Page 18 of Captive Hybrid

‘Is there a hierarchy here?’

Godric’s smile exaggerates his fangs, the tips wicked sharp. ‘Indeed, there is. Can you venture a guess as to how it works?’

‘Drusilla is the Origin. She must be at the top. You seem to outrank Callen.’

Godric smirks. ‘Perceptive. I do. I understand you’ve lived with wolves?’

Tit for tatt. He might think he’s more intelligent than Callen, but he’s playing the same game. ‘Alpha, Beta or Second, then the parents and children of the leaders.’ I answer carefully.

Godric meets my gaze, all too aware of the game we’re playing. He must be bored of reading. ‘Vampires are alike, but we have many more ranks than that. Our Origin, as much as the others, are indeed at the very top. But with many nests, we run things our own ways. That’s why Callen acts so. He’s always had his way. No one’s ever successfully reigned him in.’

‘You seem like a more level-headed vampire.’

Godric’s chest subtly beefs out at the ego-stroke. ‘What about your Alpha?’ He sets the book back inside his jacket, his attention wholly on me. ‘I hear he rejected you.’ The words are softer. Not a jibe, just a question. ‘Yet Drusilla plans to use you to get to him. Now, how is that? Has he changed his mind about you?’

I swallow, uncomfortable. ‘I wish I knew,’ I say honestly. I lean against the bar. ‘Do vampires have mates?’

Godric chuckles. ‘No. We do not. Vampires have lovers. Usually more than one at a time.’

I nod, remembering what Drusilla had said. She had also said something about keeping her pets. ‘You… use them? For sex and blood?’ I try to imagine what Callen had described—bragged—about women who would dance on him, kissing him while he drank. I fight back a shiver.

Godric’s lips tighten. ‘We are not all so crude. At least, not so overtly.’

I blink. ‘Have you ever been in love?’

His eyes light in amusement. ‘It’s been a long time since I’ve talked with someone so much. You’re engaging. I’m glad to see you’ve had a chance to clean up,’ he adds. ‘I hesitate to ask, but was Callen a gentleman?’

‘Surprisingly, yes.’ I let my gaze fall, disheartened. I can’t say I’ve learned a lot about vampires in my short time here, but I am starting to think they are certainly not all the same.

Godric seems to sense my mood shift. ‘Was it strange, being a hybrid among your family?’ His voice is soft, soothing.

I keep my gaze on the ground. ‘Yes and no. It was all I knew.’ An honest answer which costs me nothing. ‘Is it strange sucking people’s blood?’

‘Strange, perhaps. Something you get used to. The taste is… acquired. The sustenance necessary. The fear? Hmm. To each his or her own.’

‘The fear?’ I meet his gaze.

‘The one thing that unites werewolves and vampires, Zenna, is that we are born or made to be predators. Hunters. There are those of us who relish the fear we evoke. Is your alpha one of them?’

I watch Godric carefully. Is he fishing for information or just being curious? It doesn’t matter. ‘I don’t know,’ I admit. ‘I don’t know him well enough.’

‘You grew up with him.’

‘He rejected me,’ I remind him. ‘He’s different now.’

Godric nods. ‘I see. Do you wish to return to him?’

I open my mouth to say, Yes, of course, but something about staring through the bars of my prison gives me pause. ‘He locked me up too.’

Godric blinks. The first time I’ve elicited true surprise from him. ‘That’s a little more possessive than I’d have suspected.’ The corner of his mouth kicks up in a smirk. ‘Positively vampiric of him.’ I glare. He has the grace to let the smirk melt away. ‘Did you want to be his mate?’

Once, I would have said yes in a heartbeat. Now, I’m not so sure. ‘He’s probably better off without me.’ Years of Jana telling me to move on flood back. ‘Perhaps I without him, too.’ Darkness swirls in my stomach, wending its way up into my heart.

My fated mate has never been there for me. I don’t know why I would want him. The bond between us tugs, as though in protest to my thoughts, but I push it down.

Godric stares. ‘Is there something you are not revealing?’

I shoot a glare at him and bark a dramatic laugh. ‘Is there something you are not revealing to me?’ He makes a face and I laugh. ‘If you got me my book I would have something else to do but pester you.’

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