Page 180 of Eternal Ruin

“I will tell you what those marks mean.” Her voice floated across the wide space. Don’t think, she told herself.Just speak quickly.“Lusidio is not a vampire like all of you. His true name is Varos the Night Lion, the First Immortal, the Unkillable.”

June’s heart thundered like wolves running through the wild. Sweat coated her palms. She focused on the wall at the back, fists bunching her skirt on either side.

You cannot expose yourself, the furious voice shot forward, but her secret wasn’t worth their lives.

“The Six Manes of Blood are real,” she continued, feeling like she was back in class, answering the professor’s questions. “They hide in the world, among us all. Varos places those compulsion marks on anyone who has discovered his identity. After they speak of him, they’ll die. It’s how he’s managed to remain a myth for this long.”

The words settled slowly, like fog on a moor, growing more haunting with each second.

Most of the Nefrasi would recognize the myths fromYe Abyssi Tarik. The Six Manes of Blood were a plague upon the world. Varos, especially. He fed not only on human blood to sustain his immortality but on all life—plant, animal, and the very earth.

Utter and complete silence.

Kidan’s mouth was slightly ajar.

“June,” Samson said from behind, her name a wound on his voice. “What are you…”

June swayed a little, her tongue dry, but she forced herself to stand still. Study the tapestry on the wall, count the tassels on the edge.

“Enough, June,” Samson said, now angry. “You don’t know what you’re talking—”

“Let her finish,” Arin cut in swiftly. Her clicking steps drew closer, and the hairs on June’s neck rose. “I’m curious to hear how she knows this.”

June winced.

You see? You’ve exposed yourself?!

Her gaze went to Taj, the pure shock on his face. The scars on his forehead. A prison, just like the one she was in. She drew courage from him.

“Rasi,” she said, recalling the recently deceased vampire. He’d given up his immortality for a young nurse, and June had helped with the transformation, holding his hand. “He was compelled as well but told me before he died. He knew the truth about Varos.”

Rasi was the gentlest of them all and she hated using his memory like this.

Kidan studied June with something like astonishment, a new light touching her face for the first time.

Respect shone in his Susenyos’s face.

“Thank you, June,” he said, his voice different. “I’m in your debt.”

Kidan whipped her head to him. “So it’s true?”

June lowered her head as whispers arced in the room.

Samson’s sudden shout made her flinch. “Alie. June, have they threatened you?”

“No,” she whispered.

Samson stormed toward her, and she shrank, waiting for his pinching grab. He hadn’t made it two steps before Warde blocked his path, his bones clinking. It never failed to surprise June how quickly Warde always reached her when she was in danger. Samson snarled at him to move. Warde was a mountain of strength and he refused to budge.

He only listened to June.

I’m fine, she spoke into their bond.

Over Warde’s shoulder, Arin’s gaze was piercing. A corner of her mouth had quirked. “What are we to believe?”

“Believe in the power of a Sage.” Determination laced Susenyos’s words, cutting through the dense silence. “I will use it to defeat Lusidio and restore us to our greatness. You heard what awaits us.”

June tracked the floor, the confidence leaving her at once.