Page 15 of Crimson Devotion
“Because I drank her blood.’’
“And?”
“Unless the vampire specifically injects the venom through their canines to the human they’ve bitten, the venom will not come out. I drank maybe for a minute before the venom was sucked out of me.’’
“Sucked out of you?” The baffled expression on his face mirrors mine, to which I nod with a sigh.
“It’s never happened before. I’m the only one out of the seven of us who’s never turned a human into a vampire before. You know I have my personal beliefs regarding that, but this time…’’
I’ve never turned a human into a vampire because we shouldn’t exist. Yvonne cursed us — for a reason, might I add — and I will never be able to forget the look of sheer panic, regret, andhorror on her face when she realized how badly her curse had backfired.
We cannot die, yet we cannot live either.
I didn’t want to create more of us. I was extremely careful, each and every time, that I only drank their blood, or killed them entirely. Giving them even the slightest bits of my venom would result in them turning into vampires.
If possible, Valerio’s face pales more, and he freezes. His hand is holding the glass, midway to his mouth, his eyes opening wide. His mouth parts, and for a moment or two, it’s utterly and completely silent. It’s deafening, torturous.
“You turned her into a vampire,’’ he whispers, words laced with disbelief.
“It was an accident!” I stand abruptly, the glass falling from my lap onto the floor. I start pacing back and forth, biting the inside of my cheek. I cannot even bring myself to look at Valerio, knowing that he’ll give me the most judgmental look possible.
“An accident?!” His voice rises. “How the fuck do you turn someone into a vampire on accident?”
“I don’t know!” I yell back. “I’m telling you, the venom was sucked right out of me! I didn’t want to do it, and by the time I realized what was happening, it was too late. She’d already gotten a lot of it.’’
“What happened next?” he asks, running his fingers through his long hair. “How did she react?”
“It was strange. The spot where I bit her started glowing.’’
I finally look at him, just in time to see him blink rapidly. Then, his eyebrows narrow. “What? It started glowing?”
I nod. “Yeah. It was a bright, golden gleam that I’ve never seen before. I may not have turned anyone into a vampire before, but I know for a fact that their bite wound shouldn’t glow.’’
“You’re right, it shouldn’t, and it never does.’’
“That’s not the weirdest part,’’ I whisper.
“There’s more?!”
I take a deep breath, eyes snapping shut for a while. Swallowing thickly, I try to calm myself down. I’ve never thought I’d be here, stuck in this position, without a solution in sight.
Slowly, I roll up my sleeve, turning my wrist for him to see. There are two holes, the exact same ones I left on Faith’s neck. They’re in a light shade of pink, like a scar. As someone with healing abilities, I don’t have any scars. The moment I turned, they all healed. Everything else I ever got healed, leaving perfect skin behind.
“Oh my,’’ Valerio murmurs, his voice taking a teasing note he didn’t intend to have. “You mated. You fucking mated. You. The cold matriarch of the D’Achille family. You actually have a soulmate. A human, no less.’’
“Insane, isn’t it?” I roll the sleeve back down.
“Destiny has one sick sense of humor, that’s for sure.’’
“Yes, well, destiny can meet me outside the castle because I’d like a couple of words exchanged.’’
Valerio outright laughs at the terrible joke, shaking his head. He clears his throat, schooling his expression back to neutral. I can see a hint of concern lingering behind in his gaze, and he’s not trying to hide it.
“What are you going to do, Ophi? She’s a new vampire now.’’
“I don’t know,’’ I admit, words a mere hushed whisper. “I can only pray she gets used to it quickly.’’
Valerio’s face tells me he doesn’t believe my words. And quite frankly, neither do I. If Faith is anything, she’s a fierce fighter, with a deeply rooted hatred for vampires. The fact that she’ll wake up tomorrow and become one of us is making me sick. I know her reaction won’t be a good one.
