Page 30 of To Vanquish Darkness

"A bite does not equal feeding."

Amalie’s throat was thick. No wonder it had felt like seconds. "I don't understand." If he hadn’t fed, then that solidified her assumptions. He’d injected his venom. Why else would he bite?

Her breath came quickly then as a tiny spark of hope flickered to life within her. Was he saying she wasn’t turning into a monster? That there was some other explanation for why she still stood there, herself, after his bite?

Theo took another drink from his glass, and Amalie’s mind reeled. He could drink something other than blood? He swirled the last inch of gold in his glass. "I told you a story of a bloodline.”

“Of your slaves, yes, I remember.” Amalie twisted her hair around her finger.

Theo’s eyes hardened. He walked forward, stopping close enough that Amalie expected to smell the sour odor of his drink on his breath, but there was nothing. “I hoped you’d think beyond your judgment, but since you seem incapable and my body needs rest, I’ll state it simply. You would survive any vampire bite because your blood was made to be taken. You are born of the guardian bloodline I spoke of."

Amalie blinked, his words so far beyond the realm of possibility, she couldn’t make sense of them. Made to be taken? What had he said of the bloodline? That they’d been a giftfrom the gods. That the gods had dealt mercy to humans and vampires alike.

But she, a member of that bloodline? "No!" The word sprung like vomit to her throat. Amalie stumbled back, moving as far from Theo as she could.No. This had to be another one of his games.

Theo had bitten her. She’d survived because he’d turned her into a vampire like him. It had nothing to do with a gift of the gods or magic in her blood.

Humans would never have accepted that agreement. To live as offerings to vampires, to allow them to freely drink of their blood. Vampires were powerful—deadly. What would stop them from harming them? Slaughtering them if they desired? Theo’s words resonated through her.Companionship. Pleasure."I don't believe you.”

Theo shrugged, but his eyes were still sharp. "You don't have to believe me, but like you said. You standing there still human is all the proof you need."

“That isn’t proof of your story. It’s a fact. Somehow I lived, but I have no evidence that your explanation is the right one.” She took a step toward the door, but Theo shifted like smoke to block it. “You say you didn’t drink. If my blood was so desirable, such a gift, how could you stop yourself?”

“Perhaps I don’t always take without permission.”

That time Amalie did laugh out loud. “You kill humans! You feed and take their lives!” She turned her back on him, running her hands through her hair. There had to be some other explanation, but as Amalie searched her memories for something to prove Theo a liar, pieces of her life story began to create more questions than answers. The strict rules of their childhood. The medical condition she'd been born with and the management it took.

She whirled back to face him. "I have a blood condition. I receive treatments every few months to make sure I don't bleed out from a simple scratch." Amalie's hand flew to her neck. Without her treatments, there was a good chance Theo's bite could've killed her. Or maybe that’s how she survived? Because her blood didn’t clot as quickly?

“Is that why you chose me? Because you knew my blood was slow? Is it thickening inside me now, and you’re just waiting for me to drop dead?” Every cell in her body held its breath. She didn’t want to accept any of this, but at the same time, she’d always felt that there was something off. Last night proved that her instincts were good. Uncle Orenhadbeen keeping things from her. He’d been planning to tell her everything.

She’d left. She’d ignored his rules and run off trying to save the world. Had it cost her the truth about her family? Her mother’s death? The blood that ran through her veins?

Theo’s eyes were dark and glassy. “What proof do you want? Would you like me to take you into the square and prick your finger? Leave you to be hunted and possessed? You live in a world where death is the worst horror, but I promise, there are worse fates.”

Amalie thrust a finger against his chest. “I live in a world where the worst horror isyou.”

Truth resonated through her at that declaration. She wouldn’t be able to find her answers there because Theo would never give them. He would use her. Manipulate her. She could never be sure whether her beliefs were her own or a manifestation of his power to twist her mind at his bidding.

She jutted out her chin. “If this story is true, then I could leave. Go back. I won’t be a danger to my family.”

“You can’t go back.”

Amalie’s blood began to simmer. “Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do.” Despite how many times he’d proven that he couldforce her to comply, she wouldn’t give in. Let him force her. Let him take away her will. She would never give it freely.

Theo shoved his hands into his pockets. “You’ll put your family and friends in danger.”

“How? You’re the only one who knows about me, so are you admitting you’ll come for us? Are you threatening me?”

Theo shook his head. “If you think I’m the only one who saw you and your friends in the courtyard that night, you’re more naïve than I thought.”

“You didn’t see us in the courtyard. We saw you. We hunted you?—”

“I knew you were there.”

Amalie laughed out loud. “You knew? And yet still allowed me to stab a stake through your heart?”

Theo stood to his full height. “I welcomed it.”

---