Page 101 of Blood

It just makes me wistful.

I half wonder if I feel any of my emotions as keenly as the others do, if my love for Violet is the same as Vin’s. Perhaps my feelings are muted, like dappled sunlight filtering through tree branches. Or maybe they’re brighter, more vibrant, than anyone else’s. Maybe the fact that I’m not human amplifies these foreign emotions licking up my spine and melting the steel around my heart.

“I’m going to ignore you said that shit, because I know you’re scared,” Vin hisses from behind me, that statement accompanied by his footsteps as he hurries to catch up with me. His shoulder brushes my own as we walk. “I’m scared too, brother.”

A cold pebble of dread lodges in my stomach. The analytical part of my brain wonders what, exactly, is transpiring inside of me. Is one of the machines that created me malfunctioning? Is my programmed brain creating a sensation that doesn’t truly exist? Because the part of me that belongs to Violet—the part of me that has become convinced that I could be human, at least objectively—realizes that tiny pebble is a manifestation of my fear.

Fear for Violet.

Fear for my brothers.

Fear for Hera, Dracula, and Lucifer.

“What if we’re too late?” I voice the question I haven’t dared to say out loud. It was the one question that has repeatedly been circulating in my brain since Dimitri first assigned us to this mission. There has to be a reason why Zeus chose to get rid of three of the most powerful monsters in existence in exchange for Violet. Is it because they’re already dead?

Or did he never truly plan to free them?

“We can’t be.” Vin’s voice is roughened by his own fear. “Don’t think like that.”

Still, I find my heart beating dauntingly against my rib cage as fear slithers through my veins like thick sludge.

“Do you think Violet will survive it?” I continue. “If they’re dead, I mean.”

“Frankie...” Vin’s voice is a rumbly warning. “Shut the fuck up. We’re not too late. We’ll rescue them and then go find our girl.”

“You’re probably right. There’s a fifty-six percent chance that at least one of Violet’s parents is still alive. They’re too powerful to kill. I’ve done the calculations over and over again in my head, and if we’re fast enough, that number could move up to fifty-eight. And if we run, we could get that number to fifty-nine. There’s a forty-two percent chance all three are alive, though I’m afraid that number decreases every second. Maybe if we—”

“Frankie.” Vin places a hand on my shoulder, pulling me to a stop. His amber-brown eyes capture my own. “Even if we’re too late, Violet will survive this. She’s strong—stronger than any of us.”

“How much more can she lose?” Pain tunnels into my throat and forms a thick ball of tension that’s impossible to swallow around.

“She won’t lose anyone else,” Vin tells me resolutely, a muscle in his jaw feathering. Anger and pain darken his olive complexion, tinting his cheeks red, and I know he’s thinking about Mason.

I’ll admit that the gorgon is never too far from my own mind as well.

“Fire makes steel, and when the world tried to burn Violet, she simply proved her resilience,” Vin says. “Her flesh may be malleable, but her will to live isn’t. She’ll survive this battle, and she’ll survive the aftermath as well. We’ll make sure of that.” His eyes don’t hold a single shred of doubt, and a little bit of my own tension seeps away. “So, cut this mopey shit out and let’s go. We don’t have a lot of time.” The frost in his tone could rival that of a winter storm.

And it’s exactly the wake-up call I need.

With a nod of determination, I lead the way through the winding pathways until we stop near the room I believe to hold Lucifer, Hera, and Dracula.

Vin gestures for me to wait behind him and prowls forward, his blade extended. He peeks around the corner and then turns toward me with a curt nod.

Hope unfurls in my chest at the meaning of that eloquent nod.

Lucifer, Hera, and Dracula are still alive.

Vin lifts three fingers into the air, and I translate that to mean that there are three enemies.

Easy for a Van Helsing.

Vin lifts a hand, indicating for me to stay in place, before he inches forward, his cold, angry eyes fixed on the threat I still can’t see. I wait patiently as Vin jumps into action, disappearing from view. Shouts, growls, and screams echo through the cave, but they’re immediately snuffed out. Less than a minute later, Vin returns to me, drenched in blood but smiling wickedly.

When he catches me staring, his eyebrows arch in a knowing way. “What?” he snaps. “I haven’t killed anyone in way too long.”

I roll my eyes at his ridiculousness and step forward, being extra careful to avoid the now dead bodies littering the floor.

Anger pumps into my veins when I take in Violet’s parents...or what remains of them.

---