Page 30 of Kiss of a Hellish Prince

“I am Tabberius, but you can call me Tab. I’m at your service.” He kissed the back of Vivi’s hand, making her blush and giggle.

“I’m Vivian. You can call me Vivi.”

“If you will allow, Vivi, let me explain how this works so you know it isn’t all that bad,” he said.

She nodded.

I liked the way he talked to her.

He was respectful and offered her choices. Maybe choice was something angels could understand.

“That big, scary needle is the purest silver. I’ll use it to prick your finger, just a tiny prick to get a drop of blood, no more, no less, and then I will take that drop and put it into the aether in this bowl. Then it will tell us if you are—”

“If I have super powers!” Vivi said in awe.

“Pretty much.” Tab nodded with a sly smile.

“Okay, so let me get this straight. You are going to take a tiny amount of blood, and the aether will have an instant and visible chemical reaction with the blood that will tell us about my genetic makeup. And you need to use that massive, scary-looking thing not because it has to stab through me, but because it’s pure silver and will not contaminate the blood or interfere with the reaction,” Vivi said, watching the aether swirl in the basin.

“Exactly.” Tab nodded and his smile grew into a wide grin.

“Then why didn’t the asshole over there justsaythat?!” She threw up her hands in annoyance, then stuck her tongue out at Matthew.

“Because he is incredibly rude. But I think that big demon over there is almost done teaching him a lesson,” Tab said. “Now, are you ready for your test?”

“Let’s do this shit.” Vivi jumped up and handed Tab her hand with a finger stuck out.

He pricked her finger and dropped the blood into the basin.

The aether swirled and then turned deep black again. This time, there was a swirl of lavender in the middle. The smell was like sulfur, but there were notes of something more, something earthy. Something familiar, but I couldn’t place it. Old paper, maybe?

Tab stared at the aether with unblinking eyes, as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “You, darling, are a Nephilim like your sister. Half demon and half human, but you have something very special. You are adroit.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means you are like me!” Evie squealed. “We are the coolest of the cool. The best of the best.”

“That I already knew,” Vivi said with an eye roll. “But what does it mean to be an adroit?”

“When most Elysians are born, we age much like humans do, at least until we hit maturity,” Tab explained. “Then our aging slows down. What humans age in a year takes us a decade. Nephilim can be anywhere in between. Adroits don’t age like that. Their aging slows down much sooner, including their minds.”

“What he is saying is our brains stay elastic much longer,” Evie said, rolling her eyes, “which is why we can learn and retain more information faster. We are smarter than pretty much everyone else ever. But since we are small, they still insist on treating us like we are infants.”

“Which has its advantages.” Vivi took a sucker out of her back pocket, unwrapped it, and stuck it in her mouth.

“You are such a brat,” I said, smiling at Vivi.

She smiled and lifted her middle finger at me.

“Yes, well,” Tab said as he packed everything up. “If you wouldn’t mind releasing my companion, we will get out of your hair.”

Rune dropped Matthew, and he crumpled to the floor before standing up and straightening his clothes like he wasn’t just dropped like a ton of bricks.

“Sarah has some choices to make,” Tab said. “I’m going to give her some time. I will stay in the area to help answer questions she may have. Of course, I am at your service as well while I am here. I will leave you all to it. You have my number if you need us.” Tab grabbed the bags and Matthew’s arm and pulled him out of the room before he could say or do anything else.

“Since both girls are Nephilim,” Kylie said, pushing herself off the wall, “and Vivi here is an adroit with some impressive mental gifts, and Tori was able to hold her own when outnumbered…”

“You are thinking her demon blood gives her some physical abilities?” Ulric asked.

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