As the hectic shouting and crying died down, everyone nodded incessantly. I picked up an unspoken rule: Do not speak to this grayskin murderer unless spoken to.
“You will see scant daylight in the Firehold. That is your burden.” Lukain smiled a rictus grin that startled me after his sheer barbarity—the nonchalant, casual slaughter. I couldn’tdeny it was a handsome smile, despite it being attached to a madman. “Because I am a benevolent master, once a month you will be brought into the daylight on the surface. As humans, you will waste away without proper sun on your skin.” He wagged a finger at us. “You may not remain humans forever in this life you’ve been tasked with living.”
What sort of lifeisthis?
Father Cullard, Mother Eola, Baylen Sallow, Jeffrith, Dimmon Plank . . . every human I’d ever known had either betrayed, hurt, or abandoned me.
Did I evenwishto remain human?
I gulped when I thought more about it. My eyes swiveled to the red stain on the wall where the boy had been impaled.Such a weak race we are, compared to the cruel vampires and their half-bred ilk like this man.
“Follow me,” he ordered.
We quickly shuffled behind him as he ventured down the dark hallway. As we walked through the rough-hewn stone tunnel, dust fell from the ceiling. I glanced up and noticed pinpricks of light shining in from grates above us—the only glimpse of the surface I expected to see for quite some time.
I blinked away grit that landed in my eyes and continued following Lukain Pierken down the twisting passage. There were closed doors and low voices on the other side of those doors on both sides of the walls. We passed at least ten of them before Lukain brought us into a huge cavernous room adorned with stalagmites and stalactites. The tapered columns split the vast room, turning it into two wide, underground chambers.
On the left side of the fork, I could hear the sounds of swords clanging and grunting men. I couldn’t see anyone through the gloom.
On the right side, a shock of blue—a pretty gown—flashed by as a girl walked past the entrance and disappeared. Her voice carried a moment later, giggling with another girl.
My brow furrowed in consternation.
Lukain swept his arms out to both entrances. “Men and women, join your respective groups, acclimate yourself to the Firehold, and connect with your peers. They will become your lifeblood here. You’ve had a long day, so you will be permitted to rest until you’re called upon. Don’t dally when you are called.”
The two girls quickly skittered off to the right, while the three remaining boys took off to the left, all five of them eager to leave Lukain’s presence.
I didn’t move. I was rooted to the ground, glancing right to the laughing girls then left to the grunting boys and the sounds of clashing steel.
The thought of the humans who had betrayed me played in my mind on a loop. The disgust I felt for all of them was palpable, making my teeth grind together. Where I had been a despondent shell ever since Dimmon’s captivity and grotesque actions, now I felt alive. It was a thrilling experience, standing there behind the tall form of Lukain Pierken, Lord of the Firehold.
As he seemed to count off the five who flooded past him, noticing one was missing, he faced me. His thin brow lifted. “Are you deaf, little grimmer?”
“Why do you call us that?” I answered. I didn’t feel I was breaking the first rule since he had asked me a question. Still, my hands knotted into fists at my sides, expecting a flashing blade to skewer me at any second.
Lukain only smiled at the corner of his mouth. “Because you are part of the Grimsons now. That is what we are called.”
“I am no one’s son.”
He chuckled. It was a dark purr of a sound. “Consider it a moniker. What is your name, girl?”
“Sephania.”
He hummed, crossing his arms over his chest. His eyes roamed over my body, though not in a lurid way. He examined the way I stood, muscles clenched before him. “You are tense, Sephania.”
“I wonder fucking why.”
His chuckle was louder this time, lips parting to show those long, glinting teeth. “Why are you still standing in front of me? I told you to go to your group.”
I made a decision then. One that would change my life forever.
Nudging my chin to the right, to the echoes of the loud girls bouncing across the walls, I said, “I don’t want to be like them. I’m not cut out to be breeding stock.” My eyes swiveled to the left room. “I want to be like them.”
His smile disappeared. His upper lip twitched as he took me in fully. I was young, yes, but also tall for my age. Taller and bigger than the other six prisoners I’d arrived with, with the exception of that beefy boy.
Lukain said, “I enjoy your tenacity. But you think you have options? Women do not fight in the Firehold.”
“You said we have choice.” My eyes narrowed on his handsome face, my features full of defiance. I stood tall as I could, reaching his neck with the top of my head.
