Page 32 of Nyte

“You won’t hurt me,” Cypress stated. “If you’d wanted to, you would have already. After all, I’m yours to harm, am I not?”

They stood now inside a rock garden surrounding a flowing waterfall. Despite the lack of foliage and flowers, there was a level of peace and serenity here. Tall trees hid them from wandering eyes; they were enclosed and secluded. Haven’s gaze caught on the soft current of the water as it lapped around the fountain’s edge.

“You assume you know me. You assume too much.”

“You’re probably right about that.”

“And yet, still you push.”

Cypress shook his head. “I just...want to know. What humans could have possibly done that was so bad you’d choose a life with the vampyres over the human life you were born into.”

There had been no choice about it. But he wouldn’t tell Cypress that. He owed this human nothing. “Humans have caused me nothing but pain. It was only the vampyres who took pity on me,” he finally said.

Cypress seemed rooted to the spot as if afraid any movement might cause Haven to withdraw. He could see Cypress wanted to speak—this human always seemed to have something to say. But strangely, he remained silent, watching, hardly breathing, barely blinking.

“I was born on the farms. Meant to be veal. Right after I was born, the Veritas raided the slaughterhouse and freed a number of humans, my mother and I among them.” He felt Cypress’s heavy stare, unsure why he was telling him this. “They took us to their camp, fed us, and clothed us. We lived with them for the first years of my existence. I was allowed to be a child. To play, to make friends. My mother wanted to give me the best life she could. And she did. Until I was old enough to show some of her more…desirable characteristics. We were a beautiful pair. Needless to say, we began to get unwanted attention.

“Humans are disgusting, impulse-driven creatures. They see a shiny object and decide they want to own, to claim, to fuck, to destroy. That’s what my mother and I were to them.”

Cypress stiffened as though he knew where this story would go. Perhaps he did. Haven continued anyway.

“They raped my mother. Over and over again until she eventually died of the wounds they’d inflicted. Then I became their plaything.”

“How old were you?”

“Old enough to remember. Not old enough...for anything else.”

Cypress’s horror-filled expression urged him to continue.

“I spent most of my adolescence being passed around camp. Anyone that tried to show me kindness suffered for it.” Haven paused to grit his teeth.Tobin. Don’t talk about Tobin. Not with him. “Eventually, they all stopped coming to my aid. My existence became a living hell. I longed for death. Then, somewhere along the line, a passing vampyre attacked our camp. He smelled my blood from miles away. Came to kidnap me. The Veritas overwhelmed him, but the damage had already been done. They knew then what they had in their possession.”

“What do you mean?”

“My blood,” Haven replied, hoping Cypress couldn’t hear the tenuous tremble of his voice. “My blood is special. To vampyres, it’s a delicacy.”

“Doesn’t all blood taste the same?”

Haven actually laughed at that. “Silly human. Do you truly not know?”

Cypress frowned, irritated.

Haven stepped closer, closing the gap between them until it was only inches that separated them. “Blood is like fine wine. Each human has a particular flavor. Some mediocre, some delightful. But some...some humans possess blood of such extraordinary caliber, vampyres would sell their soul to get a taste. These humans are rare. So rare, in fact, that most vampyres no longer believe in their existence. Until they find one.”

“You expect me to believe that your blood is so much better than all the other humans that vampyres hunted you down for it?”

“It used to be, yes. Now, it’s a fraction of its former glory. Because my heart no longer beats the same way it used to.”

“It no longer beats at all.”

Haven quirked a brow. “That’s not quite true. It’s a myth that vampyres’ hearts no longer beat. They’ve slowed down so much that it’s past human comprehension. But they beat.”

“So that’s why stakes through the heart are so effective.”

“Among other things,” Haven said. Again, he felt the weight of Cypress’s heavy stare. “In any event, the quality of my blood caused my human captors to attempt to sell me to the vampyres. They sampled out my blood and my body to the highest bidder. For years, I was their prisoner. And then Thorne found me. And he saved me.”

“Saved you?”

“He killed the men who held me captive. Took me back to New Avalon, treated my wounds. He was kind to me. And when I was with him, I was protected. From everyone. He never harmed me, not like the humans did.”

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