Page 153 of Prodigal Son

She looked at him with startled concern. “Why not? He was there. How come I can know what you are, but he can’t?”

“Because you’re different.”

“Different how?”

He removed a small device from his pocket and set it on his table. “Do you know what this is?”

It was long, twice as wide as a pen but only half the length. “It looks like the thing diabetics use to test their sugar.”

“If you push this button, a tiny needle ejects. I need you to prick your finger.”

“Excuse me?”

“I know this is overwhelming, but we have reason to suspect you might have immortal relatives in your bloodline. One way to tell is through a simple blood test. I think it’s best if we find out sooner, rather than later.”

“We?”

“The Order.”

What if the sight of her blood sent him into a rage? She remembered the moment the little girl attacked her, her mind instantly refusing that she was anything like them. “I’m not immortal. I get pimples, and I’m not built like you. My hair’s too thin, sometimes I have dandruff, my toes are so stubby I sometimes think I was skipped by evolution, and I can’t run fast to save my life.”

“A lot of that could be because your body isn’t getting proper nutrition.”

“You mean blood.”

“Yes. I could help you, Destiny. There is so much you could experience with me if—” He held up a hand, cutting himself off. “You should take the test. Our suspicions could be wrong.”

“You have it here?”

He withdrew a small kit. “We had a doctor develop this. All you have to do is prick your finger and drop a dot of blood on the strip. If a mark appears, you have immortal bloodlines. If nothing happens after five minutes, you don’t.”

The clinical approach was a lot more comforting than trying to decipher folklore fiction from fact. “How accurate is the test?”

“It depends how strong your lineage is.”

“And why do you suspect I might be like you?”

“You’re difficult to compel, but also because you have a mark on your neck.”

Her hand lifted to the birthmark at the base of her skull. “My stork bite?”

He nodded. “Others have similar marks. We’re just now discovering a pattern and trying to understand if the mark links mortals to an immortal bloodline.”

Setting her phone on the table, she picked up the device and paused. “Is this going to affect you?”

“Everything you do affects me. If you’re asking if the sight or scent of your blood will send me into a fit, the answer’s no. Make no mistake, I want you in every way—including fantasies where I drink from your vein while I pump my throbbing cock inside of you—but I have impeccable self-control. I’m also in love with you so hurting you is out of the question.”

Her heart raced. She should be running for the door, but nothing inside of her wanted to leave. He loved her.

She pricked the tip of her finger, flinching when the small needle stuck her skin. “I don’t trust many people, but I do trust science. What now?”

He lifted her finger and applied slight pressure. A pearl of crimson formed on her fingertip. He discretely opened the test kit and pressed the drop onto the strip. She checked the time then he sucked the injured fingertip into his mouth and the sting disappeared.

“Good as new.”

She inspected her finger, finding no sign of the puncture. “Whoa.” How would she ever explain this to her friends? She realized why secrecy was so important. If their saliva and blood could heal, they would be hunted to extinction just like every other species that had once proven valuable.

She shivered with understanding. If she was like him, she would be equally endangered.

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