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In spite of that, he was looking froain, and he looked protective As if Ja to protect Alan
“Everything’s fine,” Alan replied, but he looked grateful
Nick crossed his arms over his chest and asked Alan, “What did you want to talk to me about?”
He was rather glad that Jamie was there It had always been him and Alan in the past It would have been too fa as if they were a tea had changed Alan belonged with Jaicians They were not family
“There’s a spell,” Alan said slowly “It’s just a s spell It means your family can always find you”
“Explain further,” Nick ordered
He was talking in the way he always talked to people he didn’t knoell and didn’t likea stone He knew Alan recognized it
Alan did not rise to the bait He kept his eyes on the plastic sheen of their tablecloth, and he explained “Say the name Say the spell Spill a little blood, and then you can follow the trail of that blood”
“Follow the trail of my blood,” said Nick, because Alan didn’t want to say it and Nick wanted him to hear it at least “To my father’s”
“Yes”
“You knew Black Arthur was htfully “You could have done this spell at any time Why didn’t you?”
Alan did look up at him then His eyes looked hurt, but his whole white, bruised face told a story of pain, and a little more could make no difference
“I didn’t want you to know I didn’t ever want you to know any of it”
“Your concern is very touching,” Nick sneered “And you risked your own stupid life because you couldn’t bear to tellso horrible? How noble Only, wait — you risked Jamie’s stupid life as well That’s not very noble”
He gave Ja how the boy received this news Ja as he made himself a cup of tea
“I put you first,” Alan said in a tired way “I always have And no, it’s not very noble at all”
Nick threw a kitchen knife at him
Jaht the knife by the handle with no fuss, looking thoughtfully at the serrated edge Nick didn’t want to waste one of their hunting knives on himself The kitchen knife would do if he stayed still
“Very thoughtful of you,” Alan said, laying down the knife and drawing a blade froot one of my own”
Nick recognized the knife, the wickedly sharp point and the signs for power and protection carved in the steel hilt He rehts of the Goblin Market, being happy about his brother’s present and hearing Alan say so casually, I’ve been thinking we could use an enchanted knife
He wondered how long Alan had been planning this
He asked, “How much blood do you need?”
“Jamie,” Alan said, “could you fetch me a saucer?”
Ja onto the kitchen counter, and mutely fetched down a saucer from the cupboard with the door askew He put it in the center of the table Nick strolled over to the table and took the chair opposite Alan He had his gaze fixed at a point beyond Alan’s ear at first, but then Alan flinched, so Nick looked directly at hi exhausted and owlish and a little stupid, and Nick put all the chilly distance he had been feeling these past few days into his eyes Heand cold as winter
“Coe and held out his arm, elbow on the table and hand half-curled into a fist, as if they were going to ar for?”
Alan’s gaze was steady now and entirely blank “Take off your talisman”
It was so strange that Nick paused Alan had always stressed how important it was for Nick to keep his talisman on if he wanted to be safe
Well, Nick had always hated the thing, and he wasn’t particularly interested in being safe anymore He drew the talis down his‹layhin stake in a card ga the stakes, and reached out for him Nick forced himself not to pull away
Alan trailed two fingers along Nick’s arht and expert The blue veins stood out clearly against the dead-white skin, and Alan traced the largest vein until he chose a spot Nick wanted hilad when Alan took his hand away: He preferred the knife
“Say the name,” Alan commanded
Nick said, low, “Black Arthur”
Alan cut swift and deep There was no hesitation, nor any trying to spare Nick pain, which would have cost him more pain There was just the slice of the knife and the moment of shock
A line appeared in the knife’s wake, beaded with blood, and slowly the line opened into a jagged cut Blood dripped down Nick’s arled it so that the blood fell into the saucer, which filled drop by drop A splash of blood on white china looked alhtly to create a steady flow of blood, and the floallowed up in a pool
“I claiht of kinship,” Alan said “I claim blood and bone”
Nick saw Alan dip his finger into the blood and put it to his lips, but he was more concerned by the sudden stir in the blood still in his veins, as if the iron in it were being called to by a net very far away
“I claiht to follow you,” Alan continued “I claim you for my own”
They were silent then, waiting for enough blood to flow, loosing the blood so it could call out to another body Nick lifted his eyes fro down his arm and met Alan’s eyes, closer than he had expected
“You didn’t have to include yourself in that spell You didn’t need to taste the blood”
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In spite of that, he was looking froain, and he looked protective As if Ja to protect Alan
“Everything’s fine,” Alan replied, but he looked grateful
Nick crossed his arms over his chest and asked Alan, “What did you want to talk to me about?”
He was rather glad that Jamie was there It had always been him and Alan in the past It would have been too fa as if they were a tea had changed Alan belonged with Jaicians They were not family
“There’s a spell,” Alan said slowly “It’s just a s spell It means your family can always find you”
“Explain further,” Nick ordered
He was talking in the way he always talked to people he didn’t knoell and didn’t likea stone He knew Alan recognized it
Alan did not rise to the bait He kept his eyes on the plastic sheen of their tablecloth, and he explained “Say the name Say the spell Spill a little blood, and then you can follow the trail of that blood”
“Follow the trail of my blood,” said Nick, because Alan didn’t want to say it and Nick wanted him to hear it at least “To my father’s”
“Yes”
“You knew Black Arthur was htfully “You could have done this spell at any time Why didn’t you?”
Alan did look up at him then His eyes looked hurt, but his whole white, bruised face told a story of pain, and a little more could make no difference
“I didn’t want you to know I didn’t ever want you to know any of it”
“Your concern is very touching,” Nick sneered “And you risked your own stupid life because you couldn’t bear to tellso horrible? How noble Only, wait — you risked Jamie’s stupid life as well That’s not very noble”
He gave Ja how the boy received this news Ja as he made himself a cup of tea
“I put you first,” Alan said in a tired way “I always have And no, it’s not very noble at all”
Nick threw a kitchen knife at him
Jaht the knife by the handle with no fuss, looking thoughtfully at the serrated edge Nick didn’t want to waste one of their hunting knives on himself The kitchen knife would do if he stayed still
“Very thoughtful of you,” Alan said, laying down the knife and drawing a blade froot one of my own”
Nick recognized the knife, the wickedly sharp point and the signs for power and protection carved in the steel hilt He rehts of the Goblin Market, being happy about his brother’s present and hearing Alan say so casually, I’ve been thinking we could use an enchanted knife