Page 134 of Prodigal Son

“Fascinating.” Elizabeth grinned. “To answer your question, Magdalene didn’t start ingesting blood until sometime after her eighteenth birthday. She was getting lethargic, and her moods were…off. I figured there had to be some sort of an imbalance in her system, but proteins, vitamins and minerals weren’t enough to alter her discomfort. The sun started to bother her. Her skin would blister terribly. And she suffered dizzy spells.”

“Those are symptoms of a calling,” Adriel said. “Perhaps she was being called. Have you ever dreamed, Magdalene?”

Magdalene smiled, two deep dimples beveling her ivory cheeks. “I dream almost every night. I always have. I don’t think my kind has callings the way your kind does. We’re free.”

Cain liked the way she put a bright spin on her differences. He supposed it would be liberating to have the freedom to choose a mate. He instantly thought of Destiny and how quickly he would choose her.

Eleazar studied Dane. “Do you dream?”

He shrugged. “I guess. I had a lot of nightmares after my mom died. Other than that, I just dream normal stuff. Nothing special. Why? Don’t you guys dream?”

“Only if and when we are called.” Christian spoke with tedium. No wonder, since the male was several centuries old and Cain never once saw him with another female. The guy was way overdue to get laid.

Christian’s gaze snapped to Cain.

“Problem?” The guy could have been nicer to Dane. Until Cain saw at least a minuscule effort on his part, he wasn’t taking it easy on him.

“I imagine dreaming so often might make things difficult for you, Magdalene,” the bishop remarked.

“Oh, I don’t mind,” the young female admitted, cheerfully. “I know I’m not like the rest of you. I can’t do anything special. I don’t have any disciplines, and the males on the farm look right past me.” She shrugged. “But I can also go much longer without blood, so I can live a much less inhibited life if I choose.”

“How long will you live?” Dane asked.

When Maggie met his stare, her smile softened. “I don’t know. I’ve heard it said that cats have nine lives. Perhaps I’m like that. I’ve been injured, but I’m more resilient than a normal human. And, when I feed, my body returns to peak physical condition. Have you…?”

“No.” Dane shook his head. “I just found out my father was—”

“Immortal,” Adriel interrupted.

Cain suspected she wasn’t ready to announce to The Order that her psychotic mate had returned from the dead and was siring bastards across the globe.

“That’s enough!” Christian slammed his fist on the table, glaring at Cain. The room stilled and The Elder cleared his throat. “My apologies. Go on.”

Cain snickered and Maggie asked Dane, “Do you have scars?”

He examined his palms. “Once I fell off my bike and slid across the blacktop. Gravel embedded in my skin for weeks. New, silver skin eventually covered the little black dots and I thought I’d have them for life. Then one day, my body sort of pushed them out. It hurt and the skin had to open back up, but after that my palms looked as though they had never been injured at all.”

“That’s how it is for me,” Maggie said. “It used to take weeks, but once I started feeding, my body could heal in days, sometimes hours. Blood will help.”

Dane paled and Cain covered a laugh. “You look a little green.” Mortals were so sensitive.

“I think I need some air.”

“I’ll go with you,” Maggie offered, rising from the table.

Cain waited, not wanting to miss any revelations the others might learn from Elizabeth, but he kept his ears honed on the younger two as they left the house.

“It’s not that bad, you know,” Maggie’s voice carried from the porch. “I mean, the blood takes a while to get used to, but I’ve been around it all my life. Everyone’s pretty polite about me being different, but they never forget it, you know?”

“Did you always know what you were?”

“Yes, but I also used to pray that God would make me like everyone else. See, I’ve never left the farm, so The Order is my world. I didn’t learn about my father until I was thirteen. That’s when my mother told me what happened to her.”

“Something bad happened to my mom, too.”

Her voice softened. “I’m sorry to hear that.” After a moment of reflection, she asked, “Do you think you’ll stay here?”

Cain hoped Dane would stay. He needed someone else to keep an eye on Cybil if he was called away for any reason. Although Adam had offered, his brother didn’t know or care for Cybil the same as he or Dane did.

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