Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 122946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 615(@200wpm)___ 492(@250wpm)___ 410(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 615(@200wpm)___ 492(@250wpm)___ 410(@300wpm)
“How old were you?”
“I don’t know.” His face bunched as he tried to think. “I believe I was at least nine or ten. I was born around the summer of 841, in Athens, Greece. In history, there was a great storm in Thessaloniki, around 851. We had escaped there by the time of that. I remained in Thessaloniki until I was reborn there in 872.”
Wow. I couldn’t see it, and before I got myself sucked further down that rabbit hole, I pulled myself back to this century, the present.
“So, the vampires all the books are written about—the ones that can’t come out at day— with fangs, and who have to be invited in?”
“Those are the stories of Lesser Bloods.” He nodded but saw the confusion on my face. “Vampires who were once humans with no magic in their blood, though they don’t sleep in coffins, either. They never sleep. Most of them in the wild avoid us. Those that are trained enough to remain around among us are treated as…well lesser.”
“So that is it!” I gasped, grabbing his arm. “I swear, I thought other vampires were avoiding me while I hunted, and Mrs. Ming would always mutter something like ‘annoying Nobles’ or ‘my lady’ whenever she was irritated with me. But I never understood why. I just thought it was something common when she was human.”
Though in America, there weren’t really Nobles or titles like my lady, it still made more sense at the time.
“Yes, many of them believe we are stuck up because we do not suffer the things they do.”
“Are we stuck up?”
He grinned, nodded, and teased, “Horribly so. But can you blame us? Have you seen what they suffer? A little sunshine and they look like the undead.”
It was a bad joke. I tried hard; I really did, but I grinned, too, luckily, not laughing. “Just earlier, you were looking down your nose at the humans for being bigots, and here you are looking down at other vampires.”
“Because humans are ridiculous. They judge one another based on things that have no bearing on their humanity. What does skin tone have to do with whether or not you are the same? In our case, there is a very big difference between a Noble and Lesser Blood. We are close but not similar. Lesser Bloods are a liability and often unstable.”
“Prejudice is prejudice,” I reminded him. “If I were a Lesser Blood, would you still try to mate me?”
“Yes,” he said without hesitation; his eyes shined with no doubt. “Though I am sure our society would gossip, none would dare to in my presence, but mercifully, we do not have to be a vampire Romeo and Juliet. I quite hate the play.”
“I happen to like that play.”
He rolled his eyes. “Of course, you would. Your romantic heart bleeds for such tales.”
“I should remind you that just because I’m being nice and hospitable does not mean I have agreed to mate you.”
“Yes, I have noticed.”
That felt too simple. “But?”
“But, we are destined, Druella.” He sounded more like the bleeding-heart romantic now.
“And how do you know that?”
“I told you, I came to this land—or in 1920 I thought of coming to this land—because of you.” His voice got softer. Reaching up, he brushed a piece of hair from my face.
“I was born in 1993,” I said back gripping his wrist, stopping him from touching me any further. “So, I think you’ve made a mistake somewhere.”
“No.” He shook his head, leaning in closer. “What makes us different from Lesser Bloods is magic, Druella. It is in our blood. And a great many of us do not lose our minds when we are reborn but have it focused onto one thing, one gift that defines us, what humans would call a supernatural ability. It is because of that I knew who you were when I first saw you because I thought of your face a thousand times—many thousands of times.”
“So, you’re telling me, your supernatural ability is to see the future?”
“No, mother’s gift allowed her to see the face of one’s soul mate. She saw you. She described you perfectly, from your deep brown eyes and skin to your dark black curls to the small freckle you have here.” He pointed to the black birthmarks I had under my right eye. The first was where the corner of my eye met my nose. “And here.” The second was more toward the end of my eye. “And here.” His fingertips touched the one on the top of my right ear where I had my piercing. “And here,” he whispered softer as he reached the fourth one on my neck.
Shivering, I wondered if he knew about my other less visible ones.
Get yourself together. Shaking my head, I focused back on him, trying to joke to lessen the tension I felt. “So, you crossed the sea just to find me?”