Quinn looks to Ruvan, who continues to regard Drew warily. But even the vampir lord relents to my request. “Very well. But we’ll be just outside. So don’t try anything,” he says more to Drew than me.
With that, the two vampir depart, leaving us alone.
I cross to the bed. The sheets are still bloodstained from my recovery. The covers are thrown back, no doubt from Drew’s awakening. I sit on the edge and motion for Drew to join me. He does reluctantly.
“I know, you have a lot of questions.”
“Are you all right?” That’s the first one that flies from his mouth and it brings a tired smile to mine.
“I am.” I take both his hands.
He turns mine over. “What happened to your ring?”
“I…” I swallow thickly. “I had to use the silver. I’m so sorry—”
“It’s just a ring. You can make another in your sleep.” Drew shakes his head with a small smile. My stoic, steadfast brother, always focused on the bigger picture. And here I had been fretting he’d be upset. “I know if you forged with it, you really needed the protection, and I’m glad you were kept safe.”
“Thank you for understanding.” I don’t tell him I used it for experimentation and silently vow I’ll make us both new ones—better ones—as soon as I’m able. “Now, we don’t have much time and I have so much to tell you and so much I need you to tell me. I’ll start from the beginning and go quickly…”
I tell Drew everything—of the Succumbed making it to Hunter’s Hamlet, being taken by Ruvan, and the vampir’s curse. His expression darkens as I mention becoming bloodsworn. His grip tightens on mine as I detail the horrors of the curse realized in the old castle.
As hard as it is, I tell him the parts I don’t want to say. I admit to sharing with the vampir some of our silver processes. I explain the new fake silver steel I’ve created with Callos’s help deciphering records of long-ago vampir smiths.
I fill in every gap between now and the last time we saw each other. The only thing I leave out is the dagger I made with my silver ring—I don’t know how he’d feel about my forging with blood magic—and the details of my relationship with Ruvan. There are some things I’m still not brave enough to push.
When I finally finish, he stares at nothing. I wait patiently, though that patience is tested when he wanders toward the window. He stands, just like I did when I first woke up in Midscape, and looks out over their world. Except, unlike me, he’s been told all the secrets of this place within an hour. I’ve given him the information I’ve had weeks to process in a matter of minutes.
He rests his forearm against the glass, then his forehead. “How is it possible we’ve all been wrong for so long?”
“You believe me, then?” I stand, too eager to sit. But I don’t move from the bed in case disappointment makes me fold like flimsy metal.
“I would always believe you, Flor.”
“You didn’t at first.”
He chuckles and shakes his head. “You’re right. But that was fearing your mind was not your own. Now that I know it is, I’ve no reason not to believe you.”
“Other than it goes against everything we’ve been taught.” I stand next to him, admiring Tempost and its frosted spires. It looks almost like the cookie house the baker would make and display in his window during Yule. The prize confection of the hamlet. Everyone always had a small piece at the end of the celebrations.
“I know you’d never lie to me and, moreover…” He trails off, straightening away from the window. Drew’s eyes are distant and unrecognizable. “I have every reason to believe you now.”
“Why?”
“Because that creature—that monster—was in my mind.” Hatred mars my brother’s features, twisting them in a way I’ve never seen before. It curdles my stomach a little. “The raven is no bird. And it is not a new raven with every master hunter. It is the same one, time and again, controlling the hunters for who knows how long.”
I tap the windowsill, quickly tallying the pros and cons of what I know I need to ask him. Even if he believes everything I’ve said and knows these vampir can be trusted…it’s hard to have your world turned over in an instant. I should know. Still, I must keep pushing him. We don’t have much time before we need to return him to the Natural World.
“Drew, I want to hear what you have to say, but I think the vampir should listen, too.”
He regards the door warily, as though they might come bursting in at any second. “Can’t you just relay what I say?”
I rest my hand on his forearm. “I know how hard this is, must be. I’m sorry for everything I’ve thrust on you, Drew. But if I thought there was another way or a better way I would’ve already pursued it.” His eyes meet mine and I dip my chin in what I hope is a reassuring way. I answer his unspoken question, “I trust them, I do. And they’re going to know a lot more than me. We’ll all benefit from you being able to tell them directly what you know; I don’t want to risk forgetting a single detail.”
He sighs. I know he’s going to agree before he does. I know what resignation sounds like in his voice. “All right, let’s have a chat with the vampi—” He catches himself. “Vampir.”
I offer a small smile of encouragement. “You know, you’re handling all this better than I did,” I say as I start for the door.
“Like I told you, I had that man—monster in my head for weeks.” He rubs his temples, eyes temporarily distant. “I know there’s a lot more going on here. Just like I know that he would’ve had me killed by the next man he chose as a master hunter if you’d left me in the fortress. So thank you for not doing that.”
