Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 81867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
“We’re leaving,” Abaddon declares as Raven lands back in her mother’s arms, thumb embedded in her mouth, looking for all the world like a normal toddler apart from her wings and the little horns peeking out from the abundant curls on her head. “Now.”
The rest of my family stands up from the table.
Beside me, Phoenix shudders, and I understand last night’s performance more than ever. She’ll never give Vlad what he wants. If I’m really her friend, and I am—friend before hungry monster, always—then I’ll do everything in my power to aid her cause.
“That’s hardly necessary,” Vlad says nonchalantly from his throne-like chair at the head of the table, his tone no more bothered than if a fly had just been swatted in his presence.
“Father,” his son says again. “What about Avram?”
Vlad looks annoyed for the first time since breakfast started, turning a stone face toward his son. “We’ll have a far-superior replacement for your fool brother soon. If Avram had been quicker-witted, he’d still be with us, wouldn’t he?”
His son is astonished and obviously furious, but one look from Vlad has him swallowing it back as he bows his head to the floor. “Yes, Father. Of course, your wisdom prevails.” He backs away to the corner.
Abaddon is already shuffling my family out of the room. Good. I’m glad to have them out from under this man’s roof and sphere of control. I’m just sorry I can’t get Phoenix out with them. I hate that she’s under his thumb in any way.
I hurry over to my brother as he ushers the last of my family out, pulling him aside. “Will you go back to the castle?”
I can feel Vlad’s eyes on us, and it makes my skin crawl. I pull Abaddon into the hallway, even though I hate to have Phoenix out of sight for even a moment.
“I’m not sure that’s possible now that it’s been discovered, even if we tried to hide it again with more runework,” Abaddon says, and I hear the regret in his voice.
“I might have a possible fix.”
Abaddon rolls his eyes. “Let me guess. Magic.”
“You’ve witnessed Phoenix’s mage at work.”
Reluctantly, Abaddon nods. “I found us a villa in the city for the time being.”
“I’ll start working on it with Sabra immediately. She’s in the city, too.”
He nods and cuffs me on the shoulder, his face softening. “Good night last night?” His eyebrow arches up.
“As if I’d tell you,” I glare, and he laughs good-naturedly. I turn away before he can read anything else on my face and almost run straight into Phoenix. We both pull back before colliding, and her eyes widen before she composes her face into its usual mask. “Come on. If we don’t hurry, I’ll be late.”
“Right.” I blink. “Your lecture.”
We just witnessed the sort of complete control Vlad exercises over his family. I’ve never seen him willing to sacrifice any members of it before, but then, they’re unkillable. All that nonsense about stakes and beheadings is just lore to make humans feel more in control in the face of the unthinkable. Vlad and his sons are immortal in the true sense of the word, like my brothers and I. Slice us and dice us, and still, we continue on.
I learned this the hard way, climbing out of my grave after I’d painfully regenerated.
Vlad has learned more creative means of controlling his family over the centuries. Phoenix told me he locked one son in a pit for three hundred years for disrespecting him. Mostly, his methods involve breaking them from childhood while they were still human, a process he got to repeat every twenty-five years.
He experimented with making blood slaves of his own progeny until they became vampires themselves, but apparently, it made them dullards when they came of age and turned into vampires, not the killing machines he was looking for.
So, I can’t imagine how Phoenix possibly “came to an understanding” with him. He’s intractable and ruthless.
After learning the lengths he’s willing to go, it’s nearly impossible to imagine the strength it took Phoenix to become the woman she is today. She survived him with not just a scrap of humanity but an ocean of it.
She’s the kind of person who sees a suffering creature in the woods and stops to help it even though she has plenty of her own problems to worry about. Who does that? She helped me believe that goodness was possible anywhere in this or any other plane, and she grew up with an evil to rival my father.
As she strides confidently down the hallway in front of me, I have to fight the surge of emotion in my chest. She’s built a life for herself here apart from his control.
And I vow silently to not allow myself to be a means of his manipulation. He’s trying to tighten his leash on her and bring her back in; that’s obvious to anyone with eyes.