Page 86 of Her Dark Salvation

I laughed out loud, and my shaking chest jostled her head.

“What?” she asked.

“I already told you. I’m not a vampire. Vampires don’t exist. You’ve seen me walk outside during the day, right?” She nodded against my shoulder. “I was raised Roman Catholic. Went to church every Sunday with my family. Never once spontaneously combusted. Not to mention, I’m Italian. If garlic was going to kill me, I’d be dead a million times over.”

She buried her face in my shoulder, and her body shook with laughter. “I’m sorry!”

I laughed with her and hugged her close. “Don’t be sorry. I wouldn’t expect you to know what makes blood demons different. Especially with all the vampire nonsense in books and in the movies. It’s been going on for centuries.

“Thing is, we’re not that different from humans. Yes, we’re immortal and our blood has restorative properties. It heals us and prevents us from aging. And yes, we need to feed on blood. It strengthens our bodies and abilities. But other than that…”

“What about—what about being bit?”

“What about it?”

“Does it turn a human into a blood demon?”

“No.” I shook my head. “Total bullshit.”

“I figured, given Luca’s date didn’t?—”

“Die outside a bathroom in my hotel only to come back with red eyes and fangs?” I finished for her with no small amount of sarcasm.

She chuckled. “It does sound ridiculous when you say it that way. Although yesterday I would have said the existence of blood demons sounded ridiculous.”

“Fair.”

“How do you become a blood demon?”

“We’re a different species, Anna. I was born a blood demon.”

“Oh,” she said softly.

I detected confusion behind her short response and suspected I knew why. “You’re wondering what happens when a human and a blood demon get together.”

She nodded and buried her face deeper into my shoulder.

I wasn’t ready to talk about this, but she needed to know. “Humans can’t turn into blood demons. You’re either born a blood demon or you’re not. But we can prolong a human’s life. When a blood demon bonds with a human, they feed from the human, injecting them with their venom, and the human regularly consumes their mate’s blood. That’s where the vampire myth came from. Humans weren’t being turned. The combination of venom and blood from the same Source just made it seem that way.

“We don’t share our blood lightly, though. It’s only done as part of our sacred vow to bond. It requires understanding and agreement from both parties because it’s a commitment that lasts eternity. Anything less than full consent is a violation of a person’s body and autonomy. It’s an egregious sin. Same with our venom. It’s why Sources are so important.”

“I understand,” she said and nuzzled my shoulder.

Our combined breath and heartbeats filled the silence. I stroked her back and let her digest all the truths I’d just dropped while trying to figure out what the hell I was going to do with this woman. She’d managed the impossible and crumbled the walls I’d erected around my heart, but was I ready for what came next?

Her energy shifted, and she squirmed. Something else was bothering her. “What?”

Her hand stilled atop my chest, and she tilted her face up. I turned mine down to meet the curious look in her eyes. “Are you in the Mafia?”

A bark of laughter escaped me, and I wrapped both arms around her, squeezing her tight. “That’s what you’re worried about? You just had sex with a blood demon, and you’re worried I’m in the Mafia?”

“Well, are you?”

I laughed again and released her, relaxing back onto my forearm. “No. I’m not in the Mafia.”

The statement didn’t taste right on my tongue. It tasted like a lie. There was a difference between wanting something to be true and it being true. I’d wanted it to be true for so long, I’d started believing my own bullshit. Fact was, my situation warranted far more nuance than a firm denial, and I couldn’t lie to this woman any more than I could lie to myself. Not anymore.

“Okay,” I sighed. “Not true. Look, I want to be honest with you, but it’s not a pretty story.”

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