“Chrysalis…like a butterfly’s cocoon?”
He nods. “You have the idea of it.”
I think of vampir by the hundreds, slumbering upside down like caterpillars. Waiting to awaken once the curse on them had been lifted.
“The stasis halts the progression of the curse. It keeps us from becoming Succumbed or worse. But it doesn’t cure us. The moment we’re awoken from our slumber, the curse spreads once more.” There’s a long pause. I’m not aware of just how long until he turns to face me.
I’m pulled back to reality from my thoughts. I can feel the expression on my face. My lips are tugged into a frown. My brow is furrowed. I try and force my expression to relax, but it only makes the lump in my throat worse.
“It’s all so…sad.”
Quinn’s eyes dart to me, widening slightly, brow furrowing. He clears his throat. “The plight of the vampir is a tragedy. We suffer quietly, alone. Our people were never a far-reaching one like the elves or fae. We never possessed the inherent, bodily strength of our closest brethren, the lykin, or the deep magics of the sirens far to the north. We were weak before the blood lore—only confident in interacting safely with those beyond our mountains around the full moon. And just when we found strength, it was stolen from us.” He stops his musings with a confounded expression. “I know what I want my question to be.”
“Yes?” I’m startled by his sudden shift. The increase in intensity.
“What you just said about the vampir, that our suffering brought you sorrow, did you mean it?”
My mouth immediately begins to form the word “no.” But I stop myself short. Do I feel sympathy for the vampir? Instinct tells me not to. My mind says I could never.
But my heart…
“I did; I do. I know what it’s like to live feeling like there’s no hope, no way out, no future other than a grim one paved by others’ hands. And it’s a fate no one should endure. At this point, the vampir are as much victims as we are,” I echo Ruvan’s words.
Quinn inhales slowly and exhales something that sounds like relief. He runs a hand through his dusty brown hair, turned full rust in the sunlight. He shakes his head as if in disbelief. I suppose we can share that sentiment.
“I never thought I’d see the day a human would take pity on our kind. But then again, I never thought I’d see the day where my lord, any vampir, would become bloodsworn to one such human.” He drops his hand, holding it out as though it is a peace offering. “I suppose, if any human is to walk among us, I’m glad it’s you, forge maiden.”
I chuckle softly. I suppose Ruvan must have shared the truth with Quinn and Callos. Not that I mind. I can’t deny that I’ve begun trusting them all. Clasping hands with Quinn, I say, “I suppose, if I am to walk among vampir, I’m glad it’s with your lord and his covenant as well.”
Quinn releases my hand, placing both of his in his pockets, as if to physically prevent himself from ever even thinking of extending such a peace offering to me again. I turn back to the window, thinking of what my next question to him will be. But we’re interrupted.
Winny’s hasty footsteps grow close and she bursts into the smithy. “Quinn, Riane—Floriane, come quick. It’s Ruvan.”
My heart sinks to the pit of my stomach. Her wide eyes, her frantic tone…
“What is it? What’s happened?” Quinn asks, rushing to meet her. I follow, determined not to be left behind, pulled by an irrational fear threatening to consume me.
“It’s the curse. He’s on the edge of becoming Succumbed.”
CHAPTER23
The world had been tooquiet. Everything was too still. Ruvan wasn’t merely sleeping…he was in trouble.
He came to the smithy, hungry and needing, because he could feel the curse ravaging him, brought on by the Fallen’s bite. He was ailing, and I didn’t notice. I pushed him away at the end. What if the sensation I felt with the dagger was drawing strength from him? Could this be my fault?
Guilt clings to me tighter than my sweat-slicked clothing.
ButshouldI feel guilty? Or is this just the bloodsworn oath playing tricks on me? My thoughts are losing shape, turning liquid, unable to keep form in the fires of my rising panic. I can’t discern what’s real and what’s not. What feelings are my own and what’s been forced upon me by this magic bond with a vampir?
All I know is I must get to him. Once I can see him, once he’s within reach, everything will begin to make sense again.
I think.
I hope.
We race up and through the banquet hall. We’re into Ruvan’s chambers in a breath. The rest of them are in the main room. Ventos paces before the window. Lavenzia is seated on the settee where I should have been last night, hands worrying between her knees. I hear Callos’s voice coming from Ruvan’s room.
Quinn brushes around me, heading right for the bedroom. I follow behind but Ventos steps in my way, glowering down at me.
