Chapter 10 #2
“Gods, you are so sheltered,” he says. “When a pureblood escapes a bloodhouse, the vampires lose coin, so they will pay a pretty hefty reward to get you back. So, trust me when I say, there isn’t a soul inside that place that would hesitate to sell you out.” He points to the tavern.
“Nice.” I scoff.
“When people are offered the kind of coin that could feed their entire family for a week, there’s not much they wouldn’t do.”
I hate that his words fill me with shame.
“And keep those things covered.” He spits as he gestures to the crests on our wrists. For once, I just nod.
We follow Finn through the wooden door of the tavern and are instantly assaulted by loud chatter and clouds of smoke. I wave my hand through the air, clearing away the thick fog.
“Put your hand down, you’re literally screaming I don’t belong here,” Finn warns.
“What the hell is that stuff?” I splutter.
“It’s just cigar smoke. Come on.”
He weaves through the bustling crowd, and as I follow, my gaze snags on a woman straddling a man, her tongue so far down his throat I’m amazed they can still breathe.
Your species is truly a marvel to watch.
Do you have to have an opinion on everything?
What else would you have me do? You tell me not to just kill, so I am watching and learning. Perhaps I will find something I like.
I laugh.
You are incapable of liking things. You’ve moaned from the day your voice crept its way into my head.
It’s all about perspective. I quite find myself the voice of reason.
“You can’t do that in here.”
My attention falls on Finn, his eyes serious as he watches me.
“What?”
His voice falls to a whisper as he leans into me.
“I don’t know where the hell you go when you do that, but I know that wherever it is, it isn’t natural.” He pauses to look around the room. “If these guys sniff out anything that looks strange, then this night will take a turn for the worse quicker than you can say lost gods.”
Let them try, Athriel warns.
I want to agree with him and argue, but instead I bite my tongue.
He may annoy me, but this is his world, and he knows the rules.
I need this plan to go smoothly so that I can get Willow back, and if that means having to follow Finn’s direction for one day, then I can do that.
Besides, I hate to admit it, but he’s right—I have no idea how to fit in here.
At least in the bloodhouse I had a purpose, whether it was providing blood or scrubbing floors.
I don’t quite know what to do when the only expectation is to blend in.
“Sit,” he tells both of us as we reach a table. I hesitate for a second, but then follow the command. “I’m going to get us some drinks.”
He heads toward a large bar heaving with people.
“They look…happy,” Tori points out as we both look around the room. My eyes land on a group of rowdy people all sitting on wooden stools, gathered around a table. One of them slams a card down on its surface as they all roar in laughter, exchanging coins.
I look to my left and find two women deep in conversation, one holding the other’s hand across the table. One smiles before lifting a hand in the direction of a rotund woman wearing an apron.
“What can I get ya?” she asks them.
“Two of the same,” one of them answers, and the woman nods her head.
“They look free,” I finally say to Tori, and something about the word makes my stomach twist. An emotion fills me that I don’t understand, but thankfully Finn returns before I’m forced to figure it out.
He places three wooden cups on our table, and I wonder why they don’t have fancy glasses like the bloodhouse. He picks his up and takes a large swig, his face twisting as he swallows.
“What now?” I ask. I need to get out of here.
He shrugs as he starts to lift the cup to his mouth again. “We wait.”
Frustration boils my blood, and I snatch the drink from his hand.
“For what?”
He eyes me as though I am the most annoying person he has ever met.
You likely are.
Shut up.
“For a signal. A sign. I’m looking out for it, but you’re distracting me.”
He tries to snatch the cup from my hand, but I pull it away. I bring it to my nose, and just the smell alone makes my head spin.
“Oh, I don’t think it’s me that’s distracting you,” I say. “I need your head clear tonight.”
“I can handle my drink.”
I stare at him, driving my point home. When he refuses to back down, I lift the cup to my lips and knock back the brown liquid. It burns down my throat, forcing a gasp as heat floods my body.
“What the hell is that?” I ask when the spinning in my head finally subsides enough for me to speak.
He sits back as he watches me in amusement. “One of Rita’s concoctions, no one really knows what’s in them, but they do the job.”
“What job? Poisoning you?”
“Helping you to relax. Now I think about it, it’s a good job you took it from me. You definitely need it more than I do.”
