He sits back and resumes eating as a weighty sigh breathes free—ironic, I know, because he doesn’t actually…you know…breathe. “Rarely, and not for centuries.”
“Why not?”
Dex picks up his bourbon and swirls the amber liquid before sipping. “Because the first human I tried to turn, I killed. I was deeply in love and was talked into it despite my misgivings and knowing the risks. Completely shattered my heart.”
Yikes. Now I feel like a total shit. “I’m so sorry. What was her name?”
The left corner of his mouth turns up in a smirk. “Robert.”
“That’s…not a woman’s name.”
“No, it’s not.” He arches an eyebrow at me. “I guess in modern parlance I’m called ‘pansexual.’ I am attracted to a person, not a gender. Even before I was wed, I was attracted to men and women. I’ve had lovers across the gender spectrum throughout my life. As old as I am, sticking to one gender would get rather dull. Is that an issue for you?”
Fuck. No, he just got about a thousand times hotter, in my head.
Shallow, I know. Fricking sue me. “No. I’m really sorry. You tried to turn him because you loved him?”
His low, velvety voice bears hints of unbearable personal pain. “That, and he was dying. Tuberculosis is my best guess, based on what I know now. I don’t know if he died because he was already weakened from the disease or due to what I did. Perhaps a combination. He was still early in the disease. He likely would have lived several more years had I not attempted to turn him. Every time I let him feed from me, it strengthened him, but never completely eradicated the disease from his system.
“Back then, I was younger, not as strong, and my blood couldn’t cure him. He endured it for several years. Letting him feed from me kept him alive and strong, albeit every time the disease reasserted itself within him, it came back stronger, like it was growing immune to my blood.”
He takes another drink. “Turning a human is very risky under the best of circumstances. You have to take them to the point of death so that the virus that makes us what we are can infect their system and kill them. Then, if they survive that process, you have to work with them. Feed them. Wean them off your blood so they can survive on their own. Most who survived the initial turning die somewhere within that process. Frequently, because they go mad and do something that gets them killed. Only the most powerful vampires can successfully accomplish turnings. Like Lucius. And only the most powerful turned vampires can survive it.”
Yikes. “I’m so sorry.” This man’s still waters truly run deep. “And you? Are you powerful now?”
He shrugs. “I suppose. Then again, I thought I was back then. But I was less than five hundred years old, at the time. At that time, I did not even know what I did not know. My ignorance and arrogance were completely inverted to their proportions now.”
“Did you ever turn anyone else?”
“I did, but I wasn’t in love with them. It was one of my great-great-great grandsons. Toss a few more greats in there. Last of the family line.”
“You kept track of your family?”
“Yes, in a fashion. Once my children and their children passed, I traveled a lot, but I paid people to watch over them. I always returned to that area. It was part of my heart and my soul, you see. Part ofme. Where I owned property, even still to this day. And where I laid Robert to rest when I lost him.”
“You weren’t afraid of your grandson dying during the turning?”
“I was, but he was a bit of a wanker.” He smirks. “It would not have shattered my heart had he not survived, as cold as that might sound. It was two hundred years or so after I lost Robert when I attempted to turn him. I’d learned far more by then. I guess I wanted to see if it was possible. I thought if my sire could be such a bastard and do it in such a haphazard way, why couldn’t I do it if I were careful and deliberate?”
Surprisingly enough, it doesn’t sound cold to me, it sounds…practical.
“What happened to him? Is he still…around?” Because I guess, technically, he’s not “alive.”
“He was eventually killed during the night attack at Nairn in 1746. I wasn’t there, but a friend of his, another vampire, later brought word to me. Felled by a spear and a lucky strike.”
“So, your family knew you were a vampire?”
“Only him. I was very, very careful who I brought into my inner circle. Unlike some, I didn’t go on murderous rampages. I settled in one place for years and treated those around me quite well, so that they had every reason to protect me, feel loyal to me, and not fear me. I was careful to treat them kindly and generously. Also, I might have…persuaded them with my powers to assure their silence. How do you think I’ve stayed alive so long?”
“Alive?” Yes, I’m snarky.
He shrugs. “Ish. I haven’t made many enemies. The few I have, I’ve taken care of. I don’t leave loose ends.”
“Am I a loose end, now that I know about you and you can’t compel me?”
He smiles. “Only a very beautiful one. You’re an enigma. You make me…curious. I’m not bored anymore.”
“Does that mean you’re going to kill me off once I bore you?” I’m just yanking his chain, but I am curious about his answer. If I seriously thought I was in danger, I’d talk to Lucius and Garrett and let them deal with Dexter.
