CHAPTER9
The three ofus leave the chapel. I expect us to come back the way we came, but we do not. Instead, we head farther down the stairway with many locked doors. Ruvan lifts a massive keyring off a peg from the wall and attaches it to his belt as we begin our descent.
I keep my focus on the path he’s taking me on, trying to stay oriented in this mazelike castle. But it’s hopeless. I find myself continually distracted by the oddest things. The faint smell of meat sizzling brushes against my nostrils. There are currents in the air, whipping around my ankles, tangling with my fingers, as though there’s a life to this place that I hadn’t felt before.
Vampire magic still flows in me, threatening dizziness with every step from being so overwhelming. I brace myself for each wave that crashes over me so I don’t stumble. I am stronger than ever before, like I could forge for a day straight without stopping and still have energy left over to haul coal or hoist remaining smelt iron into storage. Yet I might also be torn apart at any second.
Ruvan stops at a door, unlocking it before stepping through. I notice the line of salt that covers the doorjamb on both sides. He takes a careful step over it and I follow the movement, heart sinking as I do.
“So, salt does nothing to actually ward off vampire.” It did little to protect my mother and I from the rogue vampire that attacked us. I wonder how many homes in Hunter’s Hamlet were invaded; the flimsy protections we thought we had were rendered worthless. What was the point of any of it? Did we actually know anything about the vampires at all?
I didn’t expect my dejected musing to be heeded.
“Yes and no.” Ruvan locks the door behind us. “Salt dulls a vampir’s senses; it hinders our innate ability to track and seek out blood, even blood still in the veins.” He stills and I wonder if he’s reconsidering giving me this information. Maybe he’ll continue to make such errors and tell me the secrets of the vampire. Should I ever see Hunter’s Hamlet again, I’ll bring it back to Drew and the fortress. To my surprise, Ruvan continues, following his hesitation. “So the salt works to an extent—if a vampir doesn’t know a person is behind a door, they won’t sense them or seek them out. But if they can see people within then the salt does little.”
“Why do you have it here?” I ask.
He flinches. Ruvan is good at keeping his composure, I’ll give him that, but I don’t miss his brief wince. And I note the suddenly distant quality to his eyes.
“For protection.”
“You need protection from vampires?” I arch my brows in disbelief.
“Vampir, and contrary to what you might believe, there are monsters far worse than us lurking in the darkness.” He motions back to the salt. “The salt helps.”
“I see.” Something is not adding up. He says the salt dilutes a vampire’s senses, but that doesn’t explain how the vampire sensed me when I was within a well-salted home; it hadn’t seen me. He wants me to think of him and his allies as weak, or sympathize with them. I resolve again that I won’t fall prey to his mind games.
“You have more questions,” he says softly as Quinn passes.
“Things I doubt you’ll tell me,” I retort.
We regard each other warily as Quinn opens a second set of doors that lead out of this sparse antechamber. I wonder if Ruvan is engaging in the same calculus as I am. The bloodsworn oath prevents us from lying, allegedly, but I don’t know if it would prevent half-truths. And Quinn has already proved that the vampires can be good at dodging questions.
“Come, hunter.” Ruvan breezes past me and through the door Quinn has opened.
He leads me onto a mezzanine that overlooks a gathering hall below. A few vampire are gathered, but they don’t notice us. Or, if they do, they don’t look our way. Ruvan quickly ushers me through another door that Quinn holds open. But the servant doesn’t follow behind. He instead remains on the other side as it closes.
“These are my chambers,” Ruvan explains, leading me through another set of doors and into a sitting room. “You will stay here.”
“Here?”
“Yes, where I can keep an eye on you personally. Do you really think I’d let you out of my sight?”
“Oh? Worried about me attacking your minions? Don’t have faith in your bloodsworn oath?” I jut my chin out at him, hoping he’ll rise to the bait and tell me if there’s a way I could harm these vampires.
“I have faith in the oath staying your blade. But it won’t do much to your tongue, and I don’t care to deal with the tensions a brute like you could create.” He frowns slightly. I choose to ignore the insult.
“Why don’t you lock me up in a room somewhere, then? I would be happier not to spend time with any of your kind.”
“Too bad, hunter. You’re going to have to manage working with all of us if you want to see that hovel you call a home again.” He sneers slightly. It is far less fearsome now with his fresh, handsome face. When his skin was leathered, and his fangs bared, he looked like an ancient beast. Now, he looks like any other human would.
No…that’s not quite true. He still moves with the impossible grace of the vampire. His hair is moonlight and his eyes are molten gold. And his fangs are still present, though not as pronounced. Even the subtle things about his appearance aren’t quite human; he’s like a living portrait, too fine to be completely real. Too enchanting to be normal.
“Or…” Ruvan continues. “Is your protesting because these accommodations aren’t comfortable enough for a delicate hunter?”
“Truthfully everything about this arrangement is uncomfortable,” I say outright.
“Excellent. Wouldn’t want you to get comfortable and stay too long.”
