Page 130 of The Vampire's Lament
“Yeah. Not fun,” I answered.
She stayed by the fire. “What a wanker your ex is.”
“Yeah. And I still can’t die,” I threw in for some extra deceit. “I’ve no idea when the spell ends.”
This did nothing to alleviate my guilt over being a terrible executioner. Sitting here lying my arse off, added to the shame.
If they only knew what I’d been up to with the vampire king they all wanted to see dead.
As if on cue, a guy brought Silvanus up, wondering if he was in league with this Aidan fellow.
“I don’t think so,” I answered, Declan drawing my eye again.
“You’ve really been through it,” he said gently. “I’m sorry. We’ll do our best to keep you safe here.” He pressed his hand over his heart. “Executioners rise.”
Man, I hadn’t done this in a long, long time.
I mirrored him, as did his pack, repeating his words, then drew luck down my chest.
He smiled. “Elf luck?”
“Yeah.”
His handsome face made my chest wince and my voice crack.
Man, he was so good looking.
“Want some water?” he asked. “We have food, too.” He tilted his head. “Meat only, I’m afraid. Rabbit, deer, boar.”
My stomach offered a resounding no with a sickly roil. “Water would be great, thanks. And so would your story.”
Jenny came over with a battered metal mug of cold water, handing it to me. “Thanks.”
She grunted, throwing me a quizzical look, and returned to her position at the fire.
I got the feeling she didn’t like me or believe my story.
And she would be bang on the coin.
After a few blessed gulps, I settled down to listen to Declan. For all my sins, I owed him my pointy ears.
“This entire valley is a conspiracy against the public outside of the Werewolf Domain,” he began. “We’re not feral, as you can see, but we are a problem. Being executioners, we’re supposed to be exterminated by decree of that rotten deal between thevampire king and the Global Order. But the laws of this domain protect us from being killed, so here we are. Labeled feral, a whole lie conjured to keep the rest of the world happy, and us out of harm’s way.” He folded his big, muscular arms, my toes curling once again from their size.
Huh?
“Shit,” I said. “I’m so sorry.”
“Thanks. But you know all about being ostracized too.”
“Big time,” I answered, not going into detail.
He shook his head after a heavy sigh. “How did we get here?”
“Because people are scum,” Jenny added.
The others agreed.
Declan carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, a feeling I knew all too well.
