Chapter 4 A ROOM AND A VEIN.
Ezra pov.
The game was the most embarrassing thing I had witnessed in my life. It was fast and brutal. Twenty minutes into the game our rival team called the Ice princes from hell.
What a stupid name. But that stupid name beat our record in twenty minutes.
Even the crowd had gone quiet, which was somehow worse than booing.
I sat at the bench, watching everything carefully.
I wasn't shocked.
I don't know the rest of their team members, but I knew there were vampires. So they had a lot of advantages. In fact, I don't think it was a sport.
Coach called the break. The team skated in none of the morning energy left in any of them. Coach stood in front of them with his clipboard and I could see the vein in his neck from where I was sitting.
“What,” he said slowly, “are you doing out there.”
“We're trying,” someone said.
“Trying.” Coach pointed at the board. “Does that look like trying to you? Does that scoreboard look like my team is on that ice?”
Nobody answered.
Dre pulled off his helmet. His face was tight. “Something is off, Coach. I can feel it. Something is wrong.”
“Something is wrong?” Coach stepped closer. “I'll tell you what's wrong. Your heads are not in this game. That's what's wrong.”
“Coach…”
“Get it together.” He looked at all of them. “All of you. We are not losing to these people. Not today.”
Dre looked over at me. “Water.”
I grabbed the bottle and walked over. My hands weren't steady. I fumbled with the cap and water spilled down the front of his jersey.
He looked down. Then he looked at me.
“Are you serious right now?”
“I'm sorry…”
He shoved me. I went down hard on the cold floor, my elbow scraping the floor.
I sat on the floor for a while, jaw tight, the sting spreading up my arm.
My gaze slowly lifted to the rink. Across was Riven. He was staring at me with a cold expression like he was on the verge of killing someone, and I was the only one stopping him.
I got up quickly, rubbing my elbow with the other hand.
The game resumed.
But It took less than two minutes before it happened.
Riven moved across the ice and nobody saw it coming because it happened so fast it barely looked intentional. Just a shift in direction, a collision that looked almost accidental.
Dre went flying backwards. Literally, he flew.
Everything froze. Then everyone started going towards Dre.
I stood completely still, my heart slamming against my chest.
What did that prick do?
Minutes later, the paramedics walked past me, carrying Dre in a stretcher.
I looked at him. My jaw dropped instantly. It was worse than I thought.
His socket was sticking out of his skin.
I couldn't believe it.
I looked back at the Voss side of the rink.
Lucien had something in his face that might have been concern or might have been nothing.
The other three were blank. Just blank, like they didn't just try to kill someone.
The game was suspended. The crowd started clearing. I waited until the noise thinned out, then I walked to their locker room.
I pushed the door open.
All four of them were inside. Caius was seated. Riven was leaning against the wall. Dorian was looking at his phone. Lucien stood by the far wall with his arms crossed.
“Why did you do that?”
Riven smiled widened. “You're welcome.”
“Welcome?” I scoffed, shocked. “You fucking almost killed that dude?”
“But I didn't.”
My mouth opened. Then closed it back.
There was no need arguing with these fuckers.
The only reason I haven't ran away is because one of them sent me a message, revealing what they would do to the entire team if they didn't see me in the arena.
“Get out,” Lucien said to the room.
The others in the room scrambled for the door. Within thirty seconds it was just the five of us.
“Why did you do that to him?” I asked again. “It's bad enough you had to threaten me to attend the game. You didn't have to do what you did.”
“I didn't do that for you,” Riven defended. “No one messes with my food.”
“I am not your food.”
He laughed. “You're good.”
“Leave me alone.” My voice cracked slightly. I hated it. “I just want to live. One normal life. That's all I want. There are thousands of humans out there who would line up to be in my position. Find one of them. Let me go.”
“Why aren't you playing?” Dorian asked.
I blinked. “What?”
“You grew up watching us play on the ice. You know almost everything about our moves.” He tilted his head. “Why aren't you on the ice?”
“That's not your business.”
“Disappointing,” Caius said quietly. “You watched the best players all your life and you can't hold the stick properly.”
“It is genuinely sad,” Dorian agreed.
“Are you serious right now?” I stared at them. “Your brother just put someone in a stretcher and you want to talk about hockey?”
“Hockey is everything,” Dorian laughed. “You know that.”
“What I know is that I'm not going back with you guys.”
“I want to understand,” Riven said, “why you don't want to come home.” His voice was almost reasonable. Almost. “You had food. You had shelter. You were protected. Most humans in that world would beg for what you had.”
“I was food,” I said. “I was the thing being protected. Not the person.”
“It is an honour—”
“Do not.” I held up a hand. “Do not tell me it is an honour. I was a room and a vein. That is not an honour. That is a cage.”
Silence.
Then I said, “Why are you wasting your time on me? Get someone else. Get anyone. Just leave me alone.”
Lucien pushed off the wall.
“If we wanted you dead,” he said quietly, “we would have sent people. We didn't. We came ourselves.” He paused. "Do you understand what that means? Four of us. Infiltrating a human institution. Building a cover. Spending weeks tracking you.” He looked at me steadily. “We did not do that because you are disposable.”
“Then why—”
“Have you ever wondered,” he said, “why we kept you separate from the rest of the family? From the world?”
I opened my mouth. Then I closed it.
I had wondered. I just never had an answer.
“Your blood is unique,” he continued.
Not the first time hearing that.
“There is something in your blood that makes you different.”
That was first.
“What?”
He glanced at his brothers as if asking for permission to continue. Then he looked back at me. “We don't fully understand it ourselves. Neither does our father. What we know is that your blood saved us.” A pause. “And in the years since, it is your blood that has made us what we are.”
“We became the most powerful vampires in that world because of you,” Caius added.
“So this is why we can't let you go,” Dorian chipped in. “We can't let another vampire taste your blood.”
Fucking pricks. They wanted to keep me for themselves.
Too bad, I don't care.
“Find another human like me,” I said. “Rare doesn't mean it's non-existence.”
“There is no one like you.” Riven's voice cut through the air, filled with venom.
“Look harder—”
Dorian rushed to me, grabbed me, and pushed me to the locker. His fingers wrapped around my neck, eyes filled with rage, jaw tight.
I choked, clawing on his hand, but he didn't budge.
He leaned closer, his voice lowered. “It's just been a year, and you have forgotten who we are to you.” He growled. “Must I remind you that your life is in our hands. We are your masters not your equals.”
Lucien stepped forward. “You're going to kill him.”
“Isn't that what we should have done the moment we met him,” he snarled, his grip tightening.
My vision turned blurry as tears streamed down. I always knew I was going to die at their hands, so it's best they get it over with.
“Let him go,” Lucien ordered, his voice leaving no room for defiance.
“Not until he knows who he is,” Dorian insisted. He leaned closer, holding my gaze steadily, his voice lowered into something dangerous. “Do you know why your blood is special? Do you know why we want you?” He leaned even closer, his hot breath on my face. It's because you're not human.”
I froze. Despite myself, I was shocked by the revelation.
“You call us monsters, but you are the biggest one ever,” he eyed. “Ezra, you are the biggest abomination to happen. You are half vampire and half werewolf.”
“What?”
