Page 19 of Ever Dark Academy: Vol. 3
This was home. Home. Home. And it called to him on a cellular level. Maybe beyond that. He had never so at peace. Ryder was about to follow after him--maybe even suggest they check out the second floor thoroughly when he realized that Demos and Siban were still standing awkwardly in the doorway.
Ryder lifted an eyebrow at them. “Do you need a formal invitation to come into your own home?”
Demos grinned and took a few steps inside finally. “Just taking it all in, brother.”
“I thought the two of you wanted to call dibs on bedrooms. Now is your chance, though with just the four of us, I think there’s plenty of space to choose from,” Ryder admitted with a wry chuckle.
Siban had stepped inside as well, their light steps made it seem as if they were testing the floor to make sure it would not open up beneath them and swallow them whole. Their eyes were huge and their lips were parted with wonder.
“Weryn was one of the largest Bloodlines before the War,” Siban said. “So many people wanted to join your Bloodline. To be a Weryn Vampire was to be part of a family. Friendships were said to run deep as true blood.”
“But that wasn’t true when you were turned, was it?” Ryder asked.
“You were not yourself,” Siban answered, rubbing their arms with their hands. “But I could still see it in the old ones. Their eyes were filled with grief and anger. They loved you and were prepared to follow you into their Second Deaths.”
Ryder swallowed. “Are there any left? From before the War?”
“There are,” Siban said. “But they didn’t stay with the Bloodline after…”
“Of course not.” Ryder’s lips writhed back. “How could they remain?”
“After you were… lost they were lost too,” Siban explained.
Grayson stroked his arm. “They’ll come back. I have no doubt that some of them will be here tonight and in the coming days.”
Ryder turned to him. He rolled his lips together. “Will they be here because they want to return home, Grayson, or because they’re afraid of what I might do next?”
Grayson ran his fingers through Ryder’s hair. “It doesn’t matter what brought them here. What matters is why they’re going to stay. If you want them to stay. Their judgment is not something that can be held over you. Their judgment is theirs.”
Ryder nodded. “I know. I know.” He grimaced. “I don’t remember them. But what happens when I do? When I remember how much I loved them and see their… judgment?”
“You’ll face it,” Grayson told him.
He drew in a deep breath. That was the only answer. What else could he do? Wear a hair shirt and punish himself?
“Kaly was sick. I think… think after my death that you might have been…” Grayson paused and licked his lips. “Unwell.”
“Crazy.”
“Maybe. A little. Or… a lot.” Grayson nodded. He let out a breath. “But you aren’t now. You’re completely fine.”
“But the Ring--”
“That was earned, remember? And you didn’t lose it and kill everyone. You just took out Lawson,” Grayson reminded him.
“Only because you were there.”
“And I’m always going to be here from now on so that problem is solved,” Grayson told him.
Ryder let out a huff of mirthless laughter. “I’d feel better if you said that in an Immortal body instead of a mortal one.”
Ryder regretted saying that the moment he did. Turning meant Master meant… but Grayson didn’t go there.
“I know, but, like I said to Dani, even if I’m killed again, Kaly is on our side,” Grayson said. “Just like the Harrows, he can bring me back. All good as new.”
“Kaly.” Ryder grimaced.
“Hey, hey, part of the reason I want to meet up with the other Immortals isn’t just to plan, but to get past this,” Grayson told him, framing his face with his hands so that Ryder was looking at him. “We’ve got to be together on this. All these old wounds, we’ve got to patch them up and go forward.”
