Chapter 28

Olivia’s POV

That werewolves weren’t permitted to train did explain why I hadn’t seen any werewolves going on runs or sparring, which were usual pastimes back home.

But what I couldn’t understand was why. Was it just one more means of control for the vampires?

I wasn’t sure, and I knew if I asked Damien, I wasn’t likely to get a straight answer. He would never reveal the inner workings of the vampires to me like that. After all, to him, I was just a pet, and good pets didn’t ask too many questions.

Yet, without training, I would never be able to climb this wall.

Damien glanced at me for only a moment longer, his boredom becoming more apparently. He must have felt like he said enough, because he didn’t wait much longer after that, and simply turned and left me standing there. I noticed he took my drawing of him with him, but neither of us said anything about it.

I was still mortified that he had seen my shame and knew that I had been drawing him. At first, it had been merely coincidence, but over time, it became easier just to accept that he was a good subject for my drawings. Even though I despised him, he was incredibly handsome – easily the most handsome man I had ever seen.

That he was a vicious, brutal, powerful vampire unfortunately only made him more interesting in terms of my art. He was so far above everyone else, it was curious how he could still look like a man. Though, admittedly, there were things about him that were otherworldly.

Like his eyes.

The other vampires had varying sheens of red in their irises, but only Damien’s were vivid blood red.

Perhaps it was a sign of his power. Perhaps it was something more to do with his age.

I didn’t know, but I was compelled to draw it.

Regardless of his ethereal beauty, what I really needed to do was focus on escaping.

That meant scaling this wall. Which meant exercising one way or another.

If I could find out why the rule existed that forbade werewolves from training, perhaps I could discover a way to work around it. With that as my goal, and with permission to move freely, I knew my only hope for learning about why things were the way they were was to speak with those who had been here the longest.

That meant I needed to approach the other slaves. The ones who hated and mistrusted me.

Admittedly, I knew my reasons were selfish. I wanted to bond with the other slaves not just because I wanted answers, or even because I was hoping for forgiveness.

The full truth was, I was so lonely. My companionship with the other slaves, albeit brief, had filled me with a sense of purpose. Especially Andy, who had become a dear friend, taken far too soon.

Another loss the vampires caused that I would never forgive as long as I lived.

As I had permission to go anywhere, I found my way down to the slave cafeteria around lunchtime. The room was packed, and as this was one of the few instances where the slaves were allowed to socialize, they all seemed too busy chatting to pay me much attention.

Among the crowded tables, I spotted Andy’s sister, Angela. Things had been tense between us since Andy and the others had been killed, but once, I had considered her a friend.

I went to her now, hopeful to rekindle some of the kindness we once had for each other. Standing at the side of her table, I waited for a pause in her conversation.

Before I could speak, she and the others at her table noticed me. They stopped talking and considered me. Any brightness Angela had shown in speaking with the other slaves vanished when she looked at me.

“Get lost, Olivia,” she said.

“I was hoping to speak with you,” I said.

“I don’t want to talk to you,” she replied coldly. “No one here does. You shouldn’t even be here.”

“Please, Angela…”

“Please, nothing,” she snapped. “Go back to your gilded cage with your vampire Duke. WE have no use for you here.”

I didn’t know what else to say, especially as Angela turned a cold shoulder to me. The others glared at me coldly, none of them regarding me with any kind of generosity or compassion. To them, I must have seemed an outside, regardless of us all being werewolves.

Even my clothes were different. While I was dressed in silks, they wore thick, scratchy burlap. Perhaps even the collar on my neck, they viewed with disdain, because despite meaning I was claimed, it also gave me a certain level of privilege.

Seeing I was getting nowhere with Angela, I backed away slowly. I turned up the aisle and attempted to keep my head raised as I walked through the cafeteria back the way I had come.

It was difficult, with so many people glaring at me.

Finally, a voice broke through, stopping me.

“Sit for a minute here, young Olivia,” said an older woman werewolf, sitting at the end of one of the tables. She wasn’t alone at the table, but after she spoke, those among her immediately moved down as if not wanting to be associated with me.

Eager for any kind of companionship, however brief, I sat down as she suggested.

“You came here with questions,” she said. “I’m old enough now to maybe have answers.”

“Thank you,” I said. I wasn’t going to question her kindness, nor was I going to attempt to strain her patience. I got straight to the point. “I do have questions. Like, why are werewolves forbidden from training?”

“The vampires fear the werewolves’ strength,” the woman replied. “And we can be fearsome, when we put our minds to it, when we are not exhausted and starving. By keeping us weak, they hope to quell any uprising before it could even begin.”

I noticed then that, despite it being lunch break, many of the werewolves did not have food in front of them. Those that did where the weaker or older of the group, like the woman beside me.

“You need to give up any hopes you have of escaping,” she said. At my surprise, she added, “I can see the spark in your eye. You haven’t been jaded like the rest of us. You are too new, you are treated too kindly. But in time, you will see. There is no hope for any of us. This is our lot for the rest of our lives.”

Hearing her talk like that broke my heart for her. How long had she been a prisoner? Since she had been my age? To be so completely devoid of all hope, she seemed like a shadow sitting next to me, or an empty shell.

“We have to hold onto hope,” I said.

She shook her head. “You will see. You will learn.”

I opened my mouth to say more, but before I could, a bell rang in the room, and all of the slaves rose to get back to their duties.

Seeing the plates left behind, I realized just how few had actually eaten.

Perhaps, then, it wasn’t so difficult to see that they had lost hope.

If only I could do something to help restore it…