Page 71 of The Monster and the Last Blood Match

Despite the stirring of emotions about Beckham, she would not consider this life a fairy tale. Maybe it was every girl’s dream to live in a penthouse, have an unlimited credit card and a closet full of designer clothes, but it was a cover-up. Beckham was not a shining prince on a white horse riding in to save her. The world they lived in was not a peaceful kingdom where all worries disappeared.

“If this were a fairy tale, there would be no need for a rebellion, would there?”

“Perhaps, but you are not part of any rebellion.”

“No,” she agreed.

She was a silent voice among countless other silent voices against the establishment. People with no energy to fight, no means to accomplish anything, and worst of all, no hope.

“So, tell me about this covert group, Elle, and how it relates to the rebellion. You said we would talk when we were up here,” she reminded him.

Beckham grumbled under his breath and turned back to look out at the city. “What do you want to know?”

“I don’t know, but if people think my images are part of Elle, I want to know what they think they stand for.”

“I’d rather you not know much,” he said into the breeze. “It’s safer that way.”

“Safer for who? You or me?”

“Both,” he said thoughtfully. “Everyone.”

Reyna blew out a frustrated breath. They were going nowhere fast with this line of conversation. It wasn’t as if she were part of the rebellion. She wanted to know what the hell was going on out there.

“Well, whatcanI know?”

Beckham sighed. He was stalling, hoping she would change her mind, but she wasn’t about to do anything of the sort. She stared at him and waited.

After a moment, he seemed resigned to the task. “Don’t repeat anything I’m about to tell you. You already made quite a spectacle at the ball.” He waited until she nodded before continuing. “There are two factions among vampires. One is of the belief that humans are food.”

Their eyes met briefly, and she blushed. She didn’t know why she would find that embarrassing. She should find it horrifying. Maybe she would find it more horrifying if he had bitten her.

“We control the food.” He gestured to her. “And we shouldn’t have to limit ourselves. After all, we are supreme. We should be able to have whatever…whoeverwe want.” His eyes drank her in. “In fact, many believe it is a limitation to only drink from a blood type match.”

Reyna gasped. “But then wouldn’t you be savage? You would kill people. No one would be safe.”

His eyes darkened, and a scowl appeared on his face. “Yes. People would die. It would be the way it was before, but now with so much more power in the hands of the vampires. But this faction feels entitled to it. Vampires are the greater species, higher on the food chain, predators.” His voice took on a dark, menacing tone. “You are no more than a fly caught in our web with no chance of escape.”

She couldn’t help but shudder at the bloodlust in his voice. She laughed as if what he was saying didn’t affect her, but it came out strained and desperate. She hated to imagine a world like he described, where humans were crushed like ants under his boot.

“And the other faction?” she asked.

“Abide by the cure.” His fingers tightened on the railing. “Most vampires did not ask to be made into this monster. We were created. Forced to drink the blood of our maker, drained dry of our blood, and then left for dead to reawaken likethis. The virus or curse, whatever you want to call it, inhabits our body and mind, crawls under our skin, and begs to be released against our will. It makes uswantto be the first group.”

“But the blood type cure changed that, right?”

“Yes,” he said.

Which made her wonder all the more why he refused to drink from her. He didn’t seem like the animal he described. Shouldn’t he want to drink from her?

“To an extent, the cure curbs that tendency. It makes us almost human, makes us feel human. Alive, when we’ve been dead inside for so many years. Some enjoy that feeling and want to live beside humans without any more death, and some think it’s an abomination to want to be like a weaker species.”

A weaker species. Wow. Did he really think that?

“And you? Which faction do you fall into?”

His eyes found hers once more, and she was immediately lost in the dark depths. They were deceptively blank yet entirely enticing. He took a step closer to her. She felt frozen in place.

“I’ve lived a shorter life than most of my kind. I can still remember the feel of being human,” he said, running his hand down her arm for emphasis. Goosebumps broke out on her skin. “But I can also vividly remember the feel of taking a human life.” His hand gripped her arm. “I’ve killed viciously, savagely, and enjoyed it. I’ve sought people out, tortured them, drove them mad just to kill them slowly through their insanity. I’ve done horrible things and enjoyed it, Reyna.”

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