AllFreeNovel
Share Us
All it did was show his lengthy fangs that had my full attention.
“Is that what he told you? I didn’t agree to anything. I simply was drawn by blood.”
Jasmine gave Vern a sideways look that looked like murder.
Vern shrugged.
Okay, so maybe Vern wasn’t always truthful with us.
Yep. We’re all going to be a vampire’s midnight snack.
Sensing my discomfort, Solstice lit up the sky with golden fire, sending a streak of it separating me from the vampire.
He didn’t budge. Instead, he looked skyward with a sense of intrigue. “I’ve never had dragon blood before,” he mused.
Solstice landed, shaking the ground, and hissed in response.
Vern cleared his throat. “We want to trade for information.”
The vampire rolled his eerie gaze back to the male. “And what is it you’re offering me?” He twisted toward Obsidian. “A taste of your beast?”
The smoke drifting from Obsidian’s nostrils turned into tiny blue flames.
He apparently didn’t appreciate being threatened. I didn’t blame him.
“Better,” Vern said, seemingly unfazed by the creepy vampire. “We offer protection, Frederick.”
The vampire threw his head back and laughed. “Protection? Oh, my boy. From what?” He spread his arms and his cloak fell to his sides, revealing all sorts of scars and divots in his white skin. “I’m an immortal. There’s nothing that can kill me because I’m already dead.”
This vampire was seriously getting to me. Solstice placed her snout against my spine and let her heat leech into me.
But I couldn’t shake the chill that was slowly seeping through my skin.
Because this vampire was right. What could we possibly offer him? He already had immortality. Even if immortality seemed to disagree with him, based on the state of his withered body.
Vern didn’t seem to be discouraged. In fact, he looked pleased with himself as if he’d expected this. “Ah, but there’s one thing my mother always wanted that no vampire could find. A cure.”
The vampire shifted his weight, and for the first time, he seemed to sink into the soil instead of float above it. “Do you know what you’re offering me, boy?”
Vern nodded. “I’m aware.”
We all shared looks.
What the heck was Vern up to? He hadn’t told us about this. The plan had been to get information on the Shadow Realm, not strike a deal.
“And in return?” Frederick asked.
It rubbed me the wrong way how interested he was.
Vern had better not be doing anything stupid, I mentally told Killian.
He quietly hummed his agreement.
“We seek passage to the Shadow Realm,” Vern said, his tone firm.
The vampire stared at him for a long moment. “A living creature has never ventured into the Shadow Realm.”
Vern crossed his arms. “That’s the deal. If you can’t do it, I suggest you go back where you came from.”
