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I scoff, disgusted. “Even prisoners get freaking blankets, Vaelenor. Even my father, as twisted and monstrous as he is, never kept bedding away from me for more than a few days.”

I kneel on shaky legs, knowing my knees aren’t going to hold me much longer. My bravery’s just about shot, but I manage to lift my chin and look him right in the eyes.

“Someday, you’re going to find out that I’ve never once lied to any of you.”

The anger thrums through me, old, impatient, and desperate to escape.

“And when that day comes, nothing you say, no lies you tell yourself to excuse it, will make any of what you’ve done to me acceptable.”

Vae stands there holding the blanket in his hands, mouth open and eyes wide.

Something I say must snap him out of whatever trance he’s in because his face almost seems to… soften.

I feel my breath catch in my throat. I’m expecting rage. I’m expecting him to lash out the way my father or Dax does.

I’m certainly not expecting him to look at me with eyes full of regret. He takes a single, small step forward and sets the blanket down between us like some kind of peace offering.

I’m breathing hard. Shaking. My anger is a living, breathing thing, but confusion begins to take over.

Vae gives me a small half smile and nods his head, almost like he’s acknowledging the truth of my words. It makes my head spin.

“We aren’t monsters, Idril. That’s not who we are. We protect people.” His tone is pleading.

I laugh. The sound rips out of my throat, and by the look on his face, it surprises him as much as it surprises me.

If this were Daxen, I would cower. But for some reason, with Vae, I stand my ground.

“We aren’t,” he insists firmly, hands fisted on his hips. “We don’t hurt people. Our entire goal is to protect innocents from the Severed. Protect them from people like your father.”

Severed.

The strange word slices through my anger, demanding my attention.

“What are the Severed?”

He glances over his shoulder, checking the door like he expects someone to be standing there listening to us. Verifying that it’s still firmly closed, he takes another hesitant step in my direction.

This Alpha is so confusing.

“They’re abominations,” he explains. “They used to be one of us. Vampires.”

He rakes his hands through his hair, causing it to stick up in a messy way that shouldn’t look so endearing.

”What—what happened to them?” Strangely, my anger has nearly faded in the face of his unexpected civility. I find myself leaning in, curiosity getting the better of me.

“They wanted more. More power. More riches. More everything.” He shuffles, hunched over, to the other side of the room and slides down the wall, leaning his back against the stone.

He shifts until he’s in a relaxed position, legs bent and hands dangling loosely between his knees.

“I shouldn’t be telling you this,” he mutters.

“You probably shouldn’t have brought me a blanket, either,” I reply.

That startles a laugh out of him. He grins, the dimples in his cheeks flashing and causing unwanted butterflies to flutter in my stomach.

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” He closes his eyes, resting his head against the wall. I stay silent, letting him decide what he wants to say.

“They believe themselves to be superior. To humans, to wolven, even to other vampires. But what they are is twisted. If you ever meet one, you can tell right away that there’s something wrong with them. It’s like seeing an animated corpse. Everything about it is just… off.”