Page 99 of Claimed By Blood

Samuel shakes his head. “I cannot tell you how to kill Cain, because I do not know.”

CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX

EVELYN

His words fallover us in a wave of disappointment that steals my breath from my lungs.

“So you just led us on?” I ask, too tired to even summon the energy to be angry. “Let us stay and believe there was hope for no reason?”

Samuel gives me a dark look. “I do not know for certain. But I do know how Cain was made.”

I frown. “Made?”

“You do not think he just sprang out of the ground, fully formed, do you?” Samuel snorts, shaking his head. “What is the one thing Cain hates above all others? The thing he has burned entire villages to eradicate?”

Morwen answers before I can. “Witchcraft.”

“That’s not real,” Silas protests. “No one has ever seen any evidence of witches, they’re a true myth.”

I shake my head. “If they weren’t real, he wouldn’t be so scared of them.”

“Exactly.” Samuel takes a deep breath. “I believe our sire made a bargain with one, who granted him his cursed form of immortality. I suspect the same witch may have created the other two immortal races as well, hence why hybrids are possible. But by the time I figured it out, Cain had killed almost every living witch. Since then, he has eradicated them entirely.”

“No.” Gideon argues, his anger at me forgotten as he leans against the side of the van, holding Finn’s hand. “That’s not possible. Lycans aren’t the product of witchcraft.”

“If they created him, they must have had some defence against him,” Finn says, ignoring his alpha’s angry outburst. “Who would be so stupid as to create a monster they couldn’t control?”

“It’s doubtful the witch who created him intended for him to take over the world,” Samuel says. “You know our sire can be charming when he wants to be. Perhaps he convinced her into it.”

“So he tricked the witch into making him, then decided to kill an entire species, just in case there was a way to undo the spell?” Immy breathes. “That would make so much sense.”

Samuel nods slowly, sighing. “I believe it’s also why the vampires become weaker with every generation of separation between them and Cain. The magic in their blood grows weaker.”

“That doesn’t explain lycans,” Gideon insists. “We’re not getting—”

“Lycans are born,” Finn reminds him. “That’s different from being fed blood and dying.”

“And ghouls?” he grumbles. “What’s their excuse? Pretty sure all of us would love it iftheygot weaker with each generation.”

“Their venom is incredibly potent,” Samuel mutters.

Finn nods. “A thousand times more potent than most other toxins, and the most recent studies have shown that it continuously evolves, making it resistant to antivenom.”

“Whatever spell the original witch used,” Samuel concludes, “it can’t have been the same in all instances. Perhaps she was experimenting, trying to perfect her work… Cain is the only one who could know for certain.”

“And you’re certain there are no more witches?” Vane asks. “None?”

“None living who remember their craft.” Samuel looks out over the dunes. “The last family I know of was descended from an ancient bloodline from the very north of Europe, and moved to the Old Country, hoping to lose him. I found them and watched them for a day or so, just long enough to confirm that they were what I thought they were, and devise a strategy to approach them. But I took too long. Cain set their house ablaze with them in it.” He pauses and looks me straight in the eye. “Your parents’ screams will haunt me until the day I die.”

Shock roots me to the spot. “What?”

“You were born to a witch in hiding. I wanted to warn your parents of what was coming for them, but my hesitation cost them their lives.”

“That’s not possible.” I haven’t got even the slightest inkling of magic. Nothing. No special powers beyond what I gained when Cain turned me.

I look around our group, only to find everyone is staring at me with differing looks of awe, confusion, and even… resentment.

Immy banishes the expression before I can blink, but I see it.

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