Page 89 of A Vow of Shadow and Blood

“I didn’t mean to hurt her.” I’ve never hurt another human like that.

The girl shakes her head.

“It’s not your fault. I warned her to stay away, but she’s hot-headed.”

“I killed her sister.”

“By accident.” She comes to sit in a chair in front of me, and that’s when I realize that we’re in some kind of study. “I was there, I should know.”

“You were?”

She nods.

“Are you hurt? Did she catch you with the knife?”

“I’m fine.” I look up at her through blurry eyes. “Why are you helping me?”

“The prince kind of asked me to keep an eye on you.”

I look up at her, surprised by her revelation.

“He asked you? Why?”

She shakes her head. “I don’t know, but the prince has been good to me, and if he asks me to do this, then I will.”

I look over at the door. A pang in my stomach as I think of what I took from that girl. She may have been angry, but a deepsadness lingered in her eyes. An emotion I’m solely responsible for.

“Things will die down soon, but Maribelle’s death is still pretty fresh,” she says, interrupting my onslaught of thoughts. “Until then, I will do as the prince asked and look out for you.”

“If he’s that concerned, then surely he could just look out for me himself.”

“I suppose he could if it weren’t for the blood vows ceremony coming up.”

“What exactly is that?” It’s the same thing the council was discussing during their meeting back at the bloodhouse.

She stands to her feet, looking around nervously.

“I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Said what? About the blood vows?”

She nods as she twists her fingers together. Whatever she knows is something big, and I need to know it. It could be the very thing that leads me out of this place, or maybe even gives me more information about the bond.

“Please, Ember. I won’t say anything…I just need to know what I’m dealing with here. Someone just tried to kill me because I wasn’t told that I needed to be careful of the humans.”

I can tell that she’s going through an entire battle in her mind, but there’s a part of her that wants to help me.

“We’re both human, Ember. If we don’t look out for each other, then who will?”

She blows out a breath and comes to sit across from me again. Her eyes sweep across the room one last time before she turns her attention fully to me. Her hands are shaking in her lap.

“You can’t say anything to anyone. I’m not even supposed to know this.”

I take hold of her hands in mine to still the shaking, and then I nod.

“I won’t say a word. I promise.”

“Every century, the vampires hold this thing called the blood vows. It’s a kind of ceremony where every vampire house in the court decides whether they wish to remain here or pledge their allegiance to one of the other six courts.”