Now I had to ask myself how far I was willing to take this. How much I was willing to sacrifice to make sure the one responsible for what happened to Caroline wasn’t in a position of power.
Everything. I was willing to sacrifice everything.
“You swear not to give any orders or place any responsibilities on this person. In fact, you promise not to have any contact with them.”
He gave me a narrow-eyed glance. “No, I won’t promise that. Connor will give me a chance to repair our relationship, and in exchange I will promise not to make any demands until then. That’s the best I can offer.”
Not what I’d wanted, but better than I’d hoped.
I turned to the three counselors. “I assume you have a way to prove the bond.”
Sophia gestured to a table that I hadn’t noticed before. It held a bowl with a sharp knife laid across it.
“This is ridiculous,” Stephen sputtered, seeing his victory going down the drain. “If he had a child, he would have produced him sooner. This is just so he can buy time in a desperate attempt to turn things in his favor.”
I ignored him and stepped closer, Thomas shadowing me.
“What needs to be done?” I asked.
Thomas picked up a knife, drawing it across his skin and allowing a few drops of blood to fall into the bowl. His wound healed before he could get more than a couple drops out. He made another cut forcing the blood to drip into the bowl. Enough so there was a thin sheet of red on the bottom. I was impressed in spite of myself. He healed almost instantaneously. Almost faster than he could bleed. Much different than mine.
“The child’s blood will combine with mine. If this person was made from me, we’ll know it.”
I sighed. Of course it would involve blood. I should have expected it. We were vampires after all.
“You’ll call this person,” Thomas said. It wasn’t a question. He fully expected my compliance.
I took the knife from him and slicing a cut, allowed my blood to dribble into the bowl. “No need.”
Chapter Nineteen
Thomas’s jaw dropped and he stared at me in shock. Jabari and Liam didn’t look surprised, though the shock on the other’s faces were worth it. I’d remember this later and have a good laugh.
For now, I stared at the blood in the bowl waiting for something to happen.
For a long minute, so long that I was a little worried that I’d been mistaken, that maybe Thomas wasn’t the vampire I remembered from the night of my transition, nothing happened.
My left eye with its weird ability saw it first. It was subtle, just a wisp of smoke curling out of the bowl. Then it was like it caught fire, rose gold and a cerulean blue twining together as it consumed the blood and spread from the bowl to the table. I stepped back as the two colors flickered merrily together, each mirroring the others movements in flickering shades.
He was right. There was no explanation needed. That reaction said it all.
“That work?” I asked Jabari.
He nodded. “Indeed.”
“This is impossible,” Steven said, staring at where the blood still burned with our powers.
“How is it impossible?” I asked. “Isn’t turning humans into vampires what you guys do?”
“He shouldn’t have been able to turn you. There must be a trick somewhere.”
“Every vampire has to get it right sometime.”
“No, you’re lying. You did something or the results are false.”
“Are you questioning our honor?” Sophia’s voice dropped to a dangerous tone.
A smart man would have changed lanes. Backpedaled and assured her he wasn’t.
