Page 30 of Blood & Bonds

“The Vrykolakas wouldn’t leave as much blood behind,” Byron said. “You must understand blood is their life force. It is both a temptation and sustenance. Take your favorite food and then amplify it as being the only thing you need to feed on to survive. Even if the Vrykolakas doesn’t intend to kill, let’s say. Perhaps they fight a shifter because of some inconsequential reason, and the shifter slices himself on a bottle, the Vrykolakas will be overwhelmed with the drive tofeed. They’re wired to believe they won’t know when their last meal is, and, as such, will feed until satiated or death. I’m sure you’re bright enough to figure out what comes first.”

“You’re telling me there’s no such thing as a Vrykolakas that can resist the temptation of blood?” I asked.

“I certainly haven’t seen one, and I’ve been around for a time.”

“Tell me you’re an old man without telling me you’re an old man,” I muttered.

“What?”

“Nothing,” I said quickly. I shook my head, moving across the room again and sitting on the edge of the bed. “So, this…this magic thing…I didn’t think magic existed, except Light Bringers.”

Byron sighed. I was almost positive he was going to roll his eyes but he didn’t.

“We’re still not sure it does,” he said. His tone was surprisingly gentle, and I stopped tugging at my sleeve so I could give him my full attention. “There’s a prophecy in our culture, one that predates everything. It says that a goddess will unite the packs and save us all using the magic from her she was blessed with by the full moon. Magic isn’t something I believe in. I haven’t seen it with my eyes nor do I think itdoesexist. Light Bringers are something everyone worries about but no one has seen. The prophecy itself hints the wolvenneedsaving, and I don’t believe we do. In fact, I think we’ve done a good job of uniting in order to take care of the problem we see in the form of the Vrykolakas. If we hadn’t been bound together by the Headmaster, I’m not sure our individual packs would have survived.”

I rubbed my lips together. “I have lots of questions,” I stated.

“Of course you do,” he said drolly.

“I know the legend of the Vrykolakas began with the intention to heal and it evolved into…into what we now know as Vrykolakas,” I said.

“You know that much?” Byron asked, trotting across the room and over to the wardrobe. “You’re not packing up your things. I’ve already stated you’ll be moving.”

I glared, forcing myself to stand up.

“That’s not a question,” he reminded me.

“It feels like the wolven have been around much longer,” I said as I moved to the wardrobe. “It feels like their culture is…natural, not created, either intentionally or not. You have your own customs, you have your own rules.”

“As I said,” he murmured from behind me. “We have our stories, but I’m not sure I believe them.”

“Can you tell me one?” I asked over my shoulder. “One of the stories?”

“I don’t believe in the stories,” he said.

“That’s not what I asked.” I sucked in a breath, held it. I didn’t like asking for things. It caused a distinctively uncomfortable knot in my chest because it meant he could reject me. It meant I took a risk by asking him to be kind, and he could say no. But I wanted to hear him tell me a story. At the very least, it would distract me from the thoughts of Lucy and my mother. “Please?”

Byron shifted. It looked like he was going to say no. In fact, I prepared for just that. Instead, he narrowed his eyes at me.

“The way humans believe our kind was created is a ridiculous fairytale,” he said.

“Great beginning. I love it already.”

“It was thought that the goddess Aethereal touched earth and fell in love with a wolf,” he said. “The wolf protected her from others, from wolven attack. Instead of forcing himself on her or using her as food, he took care of her, so she gave her heart to him. Essentially, she mated with his heart.” He wrinkled his nose, looking away. “Humans have this ridiculous notion of soulmates. One soul recognizing its half in another. Wolven have something similar.” A beat. “We call it heartmates.”

“That’s very romantic,” I said with a small smile. “I’m sure Lucy would have loved it.”

I hadn’t meant to turn the mood into something sour but I couldn’t help it. Lucywouldhave loved that story. I was sure she already knew of it and hadn’t found the right time to tell it to me.

“She did,” he agreed. “She made her nursemaid tell it to her every night before bed.”

“Nursemaid?”

“One who cares for the humans with no parents,” he said.

Something cold knotted its way inside of me. “Lucy didn’t have parents?”

“They were killed in a Vrykolakas attack.”

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