Page 45 of A Vow of Shadow and Blood

Finn tenses, but he remains calm.

“The plan changed,” he says nonchalantly.

The man eyes us suspiciously.

“That’s not how it works.”

“No?” Finn shrugs. “Then I’ll take my coin and leave. Come on, ladies.”

I almost tell him that’s not an option and that we have to see this through, but I see the warning in his eyes telling me to play along, so I get up. Tori follows suit, as she throws a scowl in the man’s direction.

The man quickly steps in front of Finn, blocking his way, his tough exterior faltering for a moment.

“No need to be so hasty, you can never be too careful.”

“No, I don’t suppose you can,” Finn spits back.

“Look, I’m good as long as the coin is.” Finn nods in confirmation, and the man returns the gesture. “Good. Follow me.”

The man turns on his heel, heading toward the bar, and Finn gestures for us to follow. This time, I don’t question him. If anything, I’m just happy to get out of the crowded space. A small part of me wonders why it’s so much harder to be around my own kind than a bunch of vampires. I may be on guard when in a room full of vamps, but I know exactly where I stand.

The man leads us through the crowd and to a door behind the bar. We all hurry through it, and when it closes, the sound of the chatter falls to a whisper. I feel the squeeze of Tori’s hand against mine. I look up to find her watching me with worried eyes. I plaster a fake smile on my face and keep moving forward. I’m not sure what I expect to find, but the entire place feels stuck in the past, with wooden paneled walls and old picture frames hanging against them. The bloodhouse is made from the finest stone walls and designed with the most exquisite furniture.

“What happened to this place?” The words slip out before I can stop them.

The man at the front grunts but doesn’t turn toward me. He keeps moving, leading us down a narrow hallway filled with old wooden doors. Some even have cracks running straight down them. A few cobwebs hang in the corners of the ceiling, and I wonder how often this place gets used.

“Only a pureblood would ask that.” I freeze at his words, expecting an attack, and reach for my dagger, but it doesn’t come; instead, he keeps walking. “After the war, the vamps took away all our advanced creations and kept them. They think thatby taking it away and dumbing us down, we won’t think of starting a war again.”

“Then why do they let us have the settlement? It’s ungoverned and run by humans?” Tori asks.

He laughs at this.

“It’s not a gift; it only pacifies us. The settlement makes people think that they are gaining something by being given a false sense of freedom, but it’s not true.Nothingis ungoverned. They may not physically enter the settlement, but they have eyes everywhere and there’s always some desperate human willing to sell out their own for a bag of coins.”

My stomach tightens at his words, unsure whether Tori should be heading to a place where someone might sell her out so easily. What if someone discovers that she crossed the border illegally? Would they really sell her out?

“I’ll be ok,” Tori whispers as if she can read my thoughts.

We come to a stop in front of a door and wait as Finn and the man exchange a bag of coins for a set of keys.

“That’s for the door,” he points at a small steel key. Then he points at a larger bronze key, his eyes darkening as he looks at Finn. “And I expect you know what this one is for?”

Finn gives a curt nod.

“Good, you have ten minutes. Leave the keys on the bed when you’re done,” he says before he gives us all one last look and then disappears back down the hallway.

“Well, that was dramatically ominous,” Tori says, and I nod in agreement.

Finn ignores us both, twisting the key in the lock and opening up a door to a small room with a single bed and minimal furniture. He ushers us inside with an urgency that has my eyes sweeping the dark hallway before hurriedly following him inside. He closes the door behind him and then turns to face us.

“What are we doing here?” I ask.

“I need to find the switch,” he says before heading over to a small dresser across the room, using his hand to search inside it.

“What in the seven courts are you looking for?” Tori takes the words from my mouth.

He doesn’t stop what he is doing as he answers her.