Page 161 of Black Bird

Sarah swallowed, dismissing it, and willing calm into her face. “I felt pain, and then … vaguely remember a feeling of euphoria, and then … nothing. Black. Empty … peaceful. When I woke up in the hospital it was excruciating, but I was mostly just weak and faint.”

“You wanna know why?” Foster smiled. Sarah shrugged in reply. “Because you were drained to the point of death. You died because there wasn’t anything left to fuel your heartbeat. You didn’t die from the venom of the bite itself. Vampire venom is lethal. Your blood is …familiarwith it. Resistant. Practically immune.”

Sarah tried not to look surprised. “You say that like it shouldn’t sound absolutely nuts.”

“Oh, for God’s sake, St. James. Are we gonna do this? When I said I was part of a special team, I didn’t mean some special ops military that fishes out terrorists. I’m part of a paranormal organization that keeps the lid on shit like this. Yes … I know vampires exist. I know plenty. I know your sexy boyfriendisone. Good job, by the way. Furthermore, I know he’s the one that killed you … and I know what coven he belongs to, and what your blood did to him.” Sarah’s skin prickled with her admission, just as a loud thud sounded against the mirror, scaring them both to death. They jumped up from their chairs.

“I thought you turned the sound off,” Sarah panicked.

“Itisoff. It’s gotta be something else.”

“Should we go check?” Sarah squinted, trying to see through the glass, but of course … that wasn’t happening.

“Let them handle it. We’ve got cards to lay out.” Foster gestured for her to sit back down, and Sarah did while the agent dropped back into her chair.

“Athan didn’t kill those girls,”’ Sarah said, giving her a hard look.

“I never believed he did. But he sure made a spectacle out ofyou. And now that he has, certain others know things about you that we’vebeen trying to keep quiet. It didn’t help that you continue to shine that spotlight onyourself. Now look at the mess we’re in. Bodies are stacking up, you’re compiling a list of vultures, and you’re threatening to expose everything we’ve worked for years to conceal from the public eye. Like I said, it’s not that I don’t like you. You’re just a pain in the ass.”

“I didn’t ask to be this way!” Sarah spat, glaring at her.

“Yeah, babies usually don’t.” The sympathetic look that flashed across Foster’s face was unmistakable.

“What?”

Foster took a deep breath and leaned forward, seemingly trying to soften whatever it was she was about to hit her with. “Your mother didn’t die from a virus, Sarah. We classified it as such, so that the public wouldn’t know. Katherine St. James was killed … slowly, and tortuously … by vampire venom. She was bitten. And not just bitten to be fed on. Whoever did it never took a drop from her. Theymurderedher. They bit her solely to kill her in cold blood, and nothing else.”

She thought she’d be sick. Her mother’s face as she lay dying, flashed in her memory. Sarah’s mouth slowly fell open, but no words came out. It made all the sense in the world—except—who? Why? Who would do such a thing to such an incredibly kind woman? Her mother had always been a bright, bubbly, humorous person. She’d have given the shirt off her back to anyone. She rarely even got mad, even when she had every right to be … especially in Sarah’s teenage years. Sarah stared at the table.

“After she passed, we watched you. We were ordered to go get you … discreetly. We brought you to the lab in northern Seattle and tested your blood against your mother’s. They wanted to be sure about everything before we put the case to rest … but then we discovered something.”

“My blood was different,” Sarah answered.

Foster nodded. “Similar … and yet, not. We compared them to your records from the time you were born up until the age you were when we drew your blood that night. You were born this way. As you grew, your blood mutated itself from the vampire blood that you share—with whoever your father is.”

“So … you’re saying …” Sarah paused, swallowing down the bile that was creeping up her throat.

“You’re half vampire. We were never after you. We’re trying toprotectyou. Keep everyone from knowing what you are. Whattheyare … and you can just about imagine what would happen if the wrong people find out what your blood can do. We’re not trying to exploit you, Sarah. There’s no magic potion that can cure everything. Even if thereis… do you understand what I'm saying?”

Sarah felt her body slump in the seat. “You’re saying the government doesn’twanta cure-all …”

“It would be more mass hysteria than finding out vampires and werewolves exist among them. People die of illness, yes. It’s sad … but it’snatural, Sarah. That kind of imbalance would alter the world. And maybenot for the better. Plus … imagine the kind of life you would have after that. Would you really want that for yourself?”

She thought about that little girl on the TV. The diminished hope in her eyes, and the anguish that wrecked her mother as she sat next to her in that hospital. The thought also crossed her mind that had she known about the effects of her blood sooner, she would have been able to save herownmother. Then there was Rhaena. How taxing her transition had been on a body that was well-trained. Hope ran through her very veins, yet … giving that hope to others was also such a fickle thing. One that Foster was begging her not to consider. It wasn’t that Foster wasn’t correct … it just didn’t feelright. Her mind flooded with so much that a headache started blooming at her temples. Sarah reached up, massaging them in circles.

“I know it’s a lot. I’m sorry.” Foster did her best to appear soothing, but it just didn’t suit her personality. “You’ve gotta keep this to yourself, Sarah. Stay out of the spotlight. Tell me who I’m looking for, so that we can take care of the threat. Work with me here.”

“So … my father. He’s a vampire? Mom never told me much about him. All I’ve ever been told is that it was a one-time thing, and she didn’t know where to find him.”

Foster’s mouth tightened in sympathy. “Yeah, he is. Sorry, but I don’t know more than that.”

“But that means there’s more out there. Mom lived in Seattle since she was a kid. The house I sold belonged to her parents before that. There are other covens. Some in that area?”

“Sarah, there are covens spread out all over the world. I do know of one close to that area, but they’re in Oregon now. Finding your father, as harsh as this sounds, isn’t on the top of my priority list. I was sent here to fix this problem.”

Athan’s story from this morning came to mind. How they’d docked in Jamestown and how the residents had already apparently had their issues with vampires. It was a wonder that less people knew about the truth. Now, vampires were just sexy, or scary stories that people made money off of in show business. “What do you wanna know?” she asked quietly.

“I want to know what you know. Don’t leave anything out. And before you try to deny it for her protection, yes … I know that Rhaena Northwood is a werewolf. Give me what I need, and both their secrets are safe, and you all can exist in your little love triangle however you want.”

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