Page 28 of A University of Betrayal

“First of all, the wordvampiresounds very dishonoring. We’re Ruisangors,” Miles began. “And secondly, this is the clan’s name. A Ruisangor clan gives a name, and the carefully selected members carry it with honor.”

With honor...

“That means you’re not related to each other?” I continued.

“Laurent is a Transformed, Camille is from an unknown Legacy line, and David is a distant relative of the DeLoughrey Legacy family.”

Confused, I blinked at Miles.

“Legacy?”

“There are Legacies, rare Ruisangors, like you and me, who carry a gene that makes them Ruisangors with special gifts as soon as they are transformed. And then there are the Transformed, who were once ordinary humans but have been transformed by a Legacy. They have no special gifts and suffer from extreme sensitivity to the sun.”

I nodded slowly, wondering why I was a Legacy and not a Transformed. Because as far as I knew, my parents had been human, or was I wrong?

I held my arm up to the sun but realized that the sky was covered in dark clouds.

“By the way, it makes sense now that you smelled so interesting,” Miles continued. “According to Bastien, that means you carry the Legacy gene, which is supposed to make other Ruisangors turn you.”

Wait what?He and Bastien hadsmelledme?

“And to your family question... Bastien is my uncle.”

Okay,I hadn’t expectedthat.Bastien seemed like he was the biggest loner himself and at the same time, he radiated a lot of authority. Miles seemed more relaxed, as if he wasn’t taking all of this very seriously.

“So, you’ve both been bitten?”

He looked at me with amusement. “We’veallbeen bitten here. But not everyone can become aLegacy Ruisangorlike you and me. It’s in the genes. And normally, Ruisangor children are accepted into their family clans until they are old enough to be turned.”

“You kidnap children and bite them when they’re old enough?” I gasped in shock.

“No, only the children whose fathers are Ruisangors.”

“And the mothers’ children?”

“There are no mothers.”

“Wait, what?”

Miles caught his sharp knife blade a second time and slid it into a holster on his leg before lowering his voice.

“Listen, this might be too much all at once. I’d like to spare you the details.”

Suddenly, he sounded overwhelmed, and I knew that if I kept asking now, I might get the answers that mattered.

“But I want to know.”

“Larissa...”

“Now.”

He looked at me, torn. I wasn’t going to give in now.

“Rightnow.”

And then he caved in. “Alright, but I warned you. You’ll be distraught.”

“How am I supposed to be any more disturbed than after what happened yesterday?” I asked with a dry laugh.

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