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“Not all vampyres believe that humans are less than us. We were all once human, though many of my brethren forget that. The way we treat humans—sentient, sensitive beings...it’s abhorrent. For those of us who still feel deeply, it aches.”
“Aches?”
“I feel that pain, that suffering. Yes, we need blood to survive. But it doesn’t have to be this way. It could be as it once was. Back when humans didn’t know of our existence, we lived in the shadows, taking without killing. Only out of necessity.”
“That doesn’t sound like much of a life.”
She sighed. “It’s not a life. It’s a curse. But it’s not at the hands of the humans that we’ve been cursed. We’ve done this to ourselves. And the humans suffer for it. It’s wrong.”
He swallowed. For a moment, he saw her. Truly saw her. A vampyre, yes. But also a soul striving for good. That realization could change everything. “You’re serious?”
Wide red eyes met his as she nodded. “Yes. Is that really so hard to believe?”
“I’m not sure what to believe anymore.”
“Z believes inyou.”
Cy shuddered. “How do you know about him?”
“Z and I have been…friends for many years. The majority of our human allies have taken up residence with different feral groups to protect themselves. There is one group situated just outside of New Avalon, in the forests there. We’ve no reason to believe the vampyres know of it.”
Just outside the forests. Cy wanted to sob, to rage, to escape. So badly. Knowing that they were so close only made it worse.
“If you can get the humans on our side, we can get them the tools they’ll need to revolt. But more than that, our comrades with the HU have promised to send troops to our aid. Z secured their promise—we’ll have five hundred of their men on the day of the attack.”
So it was true. This vampyre really was a part of the Veritas.
“What does the HU have to say about vampyres helping to overthrow the Dominion?”
“I’m afraid I’ve been left out of those conversations,” Dahlia said with a shrug. “I don’t mind. We all have our parts to play. I’ll play mine. Will you play yours?”
Cy hesitated. She was with the Veritas; could she get a message back to Z and the other leaders? Back to Jax? Should he trust her fully, tell her about what he’d learned of Haven and the so-called ‘Cure’? He settled with the in-between. “I haven’t been in contact with the other pets for weeks now. Haven has been keeping me in these quarters.”
This news didn’t seem to unsettle her. “Tell Haven you need time with the other pets. That you’re bored.”
“You say that like it will be an easy task. Have youmetHaven? He’s as giving as a brick wall. He doesn’t care about my needs.”
“Haven Bathory is but a fledgling vampyre who’s starved for affection. Surely you can see that. He craves it. He’s lonely. So get him to care for you, and he’ll respond to your needs. I’ve seen how he behaves with the other pets.”
Cy grunted. “He doesn’t behave that way with me. He hates me.”
Dahlia quirked a brow. “Does he?”
“What does that mean?”
“Haven was a human not so long ago.”
“Yes. I know that.”
“How?”
“Haven told me,” Cy confessed.
“As giving as a brick wall, though? Obviously, he sees something in you to be so honest. What else did he say?”
“That he was a child when the Veritas helped him escape captivity. He says they killed his mother and did horrible things to him. Sold him back to the vampyres because of his blood.”
“Yes, his blood was extraordinary. I tasted it myself before he was turned. He was only a boy when Thorne found him. Thorne waited to turn him until he grew into maturity. Why do you think that is?”
