Page 122 of Claimed By Blood

“Probably his fucked up idea of a bedtime story,” Draven mutters.

“It served two purposes.” I stroke a lock of hair behind my ear as I think about it. “One, it taught us the futility of betrayal. The silver didn’t hold Cain. He waited until his captors were asleep and then snapped the bars to walk free. And two… it illustrated the punishment that we’d face. The lycans were forced to drink silver and suffer an agonising death that took hours. And that son? The one who betrayed him? Cain told us he weighed him down with silver shackles and dropped him into an undersea volcano.”

As a child, I’d wondered if he drowned first, or been boiled alive.

As an adult, with a better understanding of vampirism, I know he burned in the acidic waters. Drowning wouldn’t have killed him. At best, he might’ve been unconscious for it.

“What a way to go.” Frost echoes my thoughts.

“Got them,” Silas says, bursting back into the room. “God, I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.”

I frown. “What do you mean?”

“Well, Immy and Vane have gone to investigate the mausoleum, so it’s just Finn and Gideon down there.” All four of us exchange grimaces as we accept the thick gloves from him. “It’s so awkward, it’s uncomfortable.”

“I shouldn’t have gotten involved,” I whisper, watching as Draven heads for the ladder once more. “I never meant to make things this messy.”

“Nah.” Silas shrugs. “You can’t see it, but you’re actually helping. Finn and Gideon need a break. The two of them kinda got forced together and it never really worked. Once Finn feels comfortable enough to voice what he wants, and Gid gets over his…” Silas waves a hand in the air, searching for the word.

“Self-loathing?” I suggest.

All three of them stare at me curiously.

“I was going to say his preconceptions about how an alpha-omega relationship should be,” Silas continues, frowning as he follows Draven towards the ladder. “What do you mean, self-loathing?”

Can he not see it?I suppose it only became obvious to me after the thrall bond, but I’m not sure if I should share that with the rest of his pack.

“Nevermind,” I whisper, following the other two down into the gloom.

No one says anything for a while, and we continue our descent into the darkness in quiet thought. But the subject hasn’t been forgotten.

“Is it the sex?” Silas asks. “Is Gideon punishing himself for needing Finn?”

My silence is as good as confirmation, and he swears. “For fuck’s sake. He’s going to work himself into his own grave trying not to become his father.” I can’t see him below me, but I hear his exasperated sigh. “I’ll get Vane to talk to him about it. He could’ve fucking said something—”

“Gideon doesn’t like asking for help,” Frost says, cutting Silas off. “You know that. Don’t get mad at him for something that’s not his fault.”

“I think it would help if we all stopped gossiping and started focusing on staying alive,” Draven comments dryly. “Now watch your grip, because I’m pretty sure I’ve just been poisoned.”

“Fuck this,” Frost growls. “Let go of the ladder. We’re dropping the rest of the way.”

“Is that wise—”

Draven doesn’t listen to my objection. The heavy thump below confirms he’s already followed Frost’s order—or fallen to his death thanks to the poison. A second thump says Silas has done the same.

Ugh, men. I let go of the rails and drop to the stone floor below, landing in the lycan’s arms with a small grunt. He carries me out of the way a second before Frost lands.

The room we’re in is dark, and all I can smell is Draven’s blood. There’s a spitting noise, followed by a wet smack, and I realise he’s draining whatever’s in his blood by himself.

“Think I got it all,” he grumbles a second later. “Don’t feel so worried, doll. Poisoning is my idea of a fun Friday night.”

“Where are we?” Frost demands, switching on a flashlight I didn’t know he had and slicing through the gloom with a beam of bright white light down the narrow, sloping passageway.

“Tunnel,” I announce, rolling my eyes. “I told you as much. Cain wouldn’t have left anything important behind.”

“Let’s see where it leads before we make any assumptions,” Frost grumbles, but I get a flash of his resignation along our thrall bond. He knows I’m probably right.

“There are probably more traps.” And Draven has suffered the effects of enough of them already.

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