Page 53 of To Crave Darkly
Levi finally looked up from the pages of his book and jumped when his gaze landed on the two of us. He really hadn’t heard us come in.
“Lori, Fenris, how are you?” He asked. It was clear he hadn’t slept in days. Black smudges sat beneath his eyes and his hair was pulled in all sorts of directions. “I wasn’t expecting to see you again so soon.”
“Levi, it’s been five days,” Fenris replied flatly.
“Five days?” Levi replied as his gaze clouded over, his mind disappearing from the room momentarily before his eyes snapped back into focus. “I guess that’s possible. I apologise. I have been trying to figure out more about Lori. You are quite the conundrum.”
“We have come for an update. What can you tell us?” Fenris pulled out a couple of chairs, and we sat down with Levi. Of course, I had to move the books first.
I wasn’t sure I was ready to hear the extent of what he had learned but I knew that I needed to know more. No matter how difficult it might be to hear the words. I needed to know who I was and where I came from.
A buzzing excitement lit up Levi’s face as he started to delve into the things he had discovered. “Well I have examined your blood and found a number of interesting things. You have no human genetic markers. You are 100% supernatural.”
His words were like a punch to the gut.
I felt Fenris wrap his hand around mine and give a reassuring squeeze. He smiled down at me and I felt comforted to know that I wasn’t alone. I could do this.
I looked back at Levi and nodded for him to continue.
“Your base genome is that of a demon but you’re in a class of your own. Not only are you a very powerful demon, your blood also contains markers for other species. I have never seen anything like this before.”
“What do you mean?” Fenris asked.
“Well, it’s probably easier to show you.” Levi turned on a computer screen pulling up a collection of four images of ordinary looking blood cells. They were neat, uniform but with varying sizes and shades going from light pink to dark red across the screen. “These are all images of blood cells from different species starting from Celestial, the lightest, to Vampires, the darkest.”
I peered closer to the screen, my body humming with anxious curiosity. “Why is there so much difference?”
Levi’s eyes lit up with excitement and his face beamed with the prospect of imparting his knowledge with an eager listener. He sidled closer to me until we were shoulder to shoulder and pointed at the first image.
“This is an example of Celestial blood, which is very rare. You don’t find many Celestials entering the Conclave. They find it much too dark for their lofty tastes.”
Fenris chuckled at Levi’s statement as he came to stand behind my chair, his curiosity clearly getting the better of him too. His hands rested on the back of my chair and his chin brushed the top of my head as he leaned closer. Nope. I was not letting my thoughts drift to how nice it was to have the strong presence of Fenris at my back. That was a complication my life was way too full for. I was already battling demons and fulfilling a prophecy. Admitting that I might be attracted to more than one man was a complication that I could come back too later.
Much,muchlater.
“Next to the Celestial is the blood of a mage. You can see the edges are tipped with a white light, which is the magic clinging to the life force. Image three is the blood of a shifter, and number four is that of a vampire. This is the darkest because a vampire’s cells basically go through a cycle of dying then regenerating when they feed.”
I was fascinated. I’d never been much of a scientist, but Levi was charismatic when he spoke and I found myself hanging on to his every word.
“Butthisis what yours looks like.” The image changed again, and my blood ran cold. The cells in the image were not just one colour but several. The majority of them were dark, so dark they almost looked black, and certainly darker than a vampire’s, but mixed in with those were shades that matched the other hues of blood cells I had just been looking at.
“This is me?” My voice was unsteady. I didn’t understand what this meant. I looked back at Fenris, but he looked as confused as I did.
“Yes. You’re aren’t just a demon. I think you’re a mage and possibly something else too,” Levi theorised.
Silence echoed around the room. Wow. That was a lot to process.
A week ago, I thought I was a human. Now… now I didn’t know what to think.
I couldn’t wrap my head around it. I mean, I knew that I might have some sort of magic, but I didn’t think I was a mage. Did Fenris know something I didn’t? I stood from my chair so quickly that I made him jump back a step. I narrowed my eyes at him, and he at least had the grace to look sheepish.
“Did you know?” I asked, my temper rising. I was getting sick of being kept in the dark, and I hated secrets. They had a way of burrowing into your soul like a disease, destroying everything in their wake. I needed Fenris to be honest with me, I didn’t want my friend to lie to me. “Please tell me.”
Fenris sighed deeply. “We weren’t sure. Jasper rang in and told us about the aurora burst when he first brought you in, but we had no clear knowledge as to where it came from. I’m sorry.” He enfolded me in his arms and pulled me into hug. It was warm and reassuring and I leaned into his embrace. He smelled like the forest, all earthy and fresh, and I let myself just be held by someone who merely wanted to comfort me. He had this way of making me feel grounded, like I wasn’t being whisked away in a storm, unable to find sure footing. “I should have told you. I wanted to, but I also didn’t want you to worry.”
That was Fenris. He was so sweet and just wanted to help. His big hands rubbed circles on my back and I felt my anger fading. I could have stayed here forever, wrapped in his big strong arms and listening to his steady heartbeat. This was nice. Safe.
I pulled back a little and looked up at him. I couldn’t stay mad at him, especially when he was looking down at me with big puppy dog eyes. “I forgive you. But no more secrets.”
