Page 54 of Wicked Thirst
My eyes widened and anger flared in my chest. “. . . About summoning demons. Really?”
“Alright.” Logan groaned as he staggered to his feet and made his way toward us. He pressed his hand to his head and pulled it away. Blood coated his palm and he groaned and shook his head as he took slow, deliberate steps. “This is a whole other level that none of us could know about, especially Piper. How would a brand-new vampire know anything about this?”
“Logan is right.” Astrid nodded. “We need to look into this whole thing.”
“Yes, but right now we need to get out of here before The Fallen show up and catch us here. If they do, we’re going to be in deep shit.” Beckett pointed toward the sky, then opened a portal just as quickly. “Like now.”
In the distance, four figures with black wings soared toward us. Their silhouettes were so dark against the rising sun, but I knew what that meant. The Fallen had arrived and we needed to be gone before they landed. I hurried toward the portal and dove in, not even daring to look back for fear of being caught and risking their wrath.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
NO ONE
Every step I took echoed off the rough-hewed walls around me. I thought I was deep in the pits of the Night Spawn headquarters, but this felt like a different place entirely. We’d moved through a maze of tunnels and walked for long minutes. The cement floor was flat and the walls were rough as though they’d been dug out of the ground by hand. The smell of damp dirt lingered where the tunnels were dark and silent. A chill ran up my spine, and I wrapped my arms around myself and blew out a breath.Marius strode in front of me with his shoulders back and chin held high. I envied his confidence. His thick leather coat billowed out around him with every step he took. His wild hair swayed and moved with him, and for a moment I was distracted by how the strands moved.
He glanced back at me over his shoulder. “This is the point of no return.”
“I know.” I swallowed around the nerves in my stomach.
I’d been a vampire for less than a decade, but I couldn’t feel more out of place among them. I didn’t share their extreme strength or speed. The only thing we had in common were the fangs that seemed to descend of their own accord whenever I felt strong emotions. I was a human with pointy teeth who couldn’t return home and felt as though I had no home anywhere. I’d been lost among the shuffle until he found me.
Marius dropped back to walk next to me. He threw his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into his side. He beamed down at me. “You’re joining us, and now you will always have friends, a place to belong.”
I gave him a half-smile and prayed his words were true. “Yes, Marius.”
“And let us not forget the power you’ll wield. Your true vampire nature will come out.” He pressed his fingers into my shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “I’m so very proud of you.”
The knot in my chest eased at the sound of his words. It was a rarity for anyone to say they were proud of me. When I was a human, I’d been small, feeble even, easy prey, and easily distracted by books. I preferred them over anything else. They were an escape from my existence, and I found that fact to be true even now as a vampire. The only benefit was that I could read even faster now.
“Thank you, Marius.”
He turned down another tunnel and led me toward a metal door. There was a window next to it as though I was walking into an interrogation room rather than to receive my new powers and join his army. I didn’t particularly feel one way or the other about The House of Shade, though Marius said otherwise, I just wanted someplace where I felt I belonged. Eternity was a long time to wander the Earth alone, and after nearly a decade, loneliness was a monster I no longer wanted to face.
“No need to thank me, child.” He opened the door. “We are, of course, as one. And after your transition, you too will be one with us.”
He walked me into the room, and I was greeted by the oddest stench: sulfur. It stung my nose, and I took a small step back, but Marius was there to move me forward into the dark room. I got the eerie feeling this was a mistake. It was too dark, too secluded. I’d been all over the Night Spawn headquarters and not once had I ever felt like there wasn’t a vampire around. But here it was damp and silent. The air was stagnant yet cold. The walls were thick rock. Only the one wall with the window in it was made of cement. I couldn’t hear past my own racing pulse.
“Perhaps I need to think on this a bit more.” My voice sounded small, even feeble to myself.
“Now, now, my dear, you trust me, don’t you?” Marius smiled down at me, and he turned me around to face the door as he took a step between me and it, blocking me from leaving.
“Of course I do.” He was the first one to pay attention to me, the first one to take the time to talk to me about what my hopes and dreams were.
“Then you are ready to become one with us.” He placed his hands on my shoulders and gave them a squeeze. “I am confident in this.”
“Right, okay, yes.” I closed my eyes for a second and took a breath, then blew it out. I smiled up at him. Finally I would belong. Finally I would have a place. “I’m ready.”
“Lovely.” He dropped his arms and took a step back toward the door. “I’ll be just outside, and when it’s over, you’ll be a completely new vampire.”
Completely new? Did I want to be completely new? Not really. I just wanted to find a place where I fit in as myself. But if this was some weird kind of initiation or blood magic, I was sure I could stand it to have a place to belong. Families were made every day, after all. They didn’t have to be just blood-related.
I gave a nervous chuckle. “I mean not all new, right?"
“You’ll be the best version of yourself.” He took another step back. “Young, strong,and powerful.”
He moved out of the door and smiled at me. “Welcome to the true Night Spawn.”
“But what if I like who I am?” I just wanted others to see what I saw in myself. I wasn’t sure I wanted a big change. Perhaps just a few things.I knew my strength was lacking. My speed was not what it should be. It stung to know I wasn’t even close to what I should have been.
