Page 26 of Vampire Sins
I snatched my fingers away and stared at him, wide-eyed. “Is this why you turned me into a vampire?”
His features softened and he lowered his voice, “Of course not,” he hissed before glancing over my shoulder to check on Luke who was still fast asleep with silken sheets draped over his lower half. He was really out of it.
“Why are you so worried if Luke wakes up?”
Xavier’s gaze flicked back to me, danger flashing in his expression. “Because his power is a delicate one. He’s not ready to learn the details of your destiny. It’s why his mother hid so much from him. He will take time to process this. He’s finally accepted you. Don’t destroy that without giving him enough time to digest another shock.”
I pressed my lips into a thin line, but Xavier had a point. Luke had looked at me as if I had grown two heads when he figured out I was a succubus. It’d taken a long time for us to strengthen our bond, and no matter how ancient or magical it was, Luke wasn’t going to do anything he didn’t want to do. If he learned that I was Hell’s savior, I wasn’t sure what he might do. I needed to prepare him for it.
Except, I still wasn’t sure whatIwas going to do about it.
“So, what now?” I asked, feeling defeated. Xavier believed that Silvia was the answer to all our problems, and by now, I hoped he was right. I wasn’t much interested in attempting to free Luke’s mother with the power of hellfire.
“We get some rest,” he said, running his hands up my arms. “After that, we’ll help Silvia, and then she’ll give us access to the coven that has allied with her. They’ll help us free Luke’s mother and we can go from there. She’s from a long line of witches called Keymasters and if anyone knows what it means to prevent the destruction of worlds, it’ll be her.
I let my forehead thump against Xavier’s chest and he wrapped his arms around me. “Fine,” I relented. “I’ll listen to what Silvia has to say.”
Once morning came,my hair naturally dried and smoothed to its perfect metallic sheen. I’d seen Sarah go to bed with wet hair once and I realized it was a superpower on its own what my body managed to do with unkempt strands. A woman simply did not wake up with perfect hair, but I always did. There were some perks to being a succubus, and I was glad to see I’d retained the majority of my powers after my turn and rebirth as a vampire. In fact, if anything, my powers felt stronger, more in control. My nature as a succubus would never again threaten my life, or the lives of others, and would serve me as long as I asked them to.
Silvia watched me from the end of the dining hall, sipping her coffee with a look in her eye that said she not only knew of my mystical powers, but her mischievous smirk after she’d surveyed my guys said she also knew what I’d done with them.
Luke devoured entire plates of hash browns, eggs, and strips of bacon. Meanwhile, Xavier gulped down three glasses of blood. I nursed my own glass of blood, finding myself missing regular food, but still enjoying watching Luke eat.
“So, you’ve made your decision?” Silvia asked after we’d gotten through the worst of our hunger. Her smug expression said she knew I’d already been convinced, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to try and strike a favorable bargain and get some information out of her while I was at it.
“First, tell me why, exactly, Derek locked our daughter down there.” He’d been desperate for a child with Silvia, and once Lilith had been born, he’d put himself on a mission to bring more demons into this world. He wanted an army.
Silvia sighed and set her empty mug down. A handsome incubus servant immediately took it away. “Derek wasn’t expecting our offspring to be so…” Her words drifted and her brows bunched together as she searched for the word. It was hard to pay attention to her as broad, beautiful wings swayed at her back. Had she used a normal chair, she would have been crowded, but she had opted for a stool and sat perfectly proper and straight.
“Human?” Xavier offered.
She blinked at him, then slowly nodded. “Yes, I suppose that is the word. Lilith is so wrapped up in emotion and empathy. I think it surprised him.” She glanced at her wings. “I think he also was not pleased in the changes the birth brought out in me, either.”
“But you weren’t surprised by Lilith’s nature,” Luke said, dabbing away crumbs from his chin.
Silvia nodded again. “Given what I am, I expected a child of mine to have empathy, as well as compassion and all the things that come with our kind. Angels and humans share these traits, you see. There are differences, but how we feel is not one of them.”
Luke listened to her more intently than I’d ever seen him listen to anyone. He was so desperate for more information about what he was, perhaps validation for why he felt the things he felt. “So, why lock her up?” he asked. “Has she become dangerous?”
Silvia shook her head. “No, quite the opposite, I’m afraid. Her emotions are eating her up from the inside and making her sick. Derek thought it an illness, so he put her into quarantine.” She leaned onto the table and inched her stool back. Both Luke and Xavier stood along with her. Silvia clasped her hands at her chest as she pleaded. “It’s not an illness to feel, but it will kill her if I don’t teach her how to manage it. Please, help me release her.”
I glanced at three women who’d entered, witches, I expected. Each of them bore a necklace with iconic rubies hanging on silver chains. Silvia walked to them and waved her hand. “May I introduce the elders of the Blood Coven.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You mean, they worship the Blood Stone?”
The tallest of the three stepped forward. She had her metallic blonde hair pinned back, making her look much younger than I expected he was. She lifted her chin in defiance. “I would rather say that the Blood Stone serves us.”
Silvia laughed, breaking the tension, and the other two girls standing behind the eldest lowered their hunched shoulders. “Freya. You are always so rebellious. Let’s not make a bad impression with—” Silvia stopped whatever she was about to say at Xavier’s threatening glare, clearing her throat before she amended, “with my new ally, Sonya.”
I extended my hand, ignoring Luke’s attempts to get my attention and ask me what that was all about. Silvia had nearly revealed that I was the Queen of the Damned. “Hello,” I said, “it’s nice to meet you, Freya.”
My mother had always taught me that it was best to be polite to new supernaturals, no matter how much they terrified you, annoyed you, or made you want to punch them in the face. Freya was scoring in the latter two categories.
The witch considered my hand and narrowed her eyes, but finally took my fingers in an awkward shake as if she wasn’t accustomed to the gesture. “I wish I could say the same,” she offered.
Ignoring the comment, I smiled and leaned around her shoulder. “And your companions?”
She waved to the girl with impossibly red hair, either dyed or the result of a magical experiment gone wrong. “This is Olivia.” She waved to the other girl, one with brilliant green eyes and a mischievous look about her, framed by her midnight hair. “And this is Iris.”
