Page 156 of Claimed By Fangs and Darkness

Young human men and women were in various states of bondage and undress. Two demented, Lillianic altars stood in the center of the space. A girl, likely no older than eighteen, lay on one altar with bites all over her small body. She was deathly pale and unmoving.

“Blade, write to the closest care center,” I said.

Harmony had already begun to soothe the room with her energy and speech, gingerly cutting away bindings and removing gags.

The animal side of me shut off, the human one taking its place. Mywhybecame painfully apparent.

Them.

We were doing all of this forthem.

I moved to the girl on the altar, checking for a pulse. A relieved sound escaped me when I found one, however faint.

“You’re going to be okay. You just need blood replenishing potion. You’re going to be okay,” I whispered.

Her short dark hair framed a youthful face. I felt sick with grief, disgust, and outrage that any being could be so cruel. I thought of the girl’s family and friends. I thought of Evie.

I untied someone’s daughter from one of the born’s many sadistic feeding toys.

Once I knew backup was on the way and our path was clear, I scooped her into my arms and delivered her to the nearest care center myself.

49

EVIE

“Gods, Evie,” Idris said.

I sat with him and Vesper on the roof of their apartment building. Idris had seen me running, and now I was explaining what happened. Even though I really didn’t want to.

Kylo had never yelled at me like that before. His words rattled around in my brain—telling me to get away from him.

There was a choked feeling in my throat I couldn’t swallow.

“I fucked up. I’m the worst hypocrite in the world,” I said. I was trembling slightly. I saw it in Kylo’s eyes—the shift, the fury. And I knew on a logical level that his wrath had been directed toward Aster.

But I’d lied to him. I’d hurt him just like he’d hurt me. And it was me he’d yelled at toget away.

I was sick to my stomach. The look of pity and conflict written into Vesper and Idris’s features made me want to crawl out of my skin. Especially Idris’s. It was an old habit to want to protect him from my pain.

“It’s more complicated than that,” Vesper said with a shake of her head. “This was different. You didn’t lie to him to shieldhim.You did it because he had made it clear that he would declare war before the Serpent Clan was ready to fight with you. It wasn’t a fair position to put you in. You lied to shield your family and city. To give us the best fighting chance.”

“I don’t know how to feel,” Idris said. He glared at the closed fists in his lap. “I still don’t get why you have to do this. Why can’t you let the vampires who have been building this revolution for decades handle killing Juliette and destabilizing the born? Why does it have to beyou?”

More hurt flooded my chest as I stared at Idris. He once told me he believed in me. That the whole reason he wanted to be turned in the first place was to be as strong as I was.

“Why can’t it be me, Idris?”

He stood, running a hand through his dirty blond hair.

“Juliette killed Princeton because of me,” I said. “Maybe they would’ve been in the city, regardless. But she’s obsessed withme.That’s why she’s doing all of this—creating hellish beasts, terrorizing Etherdale, killing hundreds of students.”

Idris stared at me in disbelief. “She’s doing those things because she’s a psychopath!”

My heart tumbled, and Idris lowered his voice.

“Trauma or not, she’s with the born and that’s that. None of this is your fault. These things have been in motion since before you were born,” Idris said.

“He’s right about that part,” Vesper said with a sip of tea. “But you’re your own person. I know that your brother and your partner are both trying to protect you. But this is your fight as much as it’s theirs.” She looked at Idris gently, a comforting maternal air radiating from her striking appearance.