“Hannah,” Alara says.“Sometimes there are more important things at work in the world than the feelings of two individuals.Sometimes the whole has to be considered.”
“You mean the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few?You’re really quotingStar Trekto me?”
“I don’t know whatStar Trekis,” she says, “but the wisdom is old and powerful.Of course the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.It’s how it’s always been.”
“I still don’t get it.Why would convincing Rogan I’m his mate have anything to do with the good of the many?”
“You’re not ready for that information yet, Hannah.”Alara casts her gaze on a large stone against one wall of the underground chamber.She stares at it, and?—
I gasp.
The stone moves, levitates in the air.
“It’s a trick,” I say under my breath.
“It’s no trick, Hannah.”Her voice is robotic.She’s clearly concentrating on the stone.“It’s something all vampires can learn, though very few do.”
“Telekinesis.”
“To put it in rudimentary terms.”Alara moves her hand, and the stone falls gently back to the ground.“But it’s so much more than that.”
“You think I can learn?”I ask.“I’m only half vampire.”
“That,” she says, “is what makes it more than possible for you to learnallour ancient powers.You bring something else to the table that no one else does.Your father knows that, and so do I.”
“Exactly what do I have that no one else does?”
“Your humanity,” she says.“You’re capable of so much more than you could ever imagine.But first, you will learn to focus your power, harness it, and bring it to life.”
38
“You’re goingto have to give me some clue here,” I say to Alara.“It’s one thing to quell my lust for a wolf’s blood.It’s another thing altogether to become Yoda and move things with my mind.”
She wrinkles her brow.“Yoda?”
I shake my head.If she doesn’t know aboutStar Trek, she probably doesn’t know about Yoda either.“Never mind.”
“Your mind is very powerful,” she says.“The same focus you use to control your blood lust can be used for so many other wonderful things.”
I hold back a scoff.She clearly believes every word she says.And sure, I can control my blood lust—especially now that I know my baby doesn’t require his father’s blood.Every vampire can control the blood lust.It’s something we have to learn to survive.Otherwise we’d be feeding off unsuspecting people every day.
“Exactly how?”I demand, moving toward her.“I never asked for any of this.I was happy in my ignorance, thinking I was solely human.Thinking my father was just some guy who tried to deny his homosexuality by marrying my mother.Never knowing why I preferred night to day, why my skin burned instead of tanned.Why?—”
“You say that now,” Alara interrupts me.“But no one is happy in ignorance.”
I inhale deeply.“I got red-pilled big time.”
“Red-pilled?”
I shake my head, and I can’t help a chuckle.“Never mind.”Has this woman never seen a movie?“Fine.Show me how to move a rock.But I don’t see how that’s going to change the world.”
“Hannah, before you do anything more, I need you to open your mind.”
“Towhat, exactly?”
“To all you can be.To your dual nature.”
“I embraced my dual nature long ago.It’s not like I had a choice.It was forced on me when the blood lust hit.”I sigh.“Why couldn’t I be like my sister?She doesn’t carry the blood gene.She’ll never become enslaved the way I am.”