Ryder’s hands paused in their carding. “Like the Grayson part of you?”
Grayson considered this. “You know when I thought I was dreaming here just a little while ago, I realized something. Grayson was used to being alone. He didn’t need anyone. He could survive anything. Ashyr? Ashyr cannot do that. Ashyr knows what it is like to have a family in the Immortals, to have a Bloodline of precious Vampires and to have…you. Ashyr is far weaker than Grayson.”
Grayson licked his suddenly dry lips. He felt so exposed even though it was Ryder he was telling this to. But it felt like he was ripping off a mask or something.
“None of these things make you weak.”
“No, they don’t. They just make it hard,” Grayson admitted. “When I thought I was alone, I had no responsibility for anyone but myself. I could simply walk away. But not anymore. Now I am bound to everyone.”
“And we are bound to you. This makes us strong. This is why we will succeed against all our enemies. We will be victorious.”
Ryder kissed the top of his head. Grayson laid on Ryder’s slowly rising and falling chest. The beat of his heart in Grayson’s ear. His eyelids were definitely shutting. The fire’s sounds didn’t even disturb him any longer or Mairead’s raised voice as she spoke to someone in the hall then laughed. He smiled as sleep claimed him once more. There were many questions that still needed answering. There were many things he wanted to say to Ryder. But this moment was precious and he would not lose it for the world.
DARK DREAM
Caemorn flipped the ruby soul gem containing one of the Roan Tithe slices between his fingers. A slice of a slice. Legion shifted in their cell, regarding him silently. Caemorn did not look up.
Shaela was huddled in a cell opposite the monstrous Weryn Vampire. She was sitting on the ground, back against the wall, with her arms wrapped around her knees. She could not teleport out of this prison. Daemon would not allow it. In this palace, their king was supreme. Soon, as Daemon gained strength, there would be no place where his will would not reach.
I am king, Daemon always said, but how many people really understood what that meant?
Few.
The humans most certainly didn’t. For if they had a clue what Daemon could become, not just in the Ever Dark, but on Earth… well, the humans would be acting against them more quickly. But they weren’t. Not yet. And when they did act, it would be pointless. The Sect, too, seemed aware on some level that their cause against Daemon was a lost one, but they still tried to deny the futility of it.
“Are you Kaly?” Legion asked.
“Yes,” Caemorn answered without looking up.
They shuffled over to the cell’s bars, but did not touch them. The bars were enhanced. Even brushing against them would burn a Vampire’s flesh and, if a Vampire held on long enough, liquify their bones. They drained strength and will, too. Not even the strongest Vampire could break them or even bend them. So though Legion had the strength ofwhatevermonster they were, it wouldn’t do them any good.
“You don’t seem like them,” Legion muttered, but whether that was a compliment or not was unclear. Maybe it was just an observation.
“That’s because you’ve never met me before,” Caemorn said.
He felt, more than saw, one of Legion’s pointed ears prick up at this.
“I know you well,” Legion insisted. “We have been together since the War.”
“You do not know me at all,” Caemorn contradicted. His eyes lifted from the gem to Legion then. “Tonight is the first time we have ever met.”
Legion’s ears twitched some more. “You want to separate yourself from them? From the other slices? By pretending you are different? Someone else?”
He did. Or he had.
But Caemorn had learned that lying to oneself was foolish. Yet he knew now that Roan wasnothim. Not anymore.
As he touched the soul that shriveled away from him in the soul gem, it became more and more clear to him that this was someone else. It may have started with him, but it was as if Roan was his offspring rather than a piece of himself. The other slices, though they had been awful in a myriad of ways and had done things that shamed him, were recognizable as him. But not this one. So he was not simply denying the connection between himself and Roan because of Balthazar.
“We have never met before now,” Caemorn repeated.
“Why did you tell the others to leave?” Legion asked, referring to Balthazar, Christian, Fiona, Demos and Sana.
Nowthatwas clever of Legion to notice. They observed closely and their animal cunning was not something to be underestimated. He continued to flip the ruby soul gem between the fingers of his right and then left hands. He did not answer. He was not exactly sure why. He needed this moment to collect himself, to know what was best to do, and he found it very peaceful inside of Daemon’s palace even if he was in the dungeon.
He paused in his flipping of the soul gem to let it rest in the palm of his hand. It glowed reluctantly at him. He was still impressed by the fact that Elgar had been able toforceRoan to imprison himself. Roan was a slice, yes. Roan was a slice of a slice, yes. But it was still an incredibly difficult feat to pull off. One he hadn’t thought possible. Earlier, Balthazar had been skipping between being proud of Elgar and wanting to chastise his fledgling for taking such a huge risk in entering the Sect members’ minds at all.
“They hadn’t been checked for structures!” Balthazar’s arms had flown up and down before he’d tenderly touched Elgar’s shoulders before sending them flying upwards again like a startled flock of birds. He always became more physically effusive when he was emotionally upset.
