My fault…
I felt so weak still, and unsure of what was going on. I didn’t like it. I had found a new side of me, a confident side, and this mousy naïve person who had just reared her ugly head was unwelcome.
Aiko turned to me. “I am not angry at you,siqinira. I just want to be the one to explain it to you.” He sat at the foot of the bed and waited.
Odom stared at Aiko, mouth open in shock. Aiko cocked his head and stared back.
A moment went by, and Odom suddenly stood. “Oh, right. Sorry.” He scurried out of the room and shut the door behind him.
Aiko forced a smile on his face. “How do you feel, Kimber?”
“Like I had my neck chewed away and nearly died.”
He tried not to give into the real smile, but it won in the end. “So you’re not upset?”
“I’m confused, Aiko. That’s all.” I scooted down the bed and put a hand on his knee. “Thank you for letting me have your blood. I don’t really understand what’s going on, but—”
“You are half vampire. The hideout’s doctor said so. He checked your blood, and you have all the markers of a vampire. He pulled out an old book and found that you have all the druid markers too.”
“I shouldn’t be here,” I said, twisting my lip. “I shouldn’t exist.”
“Technically, no, you shouldn’t.”
“But I do.”
“Assuredly, you do.”
I pulled at the covers. “Why did I suddenly sprout fangs?”
“As best we can figure, when Savion tasted you after forcing his blood down your throat, it… activated the vampire half of your biology.”
“So I need blood from now on.”
“Kimber, you’re a giant mystery. We have no idea. I’m going to assume yes, you will need blood from now on. But I don’t know how much, how often or from whom.”
“From…” I frowned. “Wait, there’s a limit on where it comes from?”
“Sometimes.” He folded and unfolded his hands a few times. “There are stories that in another place and another time, it was possible for us to make vampires out of those who weren’t. Those vampires always needed blood from their mate, their maker to keep them strong.”
“Dear Sweet Mother of the Savior of S’Kir, do not tell me that I need Savion’s blood for the rest of my life.” I felt my stomach lurch.
“No, no. You were still dying even after you had his blood.”
“So yours?”
He lowered his eyes.
“But I wasn’t made.”
“But you were awakened, so we don’t know the rules.” He glanced up. “No one does. You’re unique.”
I laughed. “I grew up as the daughter of the Keepers of the Rest, with no high aspirations, no crazy adventures, and no lofty goals. Now…”
There was a small silence, and I couldn’t keep my hand from my miraculously scar-free neck.
“How are you feeling?”
“Alive.”
