Page 34 of Vervain

A wave of heat flushes my cheeks. Clearing my throat and stripping away the thought of his hand on my waist, I look out the window. Darkness falls so suddenly that I flutter my lashes. All thoughts of Serun flee, because what I see is far more fucking important than him.

A shallow breath hisses out as I lean closer and grip the metal railing near the exit. We are in a translucent tunnel underneath the moonlit ocean. Bubbles press against the tunnel wall, swirling with the pressure.

“What is this…”

Scales come into focus, shiny and obsidian, and I step back with a gasp at the sight of red eyes. The snake-like creature looks at us as though observing a rock. Can it see us? Before I can think too deeply on it, the creature turns away and sinks deeper into the ocean, a whining cry coming from it, as if in pain.

“That is experiment zero-one. The white coats’ first failed experiment.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

OSCULATION

Saya Claymore

First experiment?

“What do you mean by experiment?”

“As I’ve said before, humans cannot help but want to create when they shouldn’t, but perhaps I was a little vague. Their scientists were trying to create weapons to win wars.” He nudges his head towards the ocean. “That was their first attempt, and it failed. I know this because I, too, was an experiment. But I escaped.”

I close the blinds and step away from the window, hiding the ocean from view. Candlelight in glass bulbs illuminates the room with a hearty warmth. “They created you? And how did you escape?”

“Yes.” His voice is firm and clear. “With shadows. I doubt they understood what they were creating. And I wasn’t in there for long. They likely wish they could have controlled me, for now it seems I oppose them.”

Serun makes his way across the carriage and sits on the gem-studded leather lounge near the door. Cold red eyes lower to my mouth, neck, and then away.

I clasp my hands together and pick at my fingers. “There was a monster that seemed different from the others that attacked Cole when we were leaving the feeding ground. It looked more…human? Or nightwalker? Aside from the tail, of course.” My eye twitches at a sharp pain across the side of my thumb. “Did these white coats create it too? Or did it come through the Hellsgate?”

Serun scratches his chest. “Scientists, likely. The only creatures that leave Hellsgate are the echoes.”

“I see…” I sit beside the Lord of the Undercity. “And what are these echoes?”

“Starved nightwalkers, perhaps? All we do know is that once Mother left, Hellsgate has appeared once a decade.”

“How did you know it was happening?”

Shadows touch my hands, tenderly swiping across the peeled skin as he leans back, his shoulder brushing mine. “Echoes that escape Hellsgate congregate in the area. That’s how I knew.”

There’s so much to learn about our world. Us Feeders did not know what was happening, and none spoke of creatures. We all thought the only monsters prowling Naylen were the nightwalkers, but there are more.

All because Mother left.

Why did she leave? What did our goddess see that made her hate this place?

I have so many questions, but I am beginning to realise that Serun is just as in the dark as the rest of us.

My fingers curl around his shadows, and I let them slip through my fingers as if I am entwining my fingers with his. “Do you believe that if your laws weren’t in place, Naylen would not exist?”

Serun squints an eye. “It might exist but would be hanging on by a thread. My laws are in place to keep humans and nightwalkers alive, while slayers want to govern the world.” He frowns. “Instead of Prayer Sanctuaries being for lost humans, like it seems Mother intended, slayers keep them for themselves.” Fire burns in his crimson eyes. “Their greed infuriates me, but working with them prevents worse destruction.”

Our shoulders rest against each other, and a tingling sensation has gooseflesh prickling across my skin, static sparking between us as he leans further into me.

“They have topside, and we have the Undercity. They have their borders, and we have ours. If any nightwalker wants to cross over to slayer territory, they need to accept that they may die.” Serun slowly pins his focus on me. “It’s why I want you to stay in the Undercity, but I know you won’t. So, we will journey together.”

“Lucifer says they will experiment on me if I am captured. Is that true?”

“Yes. At least, it’s what we believe they would do. You are a daywalker. Part nightwalker, part vegodian. Slayers would want to create more like you to destroy us—especially because you possess light.”