Page 27 of Desired for Her Blood
She slaps my chest, lightly. “Don’t be so literal, Zuben. Tell me more about the Illuminant thing, how it works. Even if there’s only a tiny chance that it’s me, or someone I’m related to, I need to understand.”
Warm feelings swell in my chest. This woman is so brave and curious. “Many years ago,” I tell her, “at least a thousand years in the past, there was a split amongst the keepers of magic.”
She shifts in my lap, sitting straighter. “Why did they split?”
“Because they disagreed about how to protect the Illuminant.”
“Protect her?”
I nod. “Before that point in time, the magic keepers kept detailed records of the descendants of Gullveig, and some teamed with vampires to test the powers of each new descendant, discovering which of the girls had the full power to let vampires walk in the light.”
“Girls? So, if I am this Illuminant, I’m not the only one?” I hear clear hope in her voice.
But sadly, I must add to her confusion, because I cannot mislead her.
“The history is incomplete but it holds that, while the blood of all Gullveig’s descendants can grant a vampire a short time in the light, only one in a generation truly possesses the full powers of the Illuminant.”
“Oh.” She closes her eyes and draws a long breath of what seems like relief. “Then it’s not me. I’m not the one. My blood didn’t work for long. Ryker got burned by sunlight down here in the dungeon. Remember?”
“That is true.” More study is required before I can be certain who she is.
“What was the magic keepers’ disagreement about?” she asks. “Why did they split?”
“As travel became more prevalent—” I am drawn back to the information I was telling her “—and as vampires and magic keepers became more known to each other, distrust grew. Some magic keepers believed that vampires would exploit the Daughters of Gullveig, especially the Illuminant.”
“Exploit them?”
“Hold them captive to have easy access to their blood.”
She tenses again. “Oh. I see.” She makes a face that displays her distaste.
“Due to this disagreement,” I continue, “the magic keepers split into two factions. The Keepers of Light believed that the Daughters of Gullveig could be used tocontrolvampires, to hold power over us, and that such power was the best way to keep not only the Daughters of Gullveig, but all keepers of magic safe.”
She nods, her eyes wide, even though I know she cannot fully see in the darkness.
“The other faction, the Keepers of Darkness, believed that the Daughters should be hidden, protected, kept a secret from vampires and the rest of the world.”
“I guess the Dark side won?” she asks.
“Neither side won. I believe some of the Daughters were taken by each side. I do not know all the history—it belongs to the magic keepers and they do not like to share—but I understand that there was a battle during which the records of ancestry were destroyed, making it difficult to track the Daughters. And then, over time, the existence of the Illuminant became no more than a myth circulated amongst vampires.”
Ember closes her eyes, then opens them abruptly. “What about what happened in the cave?” Her voice cracks. “What stopped Octavia? Why did I pass out? Why does Axe now think I’m a witch?” Her eyes fill with tears and it stabs into my heart.
I pull her in closer. “Any Daughter of Gullveig,” I tell her softly, “would naturally be a Keeper of Magic.”
“So, Iama witch.” Her voice trembles.
“Again, the preferred term is—”
“Iknow,” she says impatiently. “That’s not the point. The point is that I have no idea who I am.”
I stroke her cheek. I was right to share my knowledge with her, I know that, but I regret the pain it’s caused her.
“Hey!” Ryker shouts from the other side of the waterfall. “You guys still fucking? Because if you’re done, it’s time to plan our escape.”
Chapter Nine
Ember
