The Legendborn Cycle, #3
Oathbound
by Tracy Deonn
Contents
Chapter 14
Overview
Bree’s first public hunt with Elijah and Zoe shows that Bree’s Bloodcraft training under Erebus is making Bree more controlled and dangerous. The chapter clarifies the damage Erebus caused to Bree’s memory: Bree remembers events but not living people, leaving only emotional echoes of lost relationships.
Elijah and Zoe’s forbidden intel work pulls Bree toward the Ratskellion, a demon-adjacent neutral meeting place Erebus has kept from Bree. By bringing Bree inside despite the risks, the twins expose Bree to hidden parts of Erebus’s plans and to possible goruchel danger.
Summary
Three months after Briana Matthews disappeared, Bree hunts lesser demons in downtown Asheville with Elijah and Zoe. Bree tracks an imp feeding on a businesswoman’s irritation, then uses Erebus’s Bloodcraft lessons to externalize her power into a hidden throwing knife. Bree strikes the imp without alerting nearby humans, and Elijah gives Bree rare praise.
As the group continues through the city, Zoe and Elijah bicker about Erebus and their lives with him. Bree asks why Zoe and Elijah kill demons if they dislike humans, and Zoe explains that killing lesser demons reinforces the twins’ rank rather than serving humanity. The conversation turns tense when Bree asks about cambions and goruchel; Bree reveals that she killed a greater demon up close, which makes both twins reassess Bree with suspicion.
Bree reflects on what Erebus took from Bree’s mind. Bree still remembers events from Bree’s life, but not the names, faces, voices, or identities of living people connected to those events. Bree retains only emotional traces of them, while memories of the dead and demons remain clearer. A sudden memory of someone killing Maxwell Zhao with aether blades surfaces, but Bree cannot identify the killer.
Elijah receives a message from a contact who wants to meet at the Ratskellion, a place Erebus has forbidden Bree from visiting. Because the contact threatens to leave within an hour and Elijah and Zoe cannot take Bree home in time, the twins debate whether to bring Bree along. Bree insists Bree will not run and argues that Bree is capable, so Elijah and Zoe reluctantly agree to take Bree with them.
At the Ratskellion, Bree notices that its hidden sign is written in green aether for those with the Sight. Elijah warns Bree that the human owner works in the demon world and that the bar is neutral territory used for sensitive dealings. Zoe warns Bree to lock down Bree’s power because their contact is a goruchel and other demons may be inside. Bree steadies herself, imagines containing Bree’s root, and enters the Rat acting like an ordinary human girl.
Who Appears
- Briana MatthewsPOV character; trains Bloodcraft, hunts demons, examines memory loss, and enters the forbidden Ratskellion.
- ElijahCambion twin; supervises Bree’s hunt and reluctantly brings Bree to an urgent intel meeting.
- ZoeCambion twin; mocks and tests Bree while warning Bree about demon dangers at the Rat.
- ErebusAbsent teacher and Shadow King; his Bloodcraft lessons and memory alteration shape Bree’s actions.
- The businesswomanHuman target of an imp’s feeding; Bree saves her without revealing magic.