Page 27 of Vervain

Somehow, I doubt that very much.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

INANITION

Saya Claymore

Serun pockets the sphere after we step out of the light stream. The shadows encasing him seem to slip away with every blink until the man behind them resurfaces. As the portal of light closes, our view of Avianna and Reyes fades, leaving me alone with the Lord of the Undercity.

One look at the bag of food Serun is holding in his non-orb hand and my stomach protests, churning with undeniable hunger. Sure, the Bleeders fed us, but it was never enough to satiate, just enough to survive without passing out.

“Come,” Serun says, heading in the opposite direction of the room I have been staying in. “Let us dine before your stomach eats itself, kamai.”

“If I cannot know what kamai means, you cannot use it,” I say.

He slowly blinks at me. Is he irritated? It’s hard to tell with Serun. “No.”

My brow twitches, and he smirks.

I follow Serun down the wet stone corridors to the sound of flowing water. Walls open, brick and dust scraping as they part. As we pass, flames in brass holders burst to life with a rush of warmth.

“You said you killed everyone who created the portal orb. Why?” I quicken my pace, and with every step, my stomach noisily attempts to make it known that I am fucking starving. “And could you take me home with it?”

“I could.” Shadows move across his face, shielding his expression. “And I killed them because it is a powerful tool. In the wrong hands, it could cause devastation.”

“And you aren’t the wrong hands?”

Serun gives me a crooked smile, his shadows quivering. “I’ve had it for nearly three decades, and all I’ve used it for is to slip into the Darkovish Feeding Ground twice, and to enter the Sunken City from my manor quickly.”

“You could rule the world with it, if it’s so powerful.”

“I have no interest in the world. Naylen is enough,” he answers with a grimace.

A stiff gust of wind from the right bites against my skin. A passage opens, and Lucifer steps out. His lip curls and face contorts at the sight of me before he looks away, touches a wall, and disappears through it.

“How do the walls move?” I ask with mild curiosity. “They seem to like to close on me all the time.”

“The Sunken City is woven with magik, alive and controlled by Lucifer’s powers, but he knows not to irritate me. It is why I told you not to stray far from me. He won’t leave walls closed on me, but he would for you and others that may roam his castle.”

So, it was Lucifer who guided me to the room overlooking the ocean.

Soon, we reach the dining room. “Wash your hands behind the bar before you eat, unless you care to ingest some of that.”

I look at my bloody hands, curling them into fists. As I clean myself off, my fingers twitch at the sound of cans clinking when Serun sets them on the glass dining table. Once the water finally runs clear, I shut off the faucet and dry my wet hands on my gown. Moving around the table to sit opposite him, Serun reaches into the bag and pulls out a can, examining it with a frown as though trying to decipher it.

“When was the last time you ate human food?”

Red eyes fleetingly meet mine, then drop away. Serun sets the can on the table and says, “I don’t remember much of my human life. Only bits and pieces.”

I rest my hands on the glass tabletop and lean forward expectantly. “And?”

“They are bits and pieces that I am not fond of remembering.” Crimson eyes settle back on me as he slides the can my way. “You saw a memory when you drank from my wrist.”

I did.

After my fangs sank into his flesh, a rush of endorphins flowed like the blood down my throat. It was like honeyed wine. Thick, lathering, and sweet.

His memories came next. It drew me somewhere else, to a place unknown, but it tasted as familiar as the death in Darkovish Feeding Ground. Corpses lay desolate amid a war. There was a teenager, wounded and defeated, until…