A baby made of cold, coded carbon.
A new breed of vampire.
A vessel filled with nothing but Black blood.
Black blood that will one day, if the Darkness gets its way, leave the vessel behind and be a second.
And it’s kind of ironic. Because we all want the same thing. Babies.
The problem is, each vision of what a baby is—human, vampire, witch, Darkness—is distinct.
A human baby is not a witch baby. A witch baby is not a vampire baby. And a vampire baby will never be the Darkness.
We cannot allow it.
We cannot allow the Darkness to extinguish our species. And that’s what it’s doing. Because in order for the Darkness to have the Dark baby—an exact replica of itself, existing on its own, outside the vessel that contains it—it mustkillthe vampire.
All these scions we’ve made… for what?
To die. We make them to die. It’s murderingusto saveitself.
That is why there are so few. It’s not that we have a completely illogical life cycle—we are not the doomed panda.We are so few because this thing—this alien thing that doesn’t belong here—kills us in its attempt to save itself.
I take a breath. Hold it. Let it out.
I took part in this genocide. I was favored and I took part. Just like everyone else in the Obscurati.
Paul was the one who stood up to it.
Paul was the one who made monsters instead of vampires.
Paul was the only one who ever tried tosave us.
The only reason we’re still here is because the protocol for making the third-born was detailed, and difficult, and required thousands of years of trial and error.
But that’s over now.
We’ve done it. With Ryet, we have made a new vampire.
The American Vampire.
Will the Darkness inside Ryet be able to leave the vessel and be itself, alone, without the container?
It must.
It must.
Because we need that Dark baby if we want to win. We need a copy—a perfect copy of the Darkness—before Syrsee, the Blood Mother, gives birth.
It’s the only way to fight it.
Ryet is the first sacrifice.
Paul will not be able to save him.
Just like Ryet will not be able to save Syrsee.
There is only one way this ends.
