Page 31 of Entombed By Blood
Frost is something else entirely.
Right now, his eyes are on my neck, fixed on the pink line that remains from earlier.
“She fed from you?” His voice is hoarse.
“Not yet.” I hesitate, debating how much to say. “She’s… not herself. There have already been incidents…”
“Incidents?” Frost’s eyes narrow. “Like what?”
“She tried to stake herself with a piece of furniture.” His expression shutters, but I keep going. “She fed from the others, then tried to shut herself back into the coffin. In all honesty, I’m not sure her mind is still intact. The Evelyn you knew might be gone.”
Frost is silent for a while, processing. “She’s not stable enough to be moved?”
“No… I’m not even certain she’ll want to go.”
“Cain locked her in a silver box for almost two hundred years,” Finley interjects. “She’d have to be insane to stay.”
I raise a brow, but it’s Frost who answers him.
“Before, she knew that what Cain was doing was wrong but wouldn’t go against him. For Evie, a world where her sire doesn’t control every aspect of her life is unfathomable.” He darts a glance up at me. “You have to convince her to leave. She isn’t safe and we need her. She’s the only one—”
“I know. I know.”
The key to everything is a fractured shell of her former self. Frost has no idea the madness I’ve seen in her eyes. Even in the depths of his own captivity, he had contact with his jailers, the ability to move more than a few inches in any direction.
Evelyn is broken.
“I’ll spread the word to put more pressure on Cain.” Frost runs an aggravated hand through his hair as he thinks. “Our strike teams will increase the frequency of their raids, I’ll cause more ghoul attacks on vampire communities, and between the two, we should keep him invested in her wellbeing. He knows that the only bargaining chip he has against me... is her.”
“Take these,” Finley presses a handful of tiny, perfectly round spheres into my palm. “They’ve got tiny microphones in them. If you find a good place to leave them, I’ll be able to hear and see everything that happens within a few metres.” He pauses and scoops out another set of tiny black stickers. “And these too. Cameras, so we can have a couple of eyes in there. If he’s bugging the shit out of her rooms, we might as well do the same to him.”
Frost nods. “Is he treating her okay? Has she mentioned...?”
“She hasn’t said anything about you. I’m not surprised because she barely trusts us. She thinks we’re a test set by Cain. He’s playing mind games with her, which doesn’t help. Making her sleep in the coffin and wear the same dress she was buried in.”
It isn’t the sort of shit that anyone just coming out of several hundred years of imprisonment should have to face. I know I’m a bastard for enforcing Cain’s stupid rules, but until she’s stable and strong enough to move, we have no choice.
“She always knew how to think just like him.” Is that a small smile, curving at the edge of Frost’s lips?
I’ve never seen him laugh. Ever.
He makes me look like a comedian.
“She can feel the bonds to both of you,” I add. “Sooner or later, she’s going to let slip something to Cain unless we give her a reason to keep our secrets.”
Frost sighs. “I trust you to figure something out, but keep my involvement a secret until you know...”
“If she wants to kiss you or rip your throat out,” Finley finishes dryly.
Frost glares at him, but doesn’t correct him. “Her last memory of me is Cain telling her I was just using her to get to him. It’s understandable if she doesn’t remember me fondly. I was arrogant enough to believe I could keep her safe if things went wrong, and we both paid the price for my stupidity.”
“Isn’t that what you’re doing again now?” I say.
Where the fuck is my protectiveness coming from? I barely know the vamp, and this concern I’m feeling is like she’s already part of my pack. This pesky thrall bond has a lot to answer for…
Frost glowers at me, a hint of his double fangs peeking out from behind his lips. “I’d walk through fire for her. I spent decades plotting my escape and building our rebellion so I could free her. So fuck you for thinking otherwise.”
I don’t let my eyes drop from his; I won’t show that kind of submission to the man who is—despite our differences—my equal in our pack.
