Page 63 of A Hunt Bound in Blood
These mutts were determined, adding more weight to my suspicions that they weren’t working on their own. Thorn didn’t strike me as that amazing an actor, which squashed my theory about the vampires’ involvement. Unless someone from within the fury had betrayed their own. Possible, but unlikely. Thorn seemed like the type of leader who kept her thumb on the pulse of any internal discontent. She would kill one of her own before she let them betray their community.
But if the vampires weren’t controlling the mutts, our options for who was were getting slim. My siblings came to mind again, and I cursed the possibility. What could they have promised these creatures? All lies, of course. My traitorous brothers and sister would turn on them as easily as they had on me. Regardless of how things ended, the mutts wouldn’t be a problem around here for long.
“I have reason to believe they’re targeting me. As soon as Glory and I leave, the mutts won’t be your problem.”
Thorn grinned. “They’re no problem, demon. More a nice change of pace. My vampires will enjoy the opportunity to hone their skills on something beyond rabbits and trespassers.” She canted her head. “What about the girl?”
At the mention of Glory, my shoulders tensed again. “What about her?”
“A half-vampire living in the city? It’s a miracle no one’s torn her to shreds. How is it you find yourself out here with her on a mission from a king you bear no allegiance to?”
I worked my jaw, doing my best not to read any threat in the fury leader’s words. “Fate, perhaps.”
“Her nature remains hidden?”
I nodded.
Thorn’s eyes twinkled again, this time with a bloodthirsty glimmer. “If I were less open-minded, I would rip off your head where you stand to keep my kin-daughter’s secret safe.”
In a breath, the rest of my tension disappeared. Whatever danger I faced here, no harm would come to Glory. Not with this woman claiming her as one of her own. The relief, the removal of that weight, nearly lifted me off my feet. Instead, I fell to my knees and bared my neck to Thorn. “If word gets out about Glory and any harm comes to her, you have my permission to hunt me down and tear out my throat. I would never reveal her secret, and I will destroy anyone who uses it to hurt her.”
My vow surprised me, undoubtedly another effect of the bond. I waited for resentment to kick in, but it never came. After how hard Glory had worked to keep herself free and safe and hidden, I would never allow anyone to come after her. We would find this amulet, and she would have her closet in the library if that was what she wanted.
Thorn’s gaze remained fixed on me long enough for the silence between us to grow taut. Then she nodded. “I believe you. Now go and get cleaned up. Your stench is ruining my atmosphere.”
Glory
XXVII
I followed Kalla to the hot spring, though with every breath, I experienced another tug of fear that Cammon and I were stuck under this mountain. After watching these vampires come close to slaughtering Cammon before my eyes, I hadn’t known what else to do but follow Thorn and pray her words of goodwill were genuine. So far, no harm had come to us, and by calling me child she had claimed me as kin, which reduced my fears for my own situation, but Cammon’s fate remained a question mark. I didn’t want to be where I couldn’t beg for his life if they turned on him, but I hadn’t wanted to make a scene, either. After all, I was a half-vampire in a cavern of full-bloods. That hadn’t seemed to matter to anyone, but I couldn’t help but feel small. Just as separate from these vampires as I was from the humans in the city.
“Loosen up, will you?” Kalla said as she tugged on my arm. “I get why you wouldn’t want to stray too far from that man, but you’ll be back with him before you know it. Clean and scrubbed and shaved and whatever else you want. Believe me, you’ll both appreciate it.”
I blinked at her, first stunned, then alarmed by her assumptions. “Oh, no, we haven’t—we aren’t—”
Kalla burst into laughter, and I didn’t bother finishing my sentence because I didn’t believe it either. I wanted him. To deny that would be to lie to myself, and I’d long ago accepted that doing so would be dangerous. I faced the full, harsh realities of my life every single day to stay safe, and that meant admitting—at least in my own heart—that I desired Cammon Ruxo with a primal urge I hadn’t known I was capable of.
“I have no intention of acting on it,” I concluded.
Kalla’s dark blue eyes shone with mirth as she shoved me playfully through an archway tucked off the side of the cavern. We followed a short tunnel and came out in a smaller room, this one completely dark. By the trickle of water, the scent of silt that tickled my nose, and the humidity that curled the hair at the back of my neck, I guessed we’d reached the hot spring, but my vampiric night vision wasn’t enough to pierce the blackness.
“Give me a moment…” Kalla murmured.
There was a squeal of metal, and then a lantern on the wall, hanging from a simple hook, lit up without any apparent flame. Kalla went around the room and lit three more, until the space was filled with a warm glow that reflected off the moving water in a hypnotic pattern.
“Are those enchanted lanterns?” I asked, stunned. “I thought they worked with fae magic.”
She grinned. “They do.”
When she didn’t elaborate, I turned my attention to the steaming pool, and my jaw dropped. “How do you people ever leave this room?”
“I know. It’s bliss. But even full-blooded vampires get pruney. Come on, strip down and enjoy before the steam gets a real grip on your hair.”
I looked behind us. “Is Cammon…”
“Nah, Cliff’ll take him to the other spring. Not for modesty’s sake, mind. More because splitting you two up will give us a chance to make sure you’re both telling the same story.”
She winked, then closed the distance and tugged on the sodden rags of my torn and bloody camisole. I resisted her efforts at first out of the aforementioned modesty, but it soon became clear this vampire didn’t give two figs about my figure.