Page 35 of The Crimson Princess
“She was both vampire and gale, but the gale genetics were a mutation never seen before. We assume that she inherited that from her mother, and that was the reason her mother was able to conceive with a vampire.”
“Then a mutation exists?”
“Yes, but with your mother’s help, we checked random samples from the gale bloodlines, and nothing showed up. No mutation. It appears the mutation is extremely rare.”
“But I have it. I have to have it. That means we—tonight—”
“Relax. No, I do not think you are now pregnant with my child.”
My hand presses to my belly. “But you don’t know.”
“I know.” His voice is absolute. “No matter what, a male vampire is only fertile certain times of the year. This is not the time.”
“I thought it was monthly, some lunar thing?”
“It’s not. You’re not pregnant, but at some point a gale and a vampire mated.”
“Do we know who they were?”
“No, but during the war we were intermingling far more than any other time.”
My brow furrows. “That timeline doesn’t work.”
“Even if that’s true, that doesn’t mean a relationship didn’t start during that time and secretly continued afterward. I have a theory it was someone from your mother’s village the whole time, and that river beside the village caused a mutation. But it’s pure speculation.”
“Gales visit the river and ask it for gifts and special skills, not mutations of a genetic line.”
“As I said, it’s speculation, but maybe it’s a gift she didn’t live to understand, but you will one day,wewill.”
“This is insanity. Who knows?”
“Me and the scientist I spoke of.”
“Not your brother?”
“Never,” he assures me. “That would be disastrous. Your mother lived with the fear of being discovered and, Satima, she didn’t just come to me to talk. She wanted the vampire in her to be bound, or at least the bloodlust.”
My eyes go wide with understanding. “She wanted the binding potion they talk about in history books. It stops the bloodlust, right?”
“It does, but now that we don’t survive on blood alone, it’s rarely worth the risks it holds, and it’s only used for the rare vampire that is consumed by bloodlust.”
I’m stunned by this information. “Was my mother?”
“No, but she was terrified of your father finding out she was a vampire. She feared it put you at risk of losing your throne or even being exiled. Protecting you made it worth the risks to her.”
“What risks?”
“In some cases, when you bind the bloodlust, you bind portions of your powers. And we weren’t even sure how it would work on her since she wasn’t full vampire.”
“She did it anyway,” I assume, following where this is leading.
“Against my advising her otherwise.”
“And what happened to her powers?”
“Thankfully, she kept them all, at least that’s what she told me. And the bloodlust was gone. Back to you, Satima. We need to talk about your bloodlust.”
“I’m not taking the potion. Never. Ironically, my mother was hiding from who she was while teaching me to never do the same. If I’m part vampire, I’m part vampire.”
