Page 56 of Fated In Blood

But Blake wasn’t the one who saved me, was he?

“Don’t make this sound like he—or you, for that matter—did me a favor, Your Highness. I never asked for this. In fact, I went to great lengths to prevent this from happening.”

“Trust me, I vividly remember that night, down to the last fucking detail,” Riordan snapped, then he blew out a long breath before settling himself onto the window seat. He spread his legs and tipped his head back against the window. Saliva filled my mouth at the sight of his throat stretched out taut, practically begging me to sink my fangs in.

“You turned me, not Blake. Why?” For a long moment we just stared each other down, and I wondered if for once, I’d met someone as stubborn as I was.

“Because Blake has a soft heart. Soft enough to be maneuvered into Tyrell’s trap.” His jaw worked, and I wondered what he wasn’t telling me. “There was no need for him to be chained to you for an eternity just because he’s a good male.”

Anger curdled my blood like sour milk. “So…you’renota good male and now we’re chained together?”

“I don’t have any attachment to you, Silver, beyond what you can do for me. Once you’ve done what’s required, we’ll never see each other again.”

“That day can’t come too soon. Still, you should have let me die.” I glanced away, phantom pain coursing through my neck, right where the silver blade had sliced so cleanly.

His smile grew, edged with wickedness. “And miss all this fun?”

“Fuck you…Your Majesty.” I put my back to the wall, vowing not to fall for the thudding call of Riordan’s siren blood. “You never even gave me a choice.”

He considered that for a moment before he nodded in agreement. “Blake wanted…” He cleared his throat. “Blake would have asked your consent, if there was time. But there wasn’t, because Tyrell forced Blake’s hand.”

“I was dead,” I pointed out. “Dying, at least. Threats were the least of my worries.”

That entire night was a blur, only fragments remaining with me, flashes, really, or sensations of hazel eyes filled with furious pain, of promises whispered, of being so cold I thought I’d never get warm again.

“Tyrell was planning to give you to one of his men. Valaine, a sadist with a reputation for torture. That sick bastard would have Made you, but your existence would be nothing but pain and suffering.”

For once, I detected none of Riordan’s usual sarcasm, his voice dropping to a hoarse whisper. “Blake’s been through hell. Since he can’t go through hell again and emerge unscathed, I turned you so Valaine couldn’t.”

There was so much information—and emotion—to unpack from that explanation, I didn’t know where to start.

“This…Valaine, who is he, exactly?” Was he around my sister? Did Angelknowthese people? Every time I thought of her, I imagined her being held against her will, and I couldn’t reconcile Angel associating with monsters like Tyrell and Bosch and now…Valaine.

“That fucking bastard’s in charge of interrogation and torture for Tyrell. Handles all his dirty work down in a dungeon below the castle.” Riordan swallowed, hesitating.

“He killed Blake’s sister, Cassmira.” His gaze flicked to mine. “After the Silverwoods took Cass from the family estate, they delivered her to Tyrell, who turned her over to Valaine. We got her body back two days later.” His voice was shaking, knuckles white as he gripped the edge of the window seat. “She’d been…Blake could only identify her gold pinkie ring, the one he’d given her when she turned sixteen.”

I’d seen that ring, on the chain around Blake’s neck.

I could only stare, my mouth too dry to speak, remembering Blake told me this exact story, the grief and guilt threading through his words. My fucking family caused this.Mine.

“That would have been your fate, Silver. I know…decisions had to be made, and while you did not consent, I’d like to believe we made the right choice, given the alternative.”

Some of the hatred cooled, my head clearing for the first time in days. Weeks, maybe.

It was funny. Hate and rage had given this messed-up situation a certain logical order. I’d been turned against my will, and being a vampire was the worst outcome I could have ever imagined. But maybe that was the life lesson here.

There was always a worse fate lurking around the corner.

There was always a bigger monster waiting to gobble me up.

“Okay.” I pressed my back against the wall so hard my shoulder blades ached. “I see how this could have been worse. And I understand why you turned me. But there’s something you have to understand. I haven’t seen Silas Silverwood in twelve years. My mother nearly died getting Angel and I away from him. He’s as big a monster as Tyrell.”

“Silas? Your…father?”

I nodded, my arms shaking from the effort of holding myself back. “I want my sister back; you want Tyrell dead. We help each other, and when that bastard is gone and my sister free, then we go our separate ways.”

“That’s the plan.” Riordan gave me a long, hard look. “Now come here and feed, Silver, before you fall down.”

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