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Wren shrugged. “Not him. Lord Haven never comes here. He finds pets...distasteful.”
Panic fluttered in Cy’s chest.
“You’re new, aren’t you?” A new voice, another pet had drawn nearer, this one slender and female. Cy hadn’t heard her approach. Her thick golden waves swept behind her, and green eyes were wide as she eased herself closer.
Cy nodded, blinking, fascinated by the woman’s lean silhouette. She was beautiful. Almost like a feminine version of Haven Bathory himself. “Yes.”
“Yes,” the woman said, watching Cy carefully, as a mouse might a cat. Suspicious, expecting danger. “When did you get here?”
“I’m a gift from Lady Varney to Lord Bathory,” Cy said carefully.
“I’m Summer,” the woman held out her hand. A human gesture.
Cy took it. “Cypress. Cy.”
“A gift toThorneBathory?”
“Yes.”
Summer smirked. “You’re not his type.”
“So I’ve heard.”
“You must have...other talents.” Summer’s eyes glittered mischievously. Cy liked the way her lips tilted upwards in an almost playful expression. “If you’re truly a gift from Mirae Varney, you must be talented, indeed.”
“I’d like to think so,” Cy said, his voice taking on a husky vibrato he hadn’t intended. But judging by the quirk in Summer’s jaw and the uptick of her brow, she didn’t much mind.
“What talents?” Wren perked up, and Cy couldn’t help but laugh.
“It just so happens I can juggle.”
“You can?” Wren’s cheeks flushed a ruddy red, and his eyes lit up in glee. “Show me!”
“Can you find us two more of these?” Cy held up the apple Wren had given him earlier, and Wren bounded to his feet, nodding happily.
“Yes!” He rushed away, a bright smile on his face.
Cy turned back to Summer to see the set of her face had become stern and serious. “You shouldn’t get him so riled up. The vampyres won’t like it.”
Cy scoffed. “You think I care what they like?”
Cocking a brow, Summer said, “You should. They’re the difference between life and death. Especially for little ones like Wren.”
Cy crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, eyeing the scope of the room. “Have you been here all your life?”
Summer nodded solemnly. “I was born to a pet. My mother belonged to Lord Merick. And now, I do as well.”
Lord Merick.The brash vampyre from the transport. The one who had wanted to taste him. Cy’s stomach churned. “What happened to your mother?”
“What do you think?”
Cy cringed.
“Pets outlive their value all the time. Then, they become food. It’s the circle of life,” Summer said nonchalantly.
“It’s vulgar.”
“It’s the way the world works.” But Cy could see from the pull of her furrowed brow and set jaw that she was just as disgusted by it as he was.
