My mouth gapes. “Is it the church? Aren’t vampires sensitive to holy stuff?”
“Perhaps if it was still consecrated.” He gives a mirthful laugh and passes a hand over his face. “But it isn’t the divine, Millie. It’s the… memories.”
I can see the wrinkles between his brows are pulled taut. He looks afraid. What the hell happened to him here? What did they do to him that he’s terrified of going into a room? Closing the distance between us, I seek his hand with mind and twine them together.
“If it helps, you can hold my hand.”
“I’m not a child.” He frowns, but he doesn’t pull away or take his hand back. I contain my smile and pull him along behind me.
“When I found the secret door, I thought the priest might have had a hidden sex room.” We’re standing in front of the wardrobe, and I only let him go to climb through. Gray follows, sticking close. Once inside the little room, I pull out my phone and chase away the darkness with the flashlight.
“That would have been far more interesting,” Gray says, amused. “But Father Bane was a bore.”
“Father Bane?” I ask. Gray starts up the stairs, taking my hand in his as he brushes past.
“He was the former priest of this parish, and my jailer,” Gray explains. I don’t want to push him for details, but he goes on. “I don’t remember how he captured me exactly; I only know that he had help. But from who, I couldn’t say. During that time, there were whispers of priests being trained to kill and capture supernatural creatures of the night.”
“I’m sorry, did you say supernatural creatures?” I stop on a step, shocked.
“You heard right.” There’s a hint of a smile in his voice as he speaks. “It’s exactly what you think it means. There are more than just humans and vampires, Millie. I’m not the only one out there.”
Okay, that I can wrap my head around.” I start back up the stairs as his feet shuffle ahead. “But you’re telling me that there were vigilante priests out there just hunting you all down?”
He nods, as if this isn’t the craziest thing he’s ever heard. “My cousin and I used to balk at it, of course, until I wound up here. Father Bane’s prized prisoner, bound by silver and chained up like a dog.”
“What did he do to you?”
“Whatever he wanted to do,” Gray says, his voice wavering in its confidence. I can hear the resignation in his tone. “Cut me open, drain my blood—”
“He drained your blood?” I feel my eyes widen.
“Regularly,” Gray murmurs. “He kept me healthy enough to suffer his experiments. Sometimes he would sit me in the sun and see how long it would take for a limb to burst into flame; other times he would starve me for days on end to record the rate of my decay. Bane was nothing if not thorough.”
“That’s awful.” I can feel myself frowning, my heart aching for him.
“It was, but at the time, I told myself I deserved it. After all, I had killed so many mortals like him. What was my blood compared to theirs?” He shrugs, as if it’s no big deal.
I seriously doubt that’s the case, though. He’s facing demons that I can’t see, grappling with whatever emotional turmoil that’s still lingering from his experiences here. I’m not privy to them, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to offer some sort of support or comfort.
“You’re still a person,” I say meekly.
Gray shoots me a hard, dark look. “I was a murderer, Millie.”
“You still could have died,” I argue. I don’t want to overlook his past, or try to erase what he’s done, but being what he is can’t be easy. Maybe I’m in the wrong for thinking like that.
“No,” Gray says plainly. He stops at the top of the stairs and I join him. “I wouldn’t have died. I don’t quite understand it myself, but I understand that my blood is no longer my life-source. That’s why we must feed on the living, because your blood is so much more…alive.”
“Right. Makes total sense.” I nod.
“Think about it,” he squeezes my fingers, voice low in the dark, “You thought I was dead, but I couldheareverything.Seeeverything. It wasn’t until his blood splattered me that I was able to move again. That little bit revived me, and as I drank from him, the more life returned to me. It isn’t just the blood, it’s the essence of it, too.”
I swallow loudly. “Here I thought you just liked the flavor.”
“That too.” He chuckles, making my stomach flip and ears heat.
Gray releases my hand and ventures deeper into the tower. He doesn’t have to go far, though. It’s a small, dark space, and there’s nothing I can see with my lame human vision. Thankfully, my phone has a good charge this time, so I sweep the room with the flashlight. There’s dust in the air, cobwebs built up along the walls, and the old silver chains and cuffs that once held Gray prisoner. What I don’t see, however, is a body.
It’s gone.
