Page 27 of Ever Dark Academy: Vol. 3
He gritted his teeth. He needed to have Grayson test them for the structures in their minds, but that couldn’t happen now. And there were over one-hundred Weryn Vampires before him. He imagined them all being surrounded by Grayson’s power and squeezed. He almost let out a wild laugh.
These were old Vampires. Ancient. Before the War. He could tell from their stillness, from something in their silver eyes, and the hint of memories in his head. While he had no doubt that Grayson could handle them all, if he did, no one would think he was some innocent human. No, they would recognize Ashyr reborn.
But he had no idea who was friend or foe at this moment. Who should he trust? Seeing their reaction to him had disarmed him for a bit. It had shocked him to be seemingly so beloved in these older Vampires’ eyes. But he was not Eyros. He could not read their minds, and he had no memory of the way they moved, if their eyes shifted when they lied or if they stared straight at him and unblinking. They were foreign to him. But he couldn’t leave them standing out here. He had to decide what to do with them.
Some of them have rooms in the palace. Ones that I granted to them long ago, he thought. But I don’t know them now. I have no idea where they’ve been all these years or what they’ve been doing. Who says I would still grant them such access? I only trust Siban and Demos.
“You have returned to us, Weryn. We waited,” Amaris said, her voice filled with longing.
But was that false? Was she merely a good actress? The faint sheen of tears in her eyes could be a lie. The Sect of Dawn might have a greater hold on her than the pack ever had.
“He’s been returned for several centuries now,” Demos remarked dryly, crossing his big arms over his muscled chest, and adjusting his legs so that they were shoulder-width apart. Demos was playing the part of an unmovable mountain that he would let no climber scale.
Amaris turned her head towards his best friend. There was a sharp light in her eyes. She likely wasn’t used to younger Vampires--especially in this Bloodline--to speak to her thus.
“And you have been by his side since the beginning,” she said with a nod and smile, stifling whatever anger emerged quite successfully.
Did this make him trust her less? That she held her temper? She was a bird shifter. Always, he found them to be hugely strategic. Control was their watchword. But someone who wanted to ingratiate themselves with him for evil purposes would do the same.
Demos turned a cold eye upon her. “And here you are now when there’s a palace to be had.”
“You think that’s what brought me here?” Amaris’ lips were curled into a half smile as if amused now by his boldness. “A physical place to lay my head?”
“I think we’ve been in Hell for several centuries and you were like smoke on the wind,” Demos answered her.
She went very still. That could mean anything. Offense or acknowledgment of failure.
Demos’ eyes swept the entire group of ancient, powerful Vampires. “Any one of you could have ended Lawson ages ago and put things right. Brought Weryn back to himself. Eliminated the evil in our midst. But you chose not to. Yet here you are.”
Kayne took a step towards Demos, fangs exposed, but Amaris put a hand in front of his chest. Not that it mattered. Ryder had not given Kayne permission to enter the Weryn Palace grounds. Half an inch more of that booted foot on his land would have given the powerful Vampire an unpleasant jolt.
“He merely speaks the truth, Kayne,” Amaris said, but then added, “From his point of view.”
“And there’s another?” Ryder asked quietly.
Amaris grimaced. “That you were brought back to us through Lawson and the ones we left behind would indicate otherwise. We are the Weryn. Lawson was… an outcast. The people here… they are not pack.”
Hearing this, Ryder was almost sent reeling back. What she was saying… that could not be true! They were the Weryn! They were the ones that Daemon talked to!
No, he talked to me. He only ever talked to me really.
“Wait a minute,” Demos growled, “are you saying that you thought of yourselves as the true Weryn, and we were just all… what exactly?”
“Detritus from the War,” Siban filled in for her. Their expression was cool and smooth and unruffled, but Ryder knew they were hurting as they said this.
He put a hand on Siban’s shoulder. “You are my Childe. You are my treasure. You are true Weryn.”
Siban blinked up at him, their eyes filled with tears for a moment. “Yes, my Master. Thank you.”
“And you, Demos, you are true Weryn. My blood runs strong and pure in you,” Ryder told him. “You are my right hand and my best friend. My Blood Brother.”
Demos gave a nod and a tight smile. “Always, Ryder. I am always with you.”
“But I don’t know any of you,” Ryder said to Amaris and the others.
“You do not remember?” Amaris asked.
“I remember what I have to,” Ryder answered, not liking to admit what was a weakness. But unless he wanted to lose himself entirely to Weryn, this was how it would have to be for now.
