Page 35 of A Vow of Shadow and Blood
“I know when you’re lying. What did she say to you, Adina?”
The concern in her voice makes my chest tighten, and I find myself fighting back the urge to cry.Get a grip, Adina.
My eyes flash to Cora, and she gives me a look that tells me she agrees with Tori. I’m not sure whether it’s a blessing or a curse to be surrounded by people who know you better than you know yourself.
“I said it doesn’t matter.”
“No, you’re not doing that. This isn’t the time to shut down, Adina. This is too important. We’re supposed to be finding a way to save Willow, so you need to communicate with us so that we can help yo—”
“You would need to die,” I shout.
Everything falls silent. Tears burn the back of my eyes, but I’ll be damned if I let them fall. I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do, but neither Tori nor Willow is going to die. I just need to find a way to save them both.I need a plan.
Tori sinks onto the bed, her face suddenly pale.
“I don’t understand,” she finally says.
“She said the only way a donor spot becomes available is when the person occupying it dies. She practically goaded me into killing you like it was some way of proving I wanted it.”
The words taste bitter in my mouth even now. Amabel has been around the vampires so long that she has become just as cruel. The safety she enjoys has made her forget what it’s like to truly be one of us.
“Oh.”
She says the word as if accepting her fate.
“I’ll figure it out, don’t worry about it.”
“Don’t worry? Willow is in the hands of a man who is capable of slaughtering a room full of vampires, and you’re saying don’t worry?”
My stomach tightens at her words.
“I know that.”
“Then what are we going to do?”
“Nothing.You’regoing to do nothing. You continue as normal. I’ll figure it out.”
She scoffs.
“Like you always do?Alone.This is your problem, you always think that you have to do everything alone. Willow is my family, too, Adina, and I should get a say in what we’re going to do.”
“Not if you’re on some kind of suicide mission to do so.”
“Like you always are? Like you are right now?” she spits.
“Stop.”
We both turn to face Cora, and I find her watching us from across the room. She’s always deep in thought in some corner, making it so easy to forget she is even here. Her tear-filled eyes look between us.
“There might be a way, but it would be dangerous.”
“What is it?” I ask.
My eyes follow her every move as she comes closer to us, keeping her voice low as she speaks.
“I know somebody who can get Tori across the border to the human settlement.”
Her words send a chill down my spine. She can’t be saying what I think she is.
