“What do you mean, contamina—”
“They’re either sick or there’s something physically wrong with them that renders them useless.”
I stared at Michelle. “And what about someone like me? Or Mona? Escapees.”
“If the hawks wanted you, there’s no reason they wouldn’t come looking for you. It does happen. But Aviary is so wrapped up with Cruor, I honestly doubt they’d waste time looking for you.” She paused and raised a brow at me. “Unless you really are that valuable to them.”
Before I could say anything more, the front door swung open. Elizabeth walked toward us. She wore the same long dress with a white apron wrapped around her waist. Her grey-streaked hair was pulled tightly back in a bun. She nodded in my direction. Michelle left the table, and Elizabeth sat in her place.
“Good to see you up early, Kiev.” She opened her book and ran a finger down one of the pages, mumbling to herself. “Aha, we do have a space there today. Good.”
She shut the book and looked up at me.
“So, anyone wishing to stay at The Tavern for more than one week must contribute a minimum of five hours of work per day. Which isn’t much when you think of what you get in return: protection that the Tavern offers, free board and lodging…”
I nodded.
“Given that you’re a vampire,” she continued, “you’re obviously limited in the hours of day that you can work outside. So we’ll allot you work accordingly. For example, this evening, I’m planning to send you for work on a new construction at the far end of the island. We’re building some new housing to accommodate the influx of new vampires who’ve arrived here recently. I’ll have someone come for you after sunset, so make sure you’re around. They’ll bring you to the building site and give you instructions as to your task.”
I nodded again.
“After work, I’ll have someone take you to your new accommodation in the vampires’ quarter.” She jotted something down in her book and then continued, “Next, as for important rules you must abide by if you are to avoid trouble—”
She was interrupted by a loud knock on the tavern front door. Elizabeth twisted in her chair to face the bar.
“Michelle!” she called.
Michelle had disappeared. Elizabeth sighed and walked toward the direction of the front door.
“We don’t open until just before lunch! You know that,” she called through the glass to whoever was knocking.
The knocking turned into banging. The door swung open and Elizabeth protested, “What are you doing, Jack? I told you, we’re closed!” I strained my neck to see who it was but a pillar was obstructing my view.
“Which room is Kiev Novalic staying in?” a deep male voice asked.
I nearly choked on my drink.
“A tall vampire. Red eyes,” he continued. “I know he arrived last night. Michelle said—”
“Yes, why do you want him? He’s sitting over there.”
I stood up. A man wearing a long dark cloak ran toward me. A human. I stood frozen to the spot, trying to place his face. But I couldn’t; I had no idea who this man was or how he knew me. I extended my claws in anticipation. Arriving at the table, he slammed his fist down, leaving behind a rusting metal pendant.
“Do you recognize this, vampire?” His light blue eyes blazed into mine.
I recognized it immediately.
“I won’t blame you if you don’t,” he scoffed. “You’ve likely murdered hundreds of innocents in the past few years.”
He withdrew a sharp wooden stake from his cloak. Elizabeth gasped behind me.
“This pendant was my mother’s,” he shouted. “You murdered her five years ago.”
It wouldn’t have been difficult to overpower him, to knock the stake from his hands and send him crashing to the ground. Hell, even ripping his heart out would have been a trivial effort for me. But as I stood there looking at this human, I didn’t want to hurt him. Because I had killed his mother. I deserved every bit of anger he was showing me.
I just wished he would put down his stake, because watching him brandish it at me was beginning to trigger an urge to punish him for his insolence.
“You are mistaken,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “I never touched your mother.”
“Don’t lie to me,” he snarled. “I’d recognize your face a mile away… the face of a cold-blooded killer… Do you remember the night you stormed our village?”
As he lifted the pendant inches away from my face, images of that bloody night flooded back. And then it happened. I lost control over my actions. It was as if I’d regressed to the same state I was in that horrific night, despite a part of me begging myself to stop.
I lunged at the human, knocking the wood from his hands and pinning him against the floor. I dug my claws deep into the sides of his neck until he screamed. He tried with all his might to throw me off, but he was helpless as a worm.
“How dare you,” I hissed.
I was about to rip my fangs through his throat when two sharp thuds hit the base of my neck, sending spasms of pain down my spine. I turned in time to see two large ogres, iron clubs raised in the air, stained with blood.
My blood.
Chapter 11: Mona
I shuddered to think what might have happened had I arrived at The Tavern even a day later. It was my good luck that I’d met Saira in the pub that night and she’d warned me of our captain’s plans. She’d said he wanted everyone on board the ship early the next day. We were to set sail in the evening, but there was preparation to be done.
She’d asked me dozens of questions about my time away, but to my annoyance, most of them had been centered around Kiev. She seemed to be determined to convince herself that I was secretly in love with him.
I’d only managed to sleep a few hours before I had to wake and make my way to our ship. But those hours in that clean soft bed, all alone, without the worry of devilish eyes watching me, had been heaven.
I was so relieved to be finally rid of the vampire, I didn’t say goodbye. I couldn’t deny the slight tinge of guilt I felt over it. Even in spite of everything, if it hadn’t been for him carrying me on his back to the boat, I likely wouldn’t have escaped Aviary.
But it wasn’t difficult to brush thoughts of him away. What he had done was for his own survival, not mine. He had needed me and my boat. He hadn’t done anything generous that made me owe him my thanks or farewell.