Page 86 of Entombed By Blood
“This conversation might be better suited to the living room, so Silas can get some more rest,” she mumbles.
I shake my head. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Gid has fired up every instinct I have, and I won’t rest knowing she’s in a room with him.
“At least sit down,” Finn insists, letting go of Gideon and reaching into the space between the alpha and me to grab my hand. “Come on, you were still bleeding your guts out when I checked on you two hours ago.”
Just like Gideon, I’m no match for our omega’s influence. I follow him through the cabin without argument until we reach the sofa. He pushes me onto it, and I go easily, dragging him with me until we’re snuggling together on the soft cushions. Inhaling his scent soothes the raw edges inside me, and I can’t help but nuzzle into his neck.
Finn’s old pack had no idea what a gift he really is. I’m forever grateful for that every time he calmly walks into the middle of a pack argument and diffuses the mess of instinct and rage we’ve become.
How we survived the last few decades undercover without him is a complete miracle.
By the time the others rejoin us, my anger is almost completely gone.
Draven pulls Evie into the room, his hand almost swallowing hers as he guides her to a spot beside the window, leans against the wall, and spins her around so her back is pressed against his front. As soon as she’s comfortable, his arms wrap around her protectively and his chin comes down to rest on the top of her head. His green eyes dare any of us to make something of it, and I wisely decide to keep my mouth shut.
Pissing him off isn’t something I do without an escape plan and an alibi.
Gideon settles against the wall by the fireplace just as the front door opens and Frost enters, kicking off his boots with a long sigh before he realises he’s being watched. As soon as the ghoul looks up and sees the whole pack assembled in one place, he freezes.
“Group meeting,” Finn calls, breezily. “Apparently Silas is a super-lycan now, go figure.”
Wise of him not to mention Gideon’s attack on Evie. Considering how far gone Frost is for our girl, it’s exactly the kind of spark that could ignite an alpha on alpha brawl.
The ghoul hybrid sighs and rubs his temples, then grabs a bottle of synthetic blood from the fridge and settles against the other side of the fire to Gideon, their postures mirroring one another sub-consciously.
“What are you going on about?” Frost asks.
It’s then that I realise exactly how worn down both of them look. Their eyes are lined with dark circles and bloodshot, and their clothes are rumpled and dirty.
“Look at him,” Gideon says, waving a hand at me. “He’s almost completely healed. I went to check on his bandages and found him screaming with Evie standing over him… She didsomething, and we have a right to know what.”
“Did you?” I ask, turning to our girl.
She hesitates, bites her lip, and glances at the door before she answers. “Yes.”
“Care to explain?” Gideon really doesn’t like surprises, but even that’s no excuse for his tone.
“Evie helped me,” I retort, before she has a chance to say anything. “Lose the attitude.”
Finn’s hand comes to rest on my thigh and his thumb makes soothing circles over my skin, reminding me to keep my head.
“It’s okay,” she says. “It’s just… My sire doesn’t like me acknowledging it. My blood is… different to my sisters’.”
I must have drunk her blood, I realise. That was what I tasted before I woke. “I know vampire blood can help people heal, but that much, that fast?”
She shrugs, her cheeks turning a shy pink. “My sire doesn’t let me use it often. I can count the number of times on one hand…”
“That’s amazing,” I whisper, staring at her. “Does it only work on Lycans?”
She shakes her head. “It’s hard to tell with vampires, since we heal with blood, anyway, but humans seem to react the same. It’s a useless gift, really.”
“Those are Cain’s words,” Finn objects. “Aren’t they?”
She flinches, then nods.
“It wasyou.” Frost draws all of our attention as he stares, awestruck, at her. “Cain tried for decades to make more like me. He always thought there must have been something special about the ghoul that turned me, since I couldn’t make any other hybrids like me with my venom. But it wasn’t the venom at all, was it? It was your blood. You’re the key to making more ghoul hybrids…”
