Page 15 of The Sins of Silas

I raised a brow, even though he couldn't see. “I'm crisp and crackly?”

His chuckle so close to my ear sent more chills down my body. “No. I'd instead say you are sweet and spicy.” I could hear his smile. “Plus, of course, this hair of yours played a part in my nickname.”

“You think I'msweet?” I asked with a disbelieving scoff.

Another sexy laugh. “Okay, well, maybe not sweet tome…yet.” He squeezed my hip, his lips almost brushing my ear. I sucked in a breath. “But I have a feeling you'll grow fond of me eventually.”

How does one breathe again?

“Unlikely,” I lied, and Roland laughed through his nose.

“So…” Erabella drawled, pulling me from my fluster. We all halted at the top of a ridge, surveying the terrain before us. Her brown eyes scoped the many hills. “Is it just a straight shot to Forsmont now?”

“The area is mountainous,” Silas answered, eyes squinting further down to where the beginnings of a rocky region were evident. “But there is a path throughout we can follow.”

“Couldn't we have gone through Halsted?” Edmund asked, his arms tightening around Elowen’s waist as he shuddered theatrically. “Avoided the creepy mountains?”

Roland snorted from behind me. “Considering Halsted is Otacia’s bitch, that is probably the last place we should be.”

The corner of my lip turned up at Roland’s comment but quickly fell when Elowen asked, “Does Halsted also have the magic erasing cuffs?”

Silasshook his head. “No. Those belong to Otacia and Otacia alone.” His eyes flicked to Edmund's. “And Halsted would be less safe than the pass.”

“But what if we see vamps?” Edmund pouted, his golden waves blowing with the breeze. “I won’t be able to sleep.”

Merrick was currently sitting atop Viola, who was still shifted into stallion form. He angled his head toward Silas. “How long is this ‘pass’ exactly?” he asked, then his icy eyes went to Edmund. “And, what, Vampires are known to reside there?”

“Immeron mentioned the Vampire risk back on the mountain,” I said. “But he said they were sighted up north, mostly.”

“Half-Life Pass is just under one hundred fifty miles. While it is true most sightings have been in the north,” Silas continued grimly, “Halsted has complained of increased Vampire activity. They completely reinforced their borders within the past few months, and they have also been Otacia’s major supplier of nightshade longer than that. I wouldn’t say we are in the clear down here.”

“Nightshade?” Elowen questioned, her big blue eyes round.

“Toxic to Vampires, we’ve come to find.” Hendry tilted his head to look at the healer more fully. “They ingest enough, and it’ll kill them. Even touching it burns the shit out of their skin.”

Merrick pulled his lips to the side. “Lena, you ever read about that?”

I mulled over all the various texts I’d come across, thinking specifically of the books Igon had encouraged me to read over the years. “No…nothing. Everything I’ve read says the sun or fire is the only way. Or beheading.”

“Did you bring any with you?” Merrick pressed, his eyes darting between the Otacian men. Even Viola’s eyes in horse form widened.

“Of course. Nightshade bombs, in fact,” Edmund grinned, tapping the bottle secured at his hip. They must’ve packed some before our escape. His smile morphed into a frown. “But still…it’s not simple killing them with it. Their increased speed makes it hard to hit them.”

“Well, good thing we have Lena’s fire.” Elowen grinned, grasping the reins of her and Edmund’s horse. “I don’t believe they’d stand a chance,” she said confidently.

Silas’s scowl deepened on the road ahead at the mention of my powers. I had to refrain from rolling my eyes.

“Plus,” Merrick added, “it’s not like a bite from them will kill or turn you. They won’t have the time to drain anyone before Lena lit them on fire.”

In order for a Vampire to successfully turn you, you would need to have your blood drained to damn near empty. The point right before death. Then, a Vampire would feed you their blood, blood that contained an ancient virus. Once that occurred, you would start the change. There was no cure once you got to that point—only death could save you from that fate.

“I wouldn’t underestimate them,” Hendry interjected, his voice calm like always. The man was so composed…I couldn’t envision him hysterical or overcome with rage. “We’ve seen some rip the jugulars out of humans with ease in seconds. It didn’t matter how many nightshade bombs we had or how many soldiers went to retaliate. They killed multiple in no time at all.” His mismatched eyes slid to mine. “Your fire will help, certainly. But they could still have one of us dead before you get the chance to attack.”

That comment made my stomach drop. I gave a grave nod, then focused my attention forward as we all continued to move.

“How did you figure out nightshade was their weakness?” Elowen asked.

Silas’s jaw ticked, presumably at the innocent sound of El’s voice. “We captured one. Experimented on it for months.”

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