Page 25 of Filthy Rich Vampires: For Eternity

“Who was it then?”

“Not who, but what.” He placed his wine glass on the table. “There is only one force more powerful than ambition, in my experience.” He looked between Thea and I. “You two are proof of it.”

It took a moment for me to register what he meant.

Love.

It was love that had saved us. The only thing stronger than death itself.

“No, I do not believe that is was love that killed Ginerva. But love has played a powerful role in tonight’s events,” my mother explained. “Every curse must have its counterbalance. No curse can be permanent.”

“And how do you know all of this?” I asked.

“Before I met your father—before I was made into a vampire—I saw things. Glimpses of possible futures.”

“But you’re a pureblood,” Thea blurted out.

“I am.” My mother said no more.

“How?” Thea pointed at Dominic. “If he turned you that means…”

“Oh, little bird, he did not turn me. I was made as was he. As we all were when the world was new.”

I didn’t dare interrupt her. Vampires guarded their pasts, especially the oldest of our kind. Even I knew very little about my parents before they met and married. If my mother was trusting us with her memories, maybe she was finally telling us the truth.

Sabine paced across the room as if telling her story was hard even now. “All creatures are descended from the old Gods: humans, vampires, witches, werewolves, even the Fae. They loved to create play things or find ways to curse those who displeased them. My father wanted me to be a priestess and put my magic to good use. I had begun to study with a local oracle who taught me about true magic, but then the Romans came, and everything changed. I prayed to my God—the one I’d promised myself to—to help me fight them. His answer was to give me this gift. The God made me a vampire.”

In one night I’d learned more about my mother than in the centuries before. My father remained silent, not offering his own story. I wondered if he would—if a God had made him, too.

A God made her? Thea’s voice whispered in my mind.

Her incredulity mirrored my own, but I remained silent. Whatever had motivated my mother to share her history, I knew the openness was unlikely to last.

“What God?” I asked quietly.

My mother hesitated, glancing at her husband who gave her a subtle nod. “Hades, of course.”

The God of Death. The ruler of the Underworld.

“I thought Hades abhorred vampires. Isn’t that why we can’t enter the underworld?” I asked.

“Every gift of magic comes with a price. We may walk the earth for eons, but our time is limited to this realm. Even Gods have some restrictions on their powers,” she told us. “The God of death barred us from the afterlife so we could live forever here.”

An eternity cuffed to the mortal coil. I wasn’t sure that was a gift, at all.

“When he made you…” Thea swallowed. “When he made you the visions stopped?”

“Not exactly.” She hesitated, the instinct to protect her magic flaring in her eyes. “But it was different. Harder to control. After the curse, it was faint. Nearly gone. Until my twins were born.” She looked at me. “Until you were born.”

“What happened?”

“I saw you both surrounded by light and shadow—and I knew it was an omen. I spent centuries trying to decipher what it meant. And then one day, after I’d given up, an old grimoire arrived on my doorstep. There were pages and pages written about the curse used to silence magic, how it functioned, but still no answer as to who used it against us.”

“And the counter-curse?” Thea mumbled. “Was it in there?”

“It was, but it was a riddle,” Sabine explained. “I had no idea what it meant until tonight, but somehow I knew it was connected to that vision. I felt it.” She held up her hands as if we might be able to see its magic scarring her palms. “It was connected to you or your sister. When you met Thea, I knew it was you, at last.”

“Why allow Camila to marry a psycho?” My jaw clenched, my fingers curling into a fist at my side.

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