Page 94 of Our Sins in Shadows (Coven of Sin 2)

“Yes. But I don’t believe she ever saw me in the same light as the other vampires. Sapphire looked beyond my lack of a heartbeat and my past. She saw me for me and the man I’d been before.”

The prince’s lips quirked into the barest shadow of a smile as he ran his hand through his silvery trusses. “And that was the greatest gift anyone at the time could have given me. I’d lost sight of that part of myself the night I lost Elizabeth and the baby. Sapphire helped me find it centuries later.”

Grabbing Sterling’s pillow from the bed, I jammed it into my lap and rested my chin on its end. What I really wanted to wrap my arms around was him and his perfect marble-hard body and bask in his subtle warmth. But I was still freshly reeling from the way Vin had hurt me, and I wasn’t ready to let my guard down so quickly.

I needed answers first.

“I deserve to know everything about who I am and where I came from. Tell me the story about Sapphire Lockheart, her relationship with my father, with you, and what I am. I deserve that.”

Sterling’s expression grew distant as he recalled memories from a time long past. “You do deserve it, Ruby. And I will tell you everything I know. The story starts with the Lockheart bloodline. Your bloodline.”

Sterling rose from his seat and moved to a bookcase at the far end of the room that was barely visible due to the giant stacks of books sitting on the floor before it. He nudged a mountain of reference books piled ceiling-high with nothing but his foot. It slid to the side like it weighed nothing and cleared his path to the shelf.

The vampire’s slender fingers danced over the bindings, barely touching them. His index finger paused over one of the thicker books, skimmed the title, and he made an “aha” sound beneath his breath. Pulling it out, he blew a plume of dust from the book and approached the bed where I sat.

“May I sit beside you?”

After I mumbled a tiny “yes,” the mattress shifted with his weight as he sat on the edge of the bed beside me. I leaned into him, unable to pull myself away. His gravitational pull was impossible to resist, even if I was still upset with him.

When I set his pillow to the side, he placed the book in my lap. I gawked down at it with my face contorting in confusion. “Um. The Yearbook of Agriculture 1936?”

Sterling’s lips quirked. “Oh yes. Don’t you know of my affinity for early twentieth-century farming?”

Gleaning my shock from the silence that ensued, the vampire let out a lustrous laugh that was almost melodic in its tune. “That was a joke, love. I selected a book that would never strike the interest of any vampire in this coven, or any other for that matter. Therefore, the perfect hiding spot. Open it.”

The inside of the book had been hollowed out to create a compartment. I’d seen something like it in a prison break movie, where the prisoners stashed the tools they used to dig. Only instead of a tiny hammer, there was another, smaller book. It was bound in red leather with silver embossed lettering that read:The Helsing Guide to Vampires and Other Evils. By Edric Lockheart.

The book was old, with the spine barely held together with scotch tape and…Lisa Frank stickers? Clearly, whoever tried to mend the deteriorating book, it hadn’t been Sterling. “What is this?”

“It’s the field guide given to every member of the Helsing organization. It contains everything known to them regarding vampires, fae, witches, demons, trolls, werewolves... The list goes on. In those pages, you’ll find information on what supernaturals eat, how they breed, and—the Helsing specialty—how to kill them. I haven’t read it myself. However, Eros has relayed many of its details to me. Within its pages, you’ll find information on dark fae.”

Plucking the book from the compartment, I placed the farming guide on a random stack of nearby books and held the Helsing guide like a sacred treasure. I swept my fingertip over the author’s name. “Who is Edric Lockheart?”

“Your great grandfather. He was an all-around master and genius when it came to the incredibly dangerous profession of monster slaying. He slaughtered thousands of vampires and other dangerous supernaturals. Yet he somehow managed to die an old man in his bed, if that is any indication of his mastery of the craft.”

I lifted my gaze to Sterling. “How could a human be so proficient in killing monsters?”

“Because he wasn’t exactly human, Ruby. That’s what makes the Lockhearts special.”

I raked my lip between my teeth as I mulled over this new information. If my great-grandfather wasn’t entirely human, that meant my mom wasn’t either. Just as I’d expected.

“Are you telling me I’m not actually half-human? That I’m half-vampire, half something else?” The notion should have frightened me. But I guess my fear reflex was broken, because the only thing I felt was curiosity.

“I wouldn’t call you not human. You descend from humans.”

“What does that mean?”

Sterling sighed, as patient with me and my questions as ever. “To fully understand what you are, you must know the story of the Helsing Guild. It was founded by the Lockhearts. Back in the early days, you had to be a member of the Lockheart bloodline to join the guild. There’s an old legend I believe you’ll find in that book about a king of a small country whose people kept dying from an unknown scourge. A creature of the night. Some thought him Satan’s most powerful devil, wearing the disguise of a man who raped, murdered, and spread total havoc across the land. They called himLuciferi Equitis. Lucifer’s Knight, in Latin.”

My eyes widened with understanding. “Knight. Thomas Knight.”

“The same. In an effort to save his people, the king sought the help of a dark witch rumored to serve the same master as Thomas Knight.”

“Satan?”

Sterling gave a sage nod. “Yes. She told the king if he surrendered his firstborn to the devil, the blood of the infant prince would appease her dark master enough to cast away the vampire. For the love of his land and his people, the king decided to sacrifice his firstborn son and heir. His queen—Ruby was her name—refused. Even if it meant saving her people, she would not sacrifice her only child. The queen tried to escape in the night, but her husband’s guards caught her. As the child was pried from her arms, she sent out a prayer. To who, no one knows. God. Satan. Another deity. Whoever it was, her prayer to save her son was answered. When the witch brought down the knife to rob the baby prince of his life, the wound healed and the baby lived.”

“But what about Thomas Knight fucking up the kingdom?” I felt like a little kid listening to the world’s most interesting bedtime story. Because in the story, the villain was my father. And for the love of everything unholy, I hoped the story had a happy ending.

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