Page 23 of Bound By Blood

“My father told me there are two kinds of vampires. Our kind, who are born that way. And the Others, who are turned into vampires by an exchange of blood. Our people call themselves the Romanian vampires, although we don’t just inhabit Romania anymore.”

Zack shook his head. “I’ve never heard of anyone being born a vampire.”

“Our people are basically mortal until they turn twenty, and then the craving for human blood comes on us. Once we partake of it, we lose our humanity and our ability to eat human food and walk in the sun.”

“I’ve seen you eat.”

She shrugged. “It’s because I’m only half vampire.”

“Can you abide the daylight, as well?”

She nodded.

He grunted softly. Half human and half vampire. If that didn’t beat all. “Can all your people walk in the sun?”

“No, although my father can be awake and active in his cat form during the day.”

“Cat form?”

Kaitlyn nodded, smiling. “When he wants to be active during the day, he assumes the form of a big gray cat.” One of her earliest memories of her father was watching him transform himself from man to cat and back again. She had thought it was magic until her father explained that it was a gift bestowed on those born to Liliana. Her father used to tease her, saying it was because her grandmother was really a witch. Kaitlyn had believed him until Liliana set her straight.

“I am not a witch,” Liliana had told her. “But there is magic in my blood that gives my descendants the ability to change shape. There is only one real witch in the family, and that is Nadiya.”

Kaitlyn had never known if that was true or not, although it wouldn’t have surprised her. Nadiya Korzha was one of the most unpleasant women she had ever met.

Zack shook his head, thinking Kaitlyn’s people were the weirdest vampires he had ever heard of. He could be awake during the day if his life depended on it, but he was weak, sluggish. He could also change shape, although he preferred something larger and more intimidating than a cat. Most of his kind shifted into wolves; that was his preference, as well.

“Can your father turn into anything else?” he asked. “Something a little more menacing?”

“Not that I know of, but believe me, my father can be plenty scary when he wants to be.”

“What about you?” Zack asked with a wry grin. “Can you be scary?”

“No. And I can’t turn into a cat, either.”

“Too bad,” Zack said. “That’s something I’d really like to see.”

“How long have you been a vampire?”

“A little over six hundred years.”

“Wow! You’re even older than my father! How old were you when you became a vampire?”

“A few months on the shy side of twenty-nine.”

She canted her head to the side, admiring his strong jaw, straight nose, and unlined skin. His brows were inky black, like his hair. “Our people don’t age once the change occurs. Apparently yours don’t, either.”

“Right. We just get stronger as we get older. I’m guessing your people do, too.”

She looked at his hand, lightly holding hers. “We have a lot in common,” she remarked wistfully.

“And that makes you unhappy?”

She looked up at him, mute.

“What is it, Katy?” Releasing her hand, he stroked her cheek. “What’s bothering you?”

“Our people are enemies.”

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