“It’s the blood lore attached to the bloodsworn. We have marked each other’s blood, we share life and energy, so I can give you a fraction of my power,” Ruvan answers. It prompts me to walk at his side once more. I can hear faint groaning in the distance. There are more battles to come before we make it to the aforementioned loft. “And, to that end, I would appreciate it if you kept running headfirst into danger to a minimum.”
“I don’t know what came over me,” I murmur. I pull down on my cheek, inspecting the gold ringing my eye. “I’m like the night of the Blood Moon, aren’t I?”
“You are.”
“That means—” The words strangle me. But I force myself to speak them anyway. For the first time there’s something almost reassuring radiating from Ruvan, pulsing toward me through this bond we share. “It means the Hunter’s Guild really is engaging in vampire blood lore, doesn’t it?”
“Yes. A human shouldn’t be able to become a bloodsworn as easily as you have—your blood already had the imprints of blood lore upon it. My magic should not flow to a human untouched by lore as it has to you. You were marked by the art of the vampir before me and you will be forevermore.” He looks at me from the corners of his eyes with disapproval and concern.
“Marked,” I repeat, rubbing between my collarbones.
“Everything we do, all we experience, marks our blood. We are shaped by all we have been, could have been, are, and are not. And you had blood lore upon you before you met me.” Ruvan turns to face me. “Your precious fellow hunters were slowly turning you into one of us to kill us.”
“You’re—you’re—” I can’t say it. The word is gummy in my throat.
“Wrong?” Ruvan tilts his head slightly, lips quirking into a frown. He leans forward slightly. “You can’t say it, can you?”
I swallow thickly, silent.
“Do you know why?” His voice drops. “Because you can’t lie to me. I’m right, and you know it as much as our bloodsworn oath does.”
My eyes widen slightly. But he doesn’t gloat. Ruvan eases away, regarding me thoughtfully as a thousand thoughts race through my mind at once.
If the Hunter’s Guild is engaging in the blood lore—the magic of the vampires—to create stronger hunters, what does that mean for Drew? Do the ends justify the means? Is it necessary to become a monster to kill one? If they could and would do it to make the Hunter’s Elixir, then why would I think they wouldn’t do it to curse our enemies, too?
Perhaps there is something more to this curse they speak of. Maybe it even does come from Hunter’s Hamlet. Drew would know.
Drew. My chest aches. I press my eyes closed, favoring the darkness behind my lids rather than the darkness of the hall for a second. What if they used the vampire lore on him to heal him? Will that make him that much closer to becoming a vampire? What if he’s part of one grand experiment that will go on because I stole his destiny and the vampire lord is alive?
They would never do that!I can hear in my mother’s voice. In Davos’s at our dinner table.
Yet…the truth is before my eyes. There’s more to the hamlet than I have ever known, and even if I don’t want to find out because it terrifies me, because it threatens all I’ve ever found comfort in, I must. No matter the cost.
The sound of monsters in the distance is welcome. I let out a noise of frustration and charge ahead, a blur of silver and power. I want the magic to burn away these thoughts. I want to use it to survive and think nothing of the implications.
I want to ignore everything that is smudging the simple, neat lines that have always divided my world.
CHAPTER16
I’ve lostcount of how many I’ve killed. My limbs ache and my breath is short. That was the third wave. Fourth? We’re deep in the old castle now and I can feel the stone all around me as though it were a living being. Every wall seems to be filled with more and more of these beasts. It’s clear what Ruvan meant about the numbers. The risk of these monsters is not facing them one-on-one, but being overwhelmed in the moment, and lacking the stamina to handle them all. It’s far worse here than any full moon I’ve ever heard Drew describe.
Somehow, I’ve managed to survive. If my brother could see me now he’d be proud. As shocked as I am, but definitely proud. His training was better than either of us realized. I can move on instinct. Though, even I admit, the vampire magic has helped a lot. I’m not sure how much longer until it fades, but, for now, it doesn’t seem like it’s waning. And even if it were, I know where I could get more.
My eyes drift to Ruvan. He’s as weary and worn as we all are. Yet, by some injustice, he almost looks more handsome with a bit of grime on him. It mutes some of his unbearable perfection and makes him…almost human? Less like some divine creature and more a man that could be touched by mortal hands.
“Here.” Ruvan hands Winny a large keyring that was previously attached to his belt. She uses it to unlock one of the many doors we’ve passed. There’s a ladder on the other side.
Winny scrambles up and then calls back, “It’s clear.”
“Oh, bloody good.” Lavenzia heaves a sigh of relief and climbs at Ruvan’s motion.
“You next,” he says to me.
I climb as well. I’m grateful for every one of my years in the smithy. If not for every hour spent hoisting steel and iron, I could not still pull myself up these rungs after all the exertion of the day.
The “loft” is more akin to an attic. Wooden beams support the roof above us. We stand on the ceiling of yet another large room below. I’m nearly blinded by the twilight that streams through a hole in the roof in the distance. After spending so many hours in complete or near-complete darkness, it’s almost painful to see natural light.
Ruvan is the last to climb, following the sound of the door closing below.
