Page 45 of Vervain

“Nightwalkers…take children?”

“Adopt,” Serun says. “Maeve finds lost children on the streets topside, and she brings them here. Her soul often gets in the way when it comes to them, especially when they tell her the same tale. Their parents went to scavenge, never to return—likely slaughtered by topside nightwalkers.”

I press my lips thin, biting into the flesh with my fangs.

In the end, I let the conversation go. There is no use raising the issue now, in the middle of the street, surrounded by nightwalkers who may hear and attack me for suggesting the idea of change. Gather more information, then talk to Serun.

There is also the looming thought of returning home after I find Cole.

“Will you come with me to Cherry Bloom? I’m not sure I can face anyone there, especially him…Now that I think about it, I doubt Cole and I would survive it.”

More of his shadows coil around me, tenderly ghosting against my skin. “Wherever you go, I will follow.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

SERUN’S MANOR

Saya Claymore

My new home. Cold and uninviting, the stone manor is untouched by light, and I find it difficult to see inside the blackened windows. Raising the lantern, the orange glow stretches across the stone steps leading up to the entrance. On either side grows vervain, tight clusters of flowers sprouting in a familiar dusty violet hue.

Home isn’t a place to me anymore. I thought I could make the feeding ground my home, but it was my prison. Home before that was a cage in a man’s embrace I never wanted.

“Where do you consider home to be, Serun?” I lift the oil lamp towards him to reveal red eyes watching, intense. I suppose I’m not afraid of them anymore.

“Home is an entity, not a place.”

I smile. “Then Cole is my home.”

He dips his head, hinting at a smile.

“What would yours be?”

“I’m offended that you have to ask,” he murmurs, voice soft and alluring as his focus lowers to my lips.

I bite down, sinking my fangs into the inside of my bottom lip, and I turn away from the feelings stuttering inside me. “Why does this place look like a lair? A little obvious, don’t you think?”

“A little,” he answers with a half-smile, his eyes squinting in humour.

I take a step up the stairs, then hear a sharp sigh from Serun. Olivia appears, crouched, as if ready to shrink back into the shadows. “Forgive me for disturbing you,” she starts, her eyes everywhere but on him. “Should I find somewhere else to…”

“There is an unused servant’s dwelling on the right side of the manor, in the garden. You will stay there,” Serun says, his shadows clawing back to him. “And when you enter my manor, make yourself known. If you do not, and you see me for who I am, I will bind you outside just as you did to your old master, and you will see your first sunrise since you began this journey.”

My frown deepens at Olivia’s wide eyes, her lip quivering at Serun’s low, precise words.

I step back down and grab Serun’s hand, squeezing tight until his gaze snaps to me. “Show me your home, nightwalker.”

He sighs. “Be on your way, Olivia. My consort will summon you when she needs you. Until then, find her some clothes to wear tomorrow night. For now, it is getting late.”

“Y-yes,” says Olivia. “I can barely keep my eyes open.” Her eyes are half-lidded, and she is moving as if to keep herself awake.

“Sleep well,” I say to Olivia with a small smile.

Moving up the stairs, I reach the landing and the doors open. Entering with Serun close behind, I stop in the middle of the foyer while shadows flow past and up the stairs with our suitcases. An ache flares around my heel, and I kick off my shoes as I take it all in.

Lamps hang on silver hooks around the room, providing more light than the rest of the Undercity. But everything in here is bare bones. There is nothing on the walls aside from the lamps, and the only colour comes from the wallpaper—a deep red embossed with shimmering purple florals. The dark stone flooring seems to have more dust than outside.

“Beautifully dark,” I murmur to Serun.