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Weenteredthecommonroom of the newbloods, and I wrinkled my nose at the scent of blood. Iron doors lined the sides of the cavern, and I knew they led to the separate sleeping quarters and washrooms of the newly turned, and to individual training rooms so the monsters could learn to control their abilities.
Fire crackled in the fireplace at the back of the room, and the walls were lined with elaborate paintings of Katakin city, the pictures in gilded frames. For the next three nights, the newbloods wouldn’t leave this area. Had the human, Raine, turned, she would have been there as well.
My brows lowered at the thought. The idea of the human leaving our rooms to stay here under the care of the Taratun didn’t sit right with me.
Four monsters were seated at the large dining table in the middle of the room, a large jug of pink liquid among them, and the same liquid also in their cups. The newbloods turned to stare at us, and my chest lifted, my back straightening.
I remembered watching each of them turn. The vampire from the first trial, the pretty female with raven-black hair and plump red lips, sipped from a vial of blood, watching Darian and me with an interested gaze. Her tongue slipped over the tip of the glass vial, licking at the red liquid seductively as she eyed us greedily.Well, fuck me.She was going to fit right in, that one.
Beside her sat two females, both with pale-blonde hair that shimmered in the firelight. I knew they were sirens, having watched them change during Darian’s trial, but if I hadn’t, their glowing blue eyes and the scent of the sea on their skin would have given them away.
My attention went to the last newblood at the table,a demon. Small green horns protruded from her chestnut-colored hair, and a long green tail was suspended in the air behind her, flicking as she watched me with pale-green eyes, a small smile on her face. She had turned during the second trial, the moment I’d pulled the lever and the rocky ceiling had started descending toward her.
Sweat beaded on my brow, my skin becoming clammy, as the image of another face appeared in my mind. Of a woman with sleek coffee-colored hair and eyes that shone like opals when she smiled. My mother’s face.
I scratched at my arm without realizing as the image slipped away, changing into another, the one that showed the truth of what had happened. My mother’s face appeared contorted, her eyes gleaming with madness.
This was the mother I’d last seen. A mother who had cut off her own tail after the curse had turned her into a demon. The one who, in her crazed mind, had thought mutilation was the way to make us human again. A stream of sweat slid down my neck as I tried not to think about it, but the memory broke through.
I pictured my mother’s face as she’d stepped toward me when I was only five years old, a child and a newblood. She’d held a kitchen knife in her hand, the cruel blade still dripping with her own black blood.“It will only hurt for a moment, darling, and then we’ll remove our horns. You’ll see. We’ll be human again,”she’d said, her mad eyes wide and unnatural on her sweet face.
I’d just watched her, unable to move. Fear and confusion rooting me to the spot. None of the other monsters had intervened, not even when I’d cried out for help. It had been months since the curse was created, and we’d only just moved to the House of Thorem, the huge estate that housed the high-level demons of the city.
But the other demons didn’t care about a young boy, and my father, who’d turned into a wraith, had left us to live in the House of Faren, the high house of shadows.
My mother had almost grabbed me when I’d scrambled to the window and just jumped, without thinking, from the third floor. I’d landed wrong, breaking my leg, but my body had healed quickly, and I’d escaped from that house. Escapedher.The mother I’d loved with my whole heart.
It was Locke who’d found me, sobbing on the cobblestones a couple blocks away. He was only two years older than me at the time and still getting used to his own vampire body, but he’d helped me when no one else had.
I remembered the human, Raine, grabbing my tail in the tunnel. Even now, I couldn’t stand anyone touching it.Fucking hell.I’d nearly killed Raine for that. I’d been so close, and it had only been her coconut-and-steel scent, so incredibly different from the scents of rose and flour that my mother had, that had helped me to see clearly. To control myself.
I played my fucking part in these trials because that was what we had to do. To appease Locke’s father. To make sure the four of us could stay together without the council ripping us apart, forcing us back into the houses they thought we belonged to. I wasn’t going back to the House of Thorem. Not ever. And if that meant I had to be a part of the trials, I’d keep my shit together. I’d pretend it was all a game, and if any of the newbloods showed any signs of madness, I’d be the first to volunteer to end their lives.
“You all right?” Darian’s voice floated to me, his long fingers curling over my shoulder.
I jerked, instinctively trying to pull away, but he held on, holding me firm, grounding me.
I took a deep breath. And another. Then I turned to him, pushing any thought of my mother to the dark recesses of my mind, and plastered a wide smile on my face. “Sure am, brother.”
He nodded, but I knew he didn’t believe me.
“Ah, Darian, my favorite siren,” a smooth feminine voice called out to us, and we turned as Perene strolled over, her perfect black-painted lips pulled into a smile. Her ebony gaze fixed on Darian, and I smirked at the way she blatantly admired his physique.
Stopping in front of us, she lifted her hand to Darian. He took her hand in his, pressed his lips to her pale flesh, and pulled back to give her a sensual smile. “My lady Perene, it is a pleasure to see you as always.”
Perene preened under his gaze, but her face soured when she turned her attention to me. As expected, she didn’t offer me her hand. “Asher,” she said with a nod, but I didn’t miss her hint of distaste.
Even though I’d never shown any of the signs of madness like my mother had, some of the monsters kept their distance, as if the fools thought whatever had happened to her was contagious or was a disease that ran in my bloodline.
I just smiled widely, baring my teeth. “Perene,” I said lightly.
She tilted her head then, her brow furrowing as she peered around us, though it was obvious we were alone. “Have you come to bring me the last newblood?”
“Not yet,” Darian drawled, his voice silky smooth. “Locke wishes to have longer with the female. He’s enjoying toying with the little shifter too much.”
“Ah, so she turned into a shifter,” Perene mused, not at all concerned by the idea that her son would enjoy torturing a newblood.
Darian’s relaxed persona didn’t waver. “Yes, the human turned during the fourth trial. It was all rather predictable.”
