Page 108 of The Crown of Nyx

Maeve

The guilt was all consuming, but I had not been able to get the thought of the crypt out of my head.

I would have to explain myself better to Ivy later. But it was like there was some kind of pull towards the sleeping creatures. A thread connecting me to them.

I was not a Born Vampire, so there was no chance I came from their long bloodline. Unless my Sire had. I knew he was a Born vampire. That he had lived at least two hundred years before he found me. Could he have been a descendant of these vampires? It was possible. There were very few bloodlines left from the Old World. And for a long time, it never mattered to me to find out more about him. All I’d known after I’d been saved was that he’d been banished from his coven. They never wanted anything to do with his mistakes.

The witch light in my hand brightened as I stopped in the archway of the crypt. Just as Nash and Black claimed.There were five stone tombs lined up in the middle of the room. Dust coated them heavily, but there was an enchantment around the room, one that protected them, even after fifteen-hundred years.

“You know, you worry her with this,” the demon king said. His presence was heavy behind me, dark, imposing.

I stiffened, unable to take my eyes off the crypt. “And how would you know that?” It wasn’t a lie, though, and I had a feeling he had no reason to spin such tales. He was the damned Elysian King.

“I ensured that when I made the deal with her, I had a way of communicating with her should something happen.”

I spun on my heel to glare at him, but he simply shrugged.

“And did Ivy know of this?” He certainly hadn’t mentioned it when we pried him for information about the deal.

“Of course not,” he replied flippantly, arms crossed. “And she has no problem with it, vampire. But she does with you being down here.”

A growl rumbled through me. “You do not get to patronise me on what I do,” I said, gritting my teeth. “You are not part of this mate circle.”

I had a feeling, though, if any of the others were here, I would be having a similar conversation regardless.

But I would not take it from someone who was intent on…I wasn’t even sure what he was trying to do.MarryingIvy, turning her into his wife in front of demons and creatures alike. Forming a delusional bond with her that mimicked the one she had with her actual mates.

I did not understand his obsession with her. That was the only way I could describe it. Like he so badly wanted to have what her mates had, that he formed a false bond like it could replicate the real thing.

Ivy trusted him, and thus far, he had not led us astray. But I still wanted to keep an eye on him. And keep him as far away from her as possible.

With a shake of my head, I turned back to the crypt, ignoring the tightening of his jaw and the darkening of his eyes. If those words hurt him, he didn’t let it show. But he needed to be reminded of his place. King or not, he was not her mate.

Around the crypt looked to be shelves. And on them were old trinkets, urns, and other things decayed by time or unprotected by spells. As I crossed the threshold, a shiver rolled down my spine. I had no interest in trying to open the tombs. The vampires within could remain in their stasis. If they were awoken, they might be dangerous. The bloodlust would be insatiable after so much time, and we had no idea what they’d been like alive.

But they could also be nothing more than dust and bone now.That would be a mercy, I thought.

I knew what Rowan was doing on the surface. The ancient runes that marked Ivy in his visions were also a constant in the back of my mind.

Vampires, especially the older bloodlines, were known fondly as hoarders of ancient memories. There was a reason why they usually cared for the histories of Nyx; they worked in our archives and were keepers of relics. They had some of the longest lifespans, which allowed for a continuous record of what happened in our world.

That was the vampires who now resided in Nyx’s new world.

These vampires, however, were different.

Adrian was not the only one with facts about the Old World.

“There were vampires, Lords and Ladies, who were known for their ruthlessness,” I said softly as I stalked the perimeter of the crypt. “Did you spend much time around them?”

The demon king scoffed as he entered. “No. It was their bloodlust and treatment of mortals that had me unimpressed by them.” I met his eye at that. “They liked to keepBlood Whores. Mortals they promised they would turn but couldn’t.”

“Because vampires could not be changed until after the war, when Avalon was created.”

He nodded. “Still, after all these years, I do not understand what happened to have allowed for it. And mages.” He shook his head as he ran a finger over one of the crypts. “But that is what happens when magic is changed.”

A shudder rolled down my spine, the flesh of my arms prickling. “Were the vampires of that time like the ones of now?”

“Not at all.” He stepped away from the crypt, and I did the same. “They hoarded wealth and bodies, but not knowledge.” His eyes narrowed on me warily. “Why are you really down here?”

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