Page 63 of Entombed By Blood
Frost moves to the couch opposite me and sits, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. Gideon stands between the two sofas, like a mediator, ready to silence whoever speaks out of turn.
“You remember when we first met? I saved your ass from that nest of ghouls you’d underestimated,” Frost begins.
I don’t trust myself to speak, so I nod. I’d been so angry with Callie that day that I’d run out in search of a fight and landed myself in the middle of two nests.
“I thought you were a human because you were defending your horse rather than just running like most vampires would. I had no idea who you were until I saw your sire’s insignia on your saddle. Even then, I figured you were probably just a warrior under his command.”
I remember that too. At the time, it had seemed strange that a human had neglected to use my title, but we’d been elbow deep in ghoul blood, so I had put it down to the lingering adrenaline of battle.
“I joined the resistance a year before, when Cain’s guard slaughtered my whole village, looking for witches. They killed my parents, my sister, and her children, so I regretted saving your ass at first when I realised you were a vamp.” He shoots me a guilty look, but continues.
“I reported our meeting to my superiors. Of course, they recognised you from your description and got excited, coming up with plans for me to infiltrate your inner circle. I objected—I fucking hated all vamps at the time—but I had no choice. They sent me to get close to you.”
I expected this, so why does it still hurt to hear it? A stone settles in my gut, and he panics at the icy glare of betrayal I send him, because he rushes on before I can speak.
“I didn’t think it would work. I didn’t even want it to. I was still so angry with life in general. Even when we were on speaking terms and I started to like you, I was convinced that you would discover who I was and behead me. Then you offered to make me your thrall…”
I grimace as I remember that day. I’d been so nervous about how he’d react, but he agreed so fast I’d barely gotten the question out.
“Of course, the resistance wanted to kill Cain and wipe out his kind. They warned me not to let my own emotions get into it. They even promoted me to commander to keep me tied to them. But when it came down to it, I just couldn’t let you die. I went to the other commanders and threatened to stop giving them information unless they guaranteed your safety. I would have given up fighting against Cain entirely if it meant you were safe.” He glances up at me, dark eyes pleading.
“That day, we were supposed to meet outside while the others took down Cain. I was going to ask you to run away with me.” He runs a hand through his hair and locks eyes with me again. “I’m not going to pretend I wasn’t using you to get to him, but please believe me when I say everything else was real. I fell head over heels for you even though I wasn’t supposed to.”
I shake my head mutely, rubbing my face against my shoulder to try and stop the tears that just aren’t going away.
Frost extends a hand, reaching as if to comfort me, and I flinch backward, burying myself between Finn and Silas.
“Evenifthat’s true, you still used me,” I whisper, ignoring the hurt on his face. “I was still burned alive fordecadesbecause you lied to me. And all that time you were doing what? Playing resistance hero like nothing changed?”
“He’s not finished,” Gideon cuts me off. “Although, I’ll admit his reasons were shit.” He waves a hand at Frost. “Keep talking.”
“When Cain… when he forced us to break the bond, it was all I could think about.” Frost rubs the spot in his chest in memory, his voice taking on a haunted quality. “He shoved me into the cage with the ghouls, and I barely even noticed. I died and woke up the next day as a hybrid. The only vampire-ghoul hybrid Cain has ever managed to create.” He pauses, thoughtfully. “Well, technically, your blood turned me. You’re my sire, as much as he tried to take credit for it.”
I shake my head. “That’s not possible.”
I’ve never sired a vampire before. Cain has never asked me to. He’s possessive of me in a way that he isn’t of my sisters and never wanted me to have a bond with another vampire that might rival his own.
Most of the time, he makes Morwen turn those he chooses. It’s his own form of special punishment for her. My crazed sister hates what she is, and condemning others to her fate is Cain’s own special way of reminding her how deeply under his control she is.
Frost bites his lip, then opens his mouth, his fangs dropping down. Only in place of the single set possessed by most vampires, he has double. Two pointed canines on each side of his upper jaw, thinner and longer than a vampire’s.
Not quite the mouthful of needle thin teeth ghouls possess, but they’re definitely more ghoul than lycan.
“Cain kept me prisoner for a decade, trying to turn others the same way. It never worked. When the resistance discovered I was still alive, they sent people to get me out.”
He shoots a glance at Draven, but the vampire says nothing. I frown at them both, wondering what’s going on before Frost continues.
“Recovery took a while, and we discovered I can exist on a diet of raw beef and blood, almost eliminating the need to eat flesh entirely. Then the Triumph happened and nearly wiped us out. For a while, I was the only leader we had. The resistance had to go deep underground to survive, and we formed cells, so the rest aren’t compromised if a cell is taken out.”
“And this is your cell,” I guess, looking at the group of them.
Gideon cuts off whatever Frost might say next with a sharp glare. “You don’t need to know about the resistance,” he counters. “All you need to know is that for more than a century, Frost has been putting pressure on Cain to have you released, and here you are.”
I just shake my head, mute. My mind is numb and all I seem to be able to do is huddle between Finn and Silas in silence as I try, and fail, to process everything they’ve just told me, and everything they haven’t.
Chapter Twenty-One
Finley
