Yes,
he was three years older than me.”
    “Eligos,
why did you kill him, honestly?”
    “I
defied an order from my father, and he said I disgraced him. But the other
people of my tribe didn’t agree with him. They wouldn’t punish me; they thought
I was too valuable to them and they trusted me. I had saved the lives of
several of the people there. My father didn’t like the fact that they disagreed
with him, and ordered Vetis and his friend to kill me. That’s why I told you it
was a kill or be killed situation.”
    “Oh,
my God! That must have upset you a lot.”
    “Actually,
it didn’t,” he said, standing up. “I expected it, to be honest. The only people
it upset was my mother; Vetis’s mother, because obviously the task cost her son
his life; my father, because Vetis didn’t succeed; and Vetis himself. I was his
little brother—he didn’t want to kill me, but he was told if he didn’t, his
wife and two children would be killed.”
    “By
whom?”
    “My
father; he would have gotten someone to kill them.”
    “No
offense, but I really do not like your father.”
    “Neither
do I…I never did.”
    “Where
is he?” I asked.
    “He
is gone for good.”
    “Hecate
said that she saw Vetis rip—”
    “Someone’s
heart out and decapitate him?”
    “Yeah.”
    “That
was our father; it happened thousands of years ago. We knew his soul had come
to Hell, but he was serving two hundred years in the pits, so at first we
couldn’t get to him. When we found out he had been released, Vetis spoke to
Lucifer and told him exactly what had happened when we were alive. Lucifer gave
him permission to destroy him.”
    “Wow,”
I said shaking my head. “I don’t know what to say.”
    “There’s
nothing to say Keira. Don’t worry; it was a very long time ago.”
    “So,
do you and Vetis get along now?”
    “I
knew Vetis didn’t want to kill me. After the attack he was on the floor
choking on his own blood. It took him a few minutes to die. He managed to tell
me why he had done it; I told him I understood he had to do whatever it took to
protect his wife and children, and that I didn’t hate him or hold anything
against him. Then, when I died and went to Hell, Lucifer pulled me as you know,
and gave me a job role. He introduced me to people down there, and low and
behold, Vetis was one of them.”
    “I
bet that was awkward,” I grimaced.
    “Yeah,
just a little bit. Lucifer noticed tension and questioned us about it. We told
him we were brothers, but we didn’t tell him everything that had happened.”
    “Wouldn’t
Lucifer have known already? I mean, isn’t what happened the reason Vetis went
to Hell?”
    “Lucifer
doesn’t know why every person comes to Hell. He has people working in the pits
who have all that information recorded in case he ever has to refer to it. As
for Vetis, that isn’t why he went to Hell…it was because he had killed more
than sixty people in battles.”
    “Are
you close now?”
    “Not
really, but if one needed the other, we would be there,” he told me.
    “That’s
good then, considering what happened.”
    “Yeah
I guess; like I said, I don’t hold it against him…it’s him that’s guilt
ridden.”
    “I
feel quite sorry for him.”
    “Yeah,
so do I, but he knows if I had been put in that position I would have done the
same thing.” He sat down next to me again and kissed me. “Why do you want to
know about him anyway?”
    “Just
with the new guys’ father trying to summon him, and knowing Hecate is worried.”
    “Even
if that guy had summoned him he wouldn’t have fought against us. He wouldn’t
betray Lucifer…he has too much respect for him, and he wouldn’t want to fight
against me. Most likely, he would