Page 36 of Nyte
He looked around. Indeed, some of the other pets cast wary looks in his direction. Why was he being so foolhardy? Allowing himself to care so deeply? Had his past not proven to him time and time again that forming attachments was an ignorant mistake? Anytime he’d loved another human in captivity, that person had been taken from him. Everyone but Jax.
He lifted Wren in his arms and brought the child to his secluded corner mattress, gently laying him down and covering him with blankets. He’d been Wren’s age when his mother had been killed. When he’d first been abused by the vampyres and known true fear. God, he didn’t want any other child to have to experience that. But it was too late now for Wren.
Summer was at his side as he brushed away curls wet with sweat from Wren’s brow. “You can’t save him, Cy.”
“He’s just a child.”
“He’s a pet. As am I. As are you, though you struggle against it. The denial will only hurt you in the end.”
Cy cringed. Damn Haven Bathory. Cy shouldn’t even be here, among these pets, in this situation. That cursed vampyre had made everything more difficult by sending him here. He was weak when faced with injustice, when his past reared its ugly head to haunt him.
Settling down on the mattress beside Wren, he felt the pressure of Summer next to him. He looked over, absorbing the quiet, stern look on Summer’s face. He barely knew them, and already, he felt a sense of protectiveness over them.
When he’d first been sold back into slavery, he’d wanted nothing more than to free himself. Now, however, he wanted so much more than that. He needed to free them both. To protect them, to deliver them to freedom among the Veritas. He would. He’d make it his new mission. If his life depended on it, he’d see them free.
Days passed. Lord Garrison did not return. There was no sign of Haven either, though that in and of itself was not much of a surprise.
Cy was useless. He was no nearer to unearthing any information on Haven, nowhere nearer finding any means of escape.
He was glad for Wren and Summer. Their presence was soothing, a small comfort in his hour of self-pity and despondency.
“What’s this word?” Wren stuttered, his finger tracing the lines of text that Cy had just scrawled.
“Apple,” Cy chuckled. “Your favorite.”
The smile that illuminated Wren’s face warmed Cy’s heart. Teaching Wren to read had come naturally. The boy was fiercely smart and agile, he wanted to learn. And Cy found that part of him wanted to teach as his mother had taught. To use knowledge to arm the weak–the one thing the vampyres could not take from them.
“You’re a quick study, Wren.” Cy ruffled the boy’s curls. “Even faster than I was.”
“When did you learn to read?” Wren asked, eyes glittering.
“When I was about your age. My mother taught me.”
“Will you tell me about her? I never knew mine.” He said those words so dispassionately, throwing them away as if they meant nothing. It was expected that a human wouldn’t know his family. Commonplace that he’d grow up surrounded only by other pets and vampyre overlords. If he ever grew up at all.
“She was beautiful. She had dark hair and dark eyes.”
“Like you!” Wren grinned. Cy shared in the small smile, though his heart panged at the thought of her.
“She was wildly protective. She wanted me to be sharp, armed with every weapon I could have at my disposal.”
Wren shook his head in disbelief. “Humans don’t get weapons.”
“A human’s greatest weapon in this world is knowledge. The vampyres want to keep us docile and ignorant. We make ourselves dangerous when we arm ourselves with secrets they don’t want us to have.” He hoped that in passing on his knowledge, he would have made his mother proud.
What Cy had witnessed, Lord Garrison sticking his fangs in Wren, had been the young boy’s first experience of being fed from. Cy knew it wouldn’t be his last. He wanted to do everything in his power to arm this boy. To protect him. To keep his spirits high.
Wren cocked a brow. “We’ll keep secrets from the vampyres, then?”
Cy nodded, holding out his little finger and extending it to Wren. “Here, hold yours out. Good. Now lock it around mine like this. That’s a promise. A secret pact. You, me, and Summer. We keep our secrets, and we don’t share them. Not with anyone. And especially not with the vampyres.”
“Not even Lord Garrison?”
“Especially not with Lord Garrison. You need to be wary of him, Wren. If he ever hurts you, you come get me.”
For the first time since they’d met, a flash of fear crossed Wren’s face. “What will you do? He’ll kill you if you try anything.”
What could he say? His desire to protect Wren was now deeply rooted within him, even if it was foolhardy. He saw in Wren a younger version of himself. One desperate for love and security. One terrified of everything. He didn’t want that for Wren. Not if he could do even the slightest to prevent it.