Page 87 of Vampire's Breath

Isla walked to the drinks cart as Rory urged me forward with her hand between my shoulders. I picked up my drink from the table and took a sip. The burn as it went down my throat was not nearly enough to chase away the chill that gripped my spine.

We sat across from each other on the couches. Isla handed Rory a glass of clear liquid filled with bubbles and kept a glass of wine for herself.

“Thanks.” Rory took a sip before setting the glass on the table. “The answer to your question about protection is that I can stop either Runa or Aiden for a short time using my powers. My coven holds power over blood. Cormac’s three aunts formed it when the brothers’ father became a vampire.”

The thought of three sisters watching their own blood become monsters sent a shiver through me.

Rory hesitated, as though she wanted to make sure I was alright before she tilted her head toward the woman sitting next to her. “Isla was sent to make sure I don’t overdo it and harm the baby. We still don’t know how much of my powers the baby is consuming.” She spoke matter-of-factly, as though she were conversing about an everyday occurrence. I guess for her, it was.

I tilted my head. “And Cormac is the baby’s father, so it is…”

Rory smiled. “Part vampire, part witch, part human. It’ll be a handful.” She drew in a long breath, her voice dropping low as though she were an older sister providing advice. “But, Briar, I haven’t changed. I’m the same friend I was in London. Is the baby really what you want to know about?”

I dropped my eyes to the table, my feelings swirling inside me. What did it mean to me to learn the truth about Lorcan—about who he was? My heart lurched, afraid to admit the knowledge only intrigued me; it didn’t remove any of my love for him. I chewed the inside of my cheek.

My voice was so quiet I almost couldn’t hear it, my body straining to form the words. “What do you mean when you say you’re mates?”

Isla and Rory exchanged glances before Isla answered. “I remember just a few months ago, Rory sitting right about where you are, asking me the same question. We’re committed to our vampire mate for as long as we want. Our mates feed from us, but we also receive their blood. It acts like the fountain of youth, healing our bodies to the state they are in right now, so we can stay with them, but still be human.”

My brow scrunched. “How old are you?”

Isla laughed. “Not nearly as old as you’d think. Declan and I haven’t been mates for long—just over a year.”

I was sipping coffee in Byron Bay a year ago, thinking vampires were bad romance novel clichés. I stared at the remains of my drink, my voice dropping low. “And how old are they? The O’Cillian brothers?”

Rory chewed on her lip before she answered. “Over 900 years old.”

I couldn’t wrap my mind around Lorcan’s life stretching back before my country was even colonized.

Isla’s voice broke into my thoughts. “Declan’s much younger. He’s the only full vampire. The family turned him during the American Civil War.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What do you mean—the only full vampire?”

Rory smiled. “Their mother, Aine, was human. The O’Cillians are half human, half vampire. In the supernatural community, they’re known as dhampirs.”

Dhampir. The word sounded ancient, heavy with meaning, but all I could picture was Lorcan, standing in my garden with his hands in his pockets, looking so human.

“How did it all happen?”

“It started with Runa,” Rory began.

“That was who Aiden said the woman on the beach was.”

Rory bit her lip. “You saw her?”

I nodded before she continued. “She’s known around here as the Dearg Dur. She’s one of the original vampires who crawled from the grave. She was bent on revenge against her husband, who abused her in life. After her death, she came back—and she took her revenge. She drained him dry.”

I swallowed. “And how does that explain the rest of them?”

Rory pulled in a breath. “Her husband was the brothers’ uncle. Their father, Kieran, knew about the abuse, but he did nothing to stop it. So she went after him. But instead of killing him outright, she condemned him to make a choice: stay alive by turning intoa vampire or die. Kieran had just married Aine shortly before Runa drove a dagger into his heart.”

The choice felt medieval, brutal in a way that left my stomach churning.

Isla chimed in as Rory took a drink. “If you couldn’t guess, he turned, not wanting to leave his wife.”

“Their mother is the oldest vampire mate known to exist,” Rory added.

The weeks I spent with Rory both in Byron Bay and London flitted through my mind—memories of working in the gardens side by side and exploring a new city. I couldn’t help but smile at the women sitting across from me. “And you’re both just… okay with all of this?”

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