Page 59 of The Crimson Princess
I accept Demetrius’s hand, his blue eyes not nearly as piercing as Toren’s, nor do I feel as if I’m burning alive when he looks at me, the way I do with the vampire king. “Thanks for taking care of me,” I say. “Sincerely, I’m in your debt. And I know this was a lot for you. I’m aware a gale may not be your favorite choice of patient.”
“We have no problem with the gales. I most certainly do not.”
“Just our king?” I dare, but my voice is light, teasing.
He holds up his hands, a lift to his lips that says he knows we’re jesting. Mostly. It’s hard to deny there is some truth beneath ourlighthearted banter. “I think I better leave that to you and Toren to discuss,” he says, bowing out of the conversation.
My gaze lifts to Toren’s where he’s now standing on the opposite side of the table, a mix of approval and amusement in the depths of his eyes. “Definitely better left to private conversations between you and me, princess.”
“Why don’t you sit, Princess Satima,” Demetrius suggests, “and let me look at your neck.”
Jolted by the formal address, I tear my gaze from Toren’s to look at Demetrius. “Satima, please. I don’t want to think about the divide in our worlds the next few days and Toren is your king. I am just a friend or I hope you will see me that way.”
He inclines his chin. “I’d like that very much.”
I give him a small smile and claim the seat, pull my hair away from my neck, as he inspects the area that was once ripped open. “You seem more warrior than doctor.”
“It’s good to be both on the battlefield,” he murmurs, his fingers run over my delicate skin and there’s a shooting pain that has me jerking slightly.
He pulls his hand back swiftly. “Sorry there. That sensitivity is normal. Even after the skin heals the nerves have to reform.” He grabs the chair behind him and sits. “You need to go back to bed, and rest for another eight to twelve hours. And you needToren’s blood.” He glances over at Toren. “At least two more times.” Toren gives a nod.
“If I were full vampire I’d heal faster?”
“A full vampire is my everyday patient. I know what they can handle and how fast. Without knowing the truth of your origins, I had to go slowly, and Toren offered you a little blood, over a lot of time.”
If he knew the truth of my origins, I repeat in my mind, still trying to wrap my head around the idea of being anything but gale. “Toren told me my mother had a gale mutation of some type.”
“Yes. We really have no idea what that was all about. And I was frankly surprised that both of you didn’t have immunity to the bloodlust.”
Toren claims the seat across from me. “About five hundred years ago,” he explains, “Demetrius came up with the potion your mother took but we quickly found out that it stripped the magic from one in three vampires that took it.”
“That was a brutal discovery,” Demetrius adds. “It ruined a few vampires’ lives.Iruined their lives.”
“You saved many more,” Toren reminds him, tamping down on the obvious self-hatred Demetrius harbors. “And those who were impacted were volunteers who knew the risks.” His attention shifts to me and he explains, “Demetrius pivoted quickly. He found a way to dilute the magic and funnel it into the air in Bloodstone. Over time the bloodlust subsided, and the need to replace it with food followed, though blood is still a necessary requirement for a healthy vampire.”
“It was a much longer path forward to immunity,” Demetrius chimes in. “It took each vampire an average of three years for the bloodlust to fade.”
“Not a long time for a vampire,” I point out.
“It felt like it was eternal back then,” he assures me, “but the good news is that now our offspring inherit immunity. They never experience bloodlust.”
“Then how could my mother have bloodlust?” I ask. “How could I?”
“Your mother lacked immunity,” Toren explains, “thereforeyoulacked immunity, though that’s no longer an issue for you. You’ve had enough of my blood now to create lasting suppression.”
“Your labs indicate immunity,” Demetrius confirms.
I was only gale in my mind for most of my life. Now I’ve gone from bloodlust to no bloodlust in a matter of days. It doesn’t quite feel real and yet in some ways this place, these vampires, are the most real part of my life. My eyes meet Toren’s and I rememberwhat he’d said to me about his blood being different. In my mind, I reach for him and whisper,Thank you.
“One of the strangest things about your mother,” Demetrius says, drawing my gaze back to his, “was how long it took for her to experience bloodlust. Something kept it dormant for centuries so my hypothesis is that she had partial immunity and it faded. Something that wouldn’t have happened had she lived in Bloodstone with the magic in the air at all times.”
“Would the partial immunity be because she was half gale?”
“I think it might have been about that mutation,” Demetrius explains.
“Do I have that mutation?”
“You do,” he confirms, “but again, you had a near full transfusion with Toren’s blood, at this point. It’s changed your entire body chemistry.”