I flip him off, and he bursts out laughing.
“See, loosened up.”
I scowl at him but quickly reach for the cup he placed in front of me and press it to my lips, taking a long swig as I close my eyes to enjoy the sensation. I sink back in my chair and for just a moment pretend that my worries don’t exist, but a loud crash brings me straight back to reality.
I reach for my dagger, but a soft touch stops me, and I find Finn’s hand covering mine.
“Easy. Someone just fell.”
I look back and find a group of men and women all laughing as one of them scrambles off the floor, leaving behind several wooden cups to roll on the ground where he just lay.
Now I know why they don’t have glasses in here.
A burly man with a thick ginger mustache slaps him playfully on the back as the two laugh. I turn back to Finn.
“How long do we have to be here?” I can feel Tori’s eyes burrowing into me from the side, but I dare not look at her. I hate how well she can read me, and I’m not in the mood to be analyzed.
“Apparently not very long at all.” I turn my attention to where Finn is looking and find a stocky guy with muscular arms walking toward us.
“You were looking for a room for the night?” he asks.
The man’s dark brown eyes scan over the three of us, and whatever effect the drink had on me disappears. Finn gives an answering nod.
“I was told there would only be two guests.”
Finn tenses, but he remains calm.
“The plan changed,” he says nonchalantly.
The man eyes us suspiciously.
“That’s not how it works.”
“No?” Finn shrugs. “Then I’ll take my coin and leave. Come on, ladies.”
I almost tell him that’s not an option and that we have to see this through, but I see the warning in his eyes telling me to play along, so I get up. Tori follows suit, as she throws a scowl in the man’s direction.
The man quickly steps in front of Finn, blocking his way, his tough exterior faltering for a moment.
“No need to be so hasty, you can never be too careful.”
“No, I don’t suppose you can,” Finn spits back.
“Look, I’m good as long as the coin is.” Finn nods in confirmation, and the man returns the gesture. “Good. Follow me.”
The man turns on his heel, heading toward the bar, and Finn gestures for us to follow.
This time, I don’t question him. If anything, I’m just happy to get out of the crowded space.
A small part of me wonders why it’s so much harder to be around my own kind than a bunch of vampires.
I may be on guard when in a room full of vamps, but I know exactly where I stand.
The man leads us through the crowd and to a door behind the bar.
We all hurry through it, and when it closes, the sound of the chatter falls to a whisper.
I feel the squeeze of Tori’s hand against mine.
I look up to find her watching me with worried eyes.
I plaster a fake smile on my face and keep moving forward.
I’m not sure what I expect to find, but the entire place feels stuck in the past, with wooden paneled walls and old picture frames hanging against them.
The bloodhouse is made from the finest stone walls and designed with the most exquisite furniture.
“What happened to this place?” The words slip out before I can stop them.
The man at the front grunts but doesn’t turn toward me. He keeps moving, leading us down a narrow hallway filled with old wooden doors. Some even have cracks running straight down them. A few cobwebs hang in the corners of the ceiling, and I wonder how often this place gets used.
“Only a pureblood would ask that.” I freeze at his words, expecting an attack, and reach for my dagger, but it doesn’t come; instead, he keeps walking.
“After the war, the vamps took away all our advanced creations and kept them. They think that by taking it away and dumbing us down, we won’t think of starting a war again. ”
“Then why do they let us have the settlement? It’s ungoverned and run by humans?” Tori asks.
He laughs at this.
“It’s not a gift; it only pacifies us. The settlement makes people think that they are gaining something by being given a false sense of freedom, but it’s not true.
Nothing is ungoverned. They may not physically enter the settlement, but they have eyes everywhere and there’s always some desperate human willing to sell out their own for a bag of coins. ”
My stomach tightens at his words, unsure whether Tori should be heading to a place where someone might sell her out so easily. What if someone discovers that she crossed the border illegally? Would they really sell her out?
“I’ll be ok,” Tori whispers as if she can read my thoughts.
We come to a stop in front of a door and wait as Finn and the man exchange a bag of coins for a set of keys.
“That’s for the door,” he points at a small steel key. Then he points at a larger bronze key, his eyes darkening as he looks at Finn. “And I expect you know what this one is for?”
Finn gives a curt nod.