Page 40 of Entombed By Blood

I take the place on the recliner and pick up the glass, laying the blade across my lap.

This close, the scent is unmistakable. He’s spiked it with silver nitrate.

He’ll expect me to drink it and endure hours of agony as my blood boils in my veins from the silver.

Then, when my thralls return, they’ll be forced to bleed me out to flush the silver from my system. Cain might leave me for hours, but he probably won’t leave it long enough to cause permanent damage. The result will be the same, however much time passes; all the strength I’ve been building since my release will be gone.

Cain raises his glass, and I obediently clink mine against it.

“To loyalty and family,” he murmurs.

“To loyalty and family,” I reply, hearing my voice tremble.

I can’t let myself hesitate. With those words, I tip the glass up and swallow the liquid in huge great gulps; each one more painful than the last.

My throat blisters as it goes down. The instant it hits my stomach, my gut starts to cramp, rejecting the toxic blood. Dizziness assaults me and I slide to the floor, limbs twitching as I start to convulse. I want to throw up.

“I’m glad you’ve chosen to seek forgiveness.” Cain stands from his seat, stepping over my seizing body to scoop up the dagger I dropped, before making his way to the door. “Your presence is required at court next week. I expect you’ll have adapted in that time. As you can see, the world has changed.”

My vision blurs and my teeth dig into the sides of my mouth until more blood flows.

“You will not disappoint me again, daughter.”

“No, sire,” I whisper through clenched teeth.

Chapter Thirteen

Gideon

We leavethe apartment with a heavy sense of dread. I don’t dare lead the pack back to the park where some lingering trace of Frost and Finley might lead to our cover being blown. Instead, I head for a popular cafe on the corner which is frequented by Cain’s soldiers.

Sure enough, there are plenty of other people socialising here, many of them clad in the same black uniform as us. All of them are making enough noise that no one notices Finley speaking into our earpieces.

“He’s told her to drink whatever is in that glass.”

Silas curses under his breath and Vane’s hands clench on the edge of the table. The softest growl taints the air until they remember where we are and pull it back under control. It’s not a mistake my pack would have made a week ago. Decades of being undercover are being unravelled faster than I can blink, and it’s all thanks to Evelyn.

“Silver nitrate,” I mutter, typing out our order on my tablet and sending it over to the bar with a flick of my fingers. “She’ll be in agony until we’re allowed back.”

“Maybe she won’t do it,”Finley mutters.“Damn…”

I don’t need confirmation to know that Evie has probably just knocked back the whole glass.

“Eve,”Frost’s moan in the background is barely audible, but I can still hear the pure torture in it.

I have no sympathy for him.

He’s not the one suffering from silver poisoning.Hewon’t be there to help her recover.

Heck, he’s the reason she’s in this mess to begin with. If he hadn’t dragged her into his schemes…

I rub a hand down my face and accept the latte from the waitress. What’s done is done. I’ve never bothered blaming Frost for anything before I met Evelyn—though he actively blames himself for both Draven and Vane’s vampirism—and I won’t start now.

Cain is our enemy. Arguing amongst ourselves only helps him.

That logic is what keeps our pack functioning.

My beast is alpha enough that challenging Frost is instinctive, but I can normally tamp it down. Our joint leadership takes work on both sides, but we balance each other out perfectly. My rational mind accepts that. It’s only when one of our pack is in danger that I struggle like this.