Page 59 of Love Bites
"I do, but let's say I'm invested in seeing your kid live."
"You will stay away from my child." Talon delivered the words as coldly as he could. It was what Aldrich called his 'titanic-sinking voice', joking that it could conjure an iceberg.
Puck, however, did not seem impressed. "I want to see Atlus's line continue and prosper, that's all," he said innocently. "That's not going to happen if I don't tell you about your soul."
Talon would have bet anything that Puck had some hidden agenda that he didn't want to share with Talon, but he figured there might be some value in hearing him out anyway. Then he could decide what he wanted to do with that knowledge after. So he remained in his seat, raised the glass of blood to his lips and waited for Puck to continue.
"Your soul is split in two," Puck said. "Your vampire soul and your human soul. Mind you, this is not uncommon for your kind."
"Vampires don't have a human soul anymore."
Puck made a noise that very nearly sounded like a snort. "Of course you do. It doesn't just get lost when you're turned. Is that what you were told?"
That was indeed what Talon had been told. He'd been told this was the reason that none of them remembered their past lives. Because they were something else now. Reborn as vampires.
Not that he trusted his elders any more than he trusted Puck.
Still, why would they have lied?
Something occurred to Talon. The way Collin had dug into his human memories when they'd first met.
Wasn't that proof that his memories, and the soul they belonged to, were still somewhere inside him?
"If you want to know what happened to your human soul," Puck continued when Talon didn't say anything, "you only have to look at your so-called spirit animal. Your soul didn't vanish. It simply chose a more innocent form to hide in when you turned into a monster."
Well, that at least explained why every vampire shifted into a different animal. But the more Puck talked, the more a different question nagged at the back of Talon's mind. "Why do you know so much about vampires?"
Puck only smiled. "Do you want to hear what I have to say or not?"
Talon's lips drew into a thin line, but he shut up, because he did want to hear.
"I bet you want to know why you should care about any of this," Puck said. "The thing is, your sire controls you by controlling the vampire in you. If you want to escape his grasp, you have to regain your humanity."
Regain his humanity? Puck almost made it sound as if Talon should go ask for the lost and found box at the last place he'd seen it. How would he go about regaining his humanity after all the things he'd done? It was a ridiculous proposition. Talon had no illusions about who, or what, he was.
"Is that all?" he asked.
"For now, yes. Now if you would please..." Puck procured three clear vials from a bag that sat by his chair.
"All right. You'll get what you want."
Puck grinned. "You know, I hope that you do too."
Well, that made two of them. After what Puck had just told him, though, Talon had absolutely no idea how he was going to make his happy ending happen.
Or if he even deserved one.
* * *
It was nearly morning by the time he got home. He found Collin curled up on the couch, asleep. It looked like he'd been watching one of the movies Talon had brought him and dozed off in the process. He'd knocked Eddie off the couch too, but Talon forgave him. He knew what Collin had been doing—he'd tried to stay up until Talon came home, the way he did every night. It was okay that he didn't always manage.
He tired out quickly these days. Talon suspected the pregnancy had something to do with that. It couldn't be easy to grow a baby inside yourself. Especially when that baby was a dhampire.
A soft smile stole on Talon's lips as he watched Collin sleep. Quietly, he got a blanket from the bed and draped it over his mate, coming to a decision.
Even if he didn't deserve a happy ending, Collin did, and Talon would do everything he could to give it to him.
Chapter Eighteen
