Page 80 of Craving Her Vampire

“So you are saying it was a failure,” I say.

“No, no,” he denies. “It did enhance their strength, just for a limited time.”

“What about me? You didn’t give me blood.”

“I did not. I did feel bad about taking his sister so I sent you to live with Turner. Even at a young age, I could see the fire inside you. You didn’t need anyone's blood to be strong.”

I blink. And blink again. “Let me see if I get this.” I motion with my hand. “You forced me to live with him, because you felt bad you took his sister. You believed I didn’t need another shifter’s blood to enhance my skills. Is that what I’m understanding?”

“Yes.” He claps his hands.

I look from him to Turner and back again. “You're nuts.”

“There are sociology experiments that prove my theory,” he growls.

“Of course there are,” I shout. “Anyone, shifter, vampire, human, who is put in extreme situations or grows up in a certain environment has a more likely prevalence to show those tendencies. The way you grow up shapes who you are. It depends on the individual and their desire to grow beyond that.”

“Yes, but there are loopholes,” he says, shaking his finger.

“Holy shit,” I snarl. “Why are we discussing this? I came here to see my brother.”

“Right, your brother,” he sighs. “I had high hopes for his development with Turner and the pack. He was a disappointment, so I decided to test him in a different way.”

“What did you do to him?”

“I took away the love he depended on. Your love made him weak.”

“Motherfucker, love doesn’t make you weak,” I sneer.

“Of course it does. You didn’t have love in your formative years, and here you are, walking into a strange house with no backup in the middle of nowhere. You are brave. He is not.”

“Where is he?” I push to the edge of my seat.

“I paid Turner for your brother. He was supposed to use it for your essentials,” he says, sniffing.

“Excuse me. He didn’t give me shit.”

“Shame.” He brushes his palm down his thigh. My anger means nothing to him. “Did you know there are humans who will pay for supernatural blood?” he asks lightly.

“No,” I whisper. The number one rule is to never reveal our world to humans.

“It is quite lucrative. All the power is in the blood. It won’t change humans without the bond but it will enhance their senses and give them a big rush,” he laughs.

“Humans buy blood?” I ask, disgusted.

“Of course. Their money supports all my experiments, but I need more.”

“Did you sell my brother's blood?” I ask, sick.

“Some.”

“Whose blood did you put in him?”

“He stopped asking for you years ago,” he says, and the breath leaves my lungs. “It took a while, but I finally broke his mind. I took away his home, his parents, and his sister, and he cried for months. He slowly lost every human emotion. The isolation made him see the power he could have had.” He lets out a breath. “The blood didn’t affect him as I hoped.”

“Let me see him,” I demand.

“Let me see the coin,” he counters.

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