Page 48 of A Vow of Shadow and Blood

And just like that, all my joy disappears into thin air.

By the time Finn announces we’ve arrived, my feet are burning and my mouth is parched. Had I known how far we were traveling, I would have brought supplies—but he conveniently withheld that little detail.

“So, what now?” I ask.

“Now, we wait?” He slumps down on the ground right under a small hatch in the ceiling of the tunnel. Uneven steps have been nailed into the wall along with two handrails on either side, leading all the way up to it. Tori has already expressed her horror over the climb, and flashes of us climbing down the bloodhouse fill my mind. I join Finn on the ground, groaning as I stretch the muscles in my legs.

I lean against the wall, ignoring the jagged rocks digging into my spine. Apparently, none of us cares. Tori lies back with hereyes closed, her breathing shallow enough to tell me she has already given in to sleep. Finn sits watching me.

“What?”

He shrugs.

“There’s just something about you that I’m missing. It’s like you’re always holding a dark secret that no one else knows.”

“Or maybe your nosiness just makes up ridiculous stories to fulfill its incessant need to be in other people’s business.”

He laughs before resting his head against the wall. He brushes a floppy curl out of his eyes as he stares up at the hatch. I can’t help but look around, my eyes scanning the cold tunnel encircling us in a prison of uneven cream walls.How far do these tunnels stretch?

I don’t think the boy was lying when he said they exist beneath the entire court.

Neither do I.

“How will we know when to climb up there?” I say, gesturing to the hatch he is still staring at.

A small smile curves his lips. “You’ll know. Trust me.”

I roll my eyes at his useless answer and let my eyelids fall shut. I’m never truly asleep; it’s as if I always have one foot still in the world, too afraid to fully give in to the lull of sleep and be left vulnerable.

“My great-grandfather helped build this, you know.”

My eyes snap open at his revelation.

“There’s no way you can know that. Human histories don’t go back that far.”

“Not publicly, but they exist.”

That catches my attention. I sit up a little, my guard dropping for just a second.

“Where?”

He chuckles.

“Maybe one day I’ll show you, if you stop threatening to stab me with your dagger.”

“I will if you stop being a dick.”

He laughs again. “Your ancestors fought in the war, too, you know. I had a look once. You know how mynosinessgets carried away.”

Pureblood humans very rarely meet their family members. Vampires believe such ties make us too emotional—and judging by my current circumstances, they aren’t exactly wrong.

“What did it say?” I ask a little too eagerly.

He picks up a small stone from the floor, throwing it lazily across the space, and my eyes track its every move.

“Nothing really, it was just a bunch of names, a list of who played a part in the war and the date of their birth and death. Our ancestors recorded more than we realize, and with twins being so rare, it wasn’t difficult to connect the dots and uncover who your family was. Plus, many of the women in your line share those same strange, amber-colored eyes.”

He watches me curiously as though he is trying to figure me out, but I look away. Since the day I was born, the color of my eyes has drawn interest. But once it was clear I was nothing more than a pureblood human, the vampires stopped caring.Thank the gods.Attention from vampires is never good.