Chapter 142: Bloodborn

Chapter 142: Chapter 142: Bloodborn

Chapter 142: Bloodborn

"Cyrus, don’t you want to know how to remove that ring?"

The moment Cyrus Calder read the message, Vera Sable’s face appeared in his mind.

He had already suspected her once.

Her questions about his memory, the strange attention she paid to his ring, and the way she seemed to know exactly which subjects would make him react had never felt completely accidental.

Even so, Cyrus did not jump to conclusions.

He typed a cautious reply.

Cyrus: Who is this?

The answer came almost immediately.

Unknown: I’m standing outside your apartment right now, but you don’t seem to be home. If I don’t see you within thirty minutes, I might suddenly forget everything I know.

His apartment?

Cyrus stared at the message.

His headache worsened.

Even through text, the sender somehow managed to sound pleased with herself. That made Vera an even stronger possibility.

The room around him was also becoming warmer.

Cyrus looked away from the phone and toward Rhea Maddox.

She was still blindfolded, her hands cuffed behind her back and her ankles secured with the restraint rope she had willingly handed over to him. The color in her cheeks had not faded much, and judging from the atmosphere she had created earlier, being left that way had not produced the lesson Cyrus intended.

He thought about the thirty-minute deadline.

Then he asked, "What is the code to your front door?"

Rhea immediately gave him the numbers.

Cyrus stared at her for a beat.

Her level of trust had officially passed whatever test she thought she was taking.

He had already planned to leave her restrained for a while anyway. Going home to hear what Vera knew would not interfere much with that plan.

If Rhea genuinely liked giving up her freedom, then experiencing the inconvenience properly might help her understand what she was volunteering for.

Even if she became furious after a few hours, Cyrus was confident he could explain himself.

This entire hobby really would be easier if people behaved more normally.

Cyrus made enough noise while leaving that Rhea would know he had gone. After stepping outside, he closed her apartment door behind him and fixed his hair on the way down, restoring the low-profile appearance he used at school.

He was not worried about Rhea.

She had chosen this.

More importantly, he had not left her in any immediate danger. She was inside her own apartment, and Cyrus intended to return after handling the situation at home.

He called a rideshare.

Once inside, he leaned forward slightly.

"Could you get there as quickly as you safely can?"

The driver glanced at him through the mirror.

"I can make good time, but don’t blame me if the ride gets rough."

"That is fine with me."

The trip that normally would have taken close to half an hour became dramatically shorter.

About fifteen minutes later, Cyrus stepped out of the car and needed a few breaths to settle himself despite his Frostborn constitution.

That ride had been aggressive enough to make him briefly reconsider the value of speed.

He had barely reached the apartment building when a familiar voice floated down from above.

"Hey there, Cyrus."

Cyrus raised his head.

Vera was leaning lazily over the upstairs railing, smiling down at him.

So it really was her.

She checked the time on her phone with exaggerated seriousness.

"Eighteen minutes. You were getting dangerously close to disappointing me."

Nothing about her expression suggested actual disappointment.

Cyrus climbed the stairs.

When he reached the landing, he stopped in front of her.

With his school hairstyle restored and most of his features partly hidden, he once again looked like the withdrawn student she knew from St. Alder.

"How much do you actually know?"

Vera tilted her head.

Instead of answering, she looked him over with open amusement.

"You reject my friend request, ignore my calls, and then ask questions the second I mention your ring. You are colder than I expected, Cyrus."

"I did not know those were from you."

"That sounds believable enough."

Vera did not dwell on it.

She glanced toward his apartment door instead.

"Aren’t you going to invite me inside? It is freezing out here."

Cyrus hesitated.

Vera sighed theatrically.

"All right, I understand. I suppose I will have to go home and warm up."

The threat was obvious.

She was prepared to leave without telling him anything.

Cyrus unlocked the door.

"You can come inside."

Vera entered with visible satisfaction.

She had barely crossed the threshold when she paused.

"This is interesting. Somehow your apartment feels colder than the hallway."

"You are imagining it."

"Am I really?"

Cyrus did not answer.

He closed the door and turned back toward her.

"So you really do know something about the ring. Why didn’t you tell me before?"

"I forgot."

Vera smiled.

"Then today I suddenly remembered."

She was not even trying to hide the fact that she was playing with him.

Cyrus sighed and met the amusement in her face.

"What do you want from me?"

Vera’s smile widened.

"Talking to someone clever is much easier."

She snapped her fingers once, then seemed to change subjects completely.

"I suddenly feel thirsty. What should I do about that?"

Cyrus turned without comment.

He found a clean glass, filled it with water, and brought it back.

By the time he returned, Vera had already made herself comfortable on his small couch. She was looking openly around the apartment, taking in the plain furniture and the almost complete absence of decoration.

Cyrus handed her the water.

Vera accepted it and took a small sip.

Then she studied the glass.

"This does not seem very satisfying."

Cyrus frowned.

He still could not tell where she intended to take the conversation.

Vera placed the glass down.

The smile remained on her face, but her voice became slightly more serious.

"You know rare-bloods exist, correct?"

Cyrus did not answer.

His silence was enough.

"How much do you actually know about them?"

"What does that have to do with my ring?"

"You are too impatient."

Vera settled farther into the couch.

"Have you ever heard of the Bloodborn?"

Cyrus’s attention sharpened.

Vera immediately laughed.

"I said Bloodborn, Cyrus. I did not say Frostborn. Those are two very different bloodlines."

His thoughts stalled.

She had done that deliberately.

Vera was clearly delighted by the reaction she managed to pull from him.

Before Cyrus could organize a response, the woman sitting on his couch began to change.

Gray appeared at the roots of her black hair.

The color spread steadily downward, swallowing each dark strand until her entire head of hair had shifted into a smooth ash-gray shade.

Then her eyes changed.

Gold replaced the familiar dark color, bright and jewel-like against her transformed appearance.

Cyrus stared.

Vera covered her mouth and laughed.

Coming here had already been worth it.

Unfortunately, Cyrus’s school disguise made him difficult to read. His bangs hid enough of his face that she could not fully enjoy the shock she knew was there.

Cyrus remained silent for several seconds.

He had once believed encountering a glamourkin was already an absurdly unlikely event.

Then Daphne had revealed that something was unusual about her bloodline.

Now the school nurse sitting inside his apartment had transformed directly in front of him.

Weren’t rare-bloods supposed to be rare?

He had already run into several.

Did rare-bloods secretly attract one another without knowing it?

Vera watched him.

"You are less dramatic than I expected."

She stood.

"Then again, I suppose that is normal for you."

She turned once, almost deliberately displaying the transformation from every angle.

Her gray hair shifted across her shoulders, and the gold in her eyes remained unmistakably inhuman.

"As you can see, I am Bloodborn."

Vera raised one hand and indicated Cyrus’s finger.

"And the ring you are wearing was most likely made through my bloodline."

Cyrus’s attention immediately dropped to the plain ring.

The possibility hit harder than Vera’s transformation.

If she knew where it came from, then she might genuinely know how to remove it.

His priorities narrowed at once.

"What do I have to do before you tell me how to take it off?"

Vera stopped circling the subject.

She pointed toward her mouth.

Her canine teeth had lengthened during the transformation, sharper than anything an ordinary human should have.

"Let me have a taste."

Cyrus said nothing.

Vera smiled brightly.

"Bloodborn wanting blood is fairly obvious, isn’t it? Let me drink a little, and I will tell you how to remove the ring."

She raised one finger as if bargaining over something harmless.

"I only want one taste. In exchange, you get information you desperately want. That seems like an excellent deal for you."

Cyrus’s attention remained on her.

Then another thought surfaced.

Vera had shown far too much interest in his blood already.

More importantly, if the ring itself came from the Bloodborn, whatever abilities it possessed might reflect abilities of the species that created it.

Cyrus asked, "If you drink someone’s blood, can you read their memories?"

Vera’s smile did not move.

"Why would you think that?"

"The ring can affect memory."

Vera laughed.

"Bloodborn drink blood because it feeds us. Reading someone’s memories from it would be an absurd superpower."

The lie came out smoothly.

Cyrus continued watching her.

Vera did not appear bothered by his suspicion.

"I am not even asking how you got that ring," she continued. "I offered you a simple trade. If you do not want it, then pretend I never mentioned anything."

She gave him another teasing smile.

"One more thing. Keep what you saw today private."

Her appearance began returning to normal.

The gold faded from her eyes.

Gray retreated from her hair until the familiar black returned.

Within seconds, Vera looked like the school nurse again.

She turned toward the door.

Her back faced Cyrus, but the smile on her face never disappeared.

She had already tasted his blood once.

She knew exactly how extraordinary it was.

She also knew enough about the missing years, the Frostborn bloodline, the rings, and the fragments hidden inside him to be confident that he would not let the opportunity walk away easily.

Vera reached the door.

Cyrus’s voice stopped her.

"Wait a second."

She paused.

A pleased expression crossed her face before she turned around.

"Yes, Cyrus?"

He looked at her for several seconds.

The risk was obvious.

Vera was withholding information. He did not trust her explanation about Bloodborn feeding, and he trusted the conveniently simple deal even less.

But the ring had already taken ten years of memory from him.

He had no guarantee the next loss would wait.

If Vera genuinely knew how to remove it, walking away from that answer because of one calculated risk would be foolish.

Cyrus made his decision.

"All right, I agree."